Link Report for Games of Monday, April 26th

[MassBrew]

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com Huntsville update:

 

A QUIET DAY AT THE BALLPARK

Under mostly sunny skies, but a cooled down 66°, not many were expected at Joe Davis Stadium on an unscheduled Monday afternoon, but at gametime, I could count less than 20 fans, not counting scouts, ushers, and stadium personnel. I'm not kidding......... This number swelled, especially before the second game, and the Sunday attendance was just added to today's to give you an idea how business was........ Nevertheless, it was a good day to bring sunglasses and a cap.

 

The first game of this double-bill picked up at the top of the 2nd inning with Paul Stewart (1-0, 2.35) replacing Jeff Housman on the mound........ The Tennessee Smokies didn't take long to take a 1-0 lead when with two out, Jon Hamilton lined Stew's 0-2 pitch over the BC sign in right field, his first earned run allowed since April 14 vs. Carolina.......... Corey Erickson followed with a double to the left field wall, but Stew settled down and had no trouble other than trying to retire Skip Schumaker in the 3rd inning, fouling off six pitches after going 2-2 to him. Schumaker eventually lined a hit over short and that was followed by a bloop single by John Nelson....... Stewart then retired the next two hitters to end the half for the Smokies.

 

The Stars took eight innings to win this but they had plenty of opportunities....... Brad Nelson in the 1st, grounded to first with runners on 1st and 2nd........ In the 2nd inning, Chris Barnwell walked, stole 2nd and advanced on Dan Moylan's throwing error, but was left there when Tennessee starter John Cook struck out Jason Belcher and Stewart to end the inning........

 

In the 5th, Joel Alvarado led off with a double to left near the line, his first double in three seasons with the Stars, and went to third on a grounder to the right side by Belcher. Alvarado, who is 14-for-71 in his career with Huntsville, turned out to be the unlikely hero in this game........ Ryan Knox chopped a ball in the middle of the infield, forcing second baseman Javier Colina to come in and make a tough play. Alvarado stood his ground, but had he broken on contact, there's a fair chance he would have scored. It would have been a close play, in any case......... Nevertheless, stuck on third, Tony Gwynn, Jr. ended the inning by popping out.

 

One inning later, Prince Fielder tied the game with a one-out, first pitch drive over the fence in left-center......... Brian Adams retired the Smokes in the 7th, but John Novinsky had to have some splendid defense in the 8th, courtesy of Fielder........ With runners on 1st-and-3rd and Novinsky on the mound, Fielder charged Dan Moylan's chopper, stepping on first to retire the batter, then caught Skip Schumaker in a rundown between third and home, kind of reminiscent of the costly error he made Saturday that led to a three-run rally for Tennessee, but this time Fielder chased him all the way back to third base, occupied at the time by John Nelson, who had singled and advanced on the play....... The lead runner, Schumaker, was out and Novinsky was able to get pinch-hitter Gabe Johnson to fly out to center to end the inning.

 

The Stars struck quick in the bottom half....... Fielder beat out an infield single to Molina, then reached second on a passed ball. Johnny Raburn's perfectly placed bunt single on the infield grass on the third base side, advanced him to third. I like what I've seen of Raburn so far...... Jeff Kinney came in and was able to force Fielder out at home after intentionally walking Brad Nelson........ With the bases full and one out, Alvarado came to the plate again and you knew the Mad Scientist (Kremblas) had something cooking in the kettle....... On a 2-1 pitch, he laid down a bunt right back to Kinney. The runners were on the go on contact, otherwise Raburn would have been a dead duck at the plate. The whole thing reminded me of a bunt situation Kremblas called, and guessed wrong, in a game against Mobile two years ago, one that made my Top 20 games of all-time because the Stars had a no-hitter going into the 9th....... But it worked this time. Raburn crossed the plate and the Stars had their sixth win in seven games.

 

John Novinsky picked up his 3rd victory, making him the first relief pitcher since Andy Kimball in May of 2001 to win three games in a month.

 

In the second game, Kade Johnson had his first four-hit day as a Huntsville Star, raising his average to .520 --- can you believe that? That would easily eclipse the leading mark in the league of .474 by former Star Dionys Cesar, but Kade doesn't have enough plate appearances....... Luis Martinez, starting for Tennessee, was so typical Luis, with one exception I'll get to. He was inconsistent........ After striking out the Stars in order in the 1st inning, he walked two (one intentionally) and gave up two hits to give the Stars a 1-0 lead, then walked two more in the 3rd.

 

It was a see-saw affair, until the Smokies seized control with a three-run 5th........ Nate Espy slammed the second of his two HRs, the second of three for Tennessee, on the second pitch served up by Ryan Miller, having an uncustomary outing. Miller walked the last two of four batters to face him, one of whom eventually scored, before Frank yanked him in favor of Roberto Giron. Giron's unusually early outing was his longest for the Stars since August 29, 2002, oddly against Tennessee that day......... The Smokies capped the 3-run inning on a bloop hit to left by ---- Luis Martinez? Couldn't be!! But yes it was!...... The same Luis who was 1-for-25 with 21 K's last year, and drove in his only run on a bases-loaded walk against Mobile on July 4...... Frank gambled --- money in the bank, actually --- that by walking Brad Eickhorst, who was making his AA debut, he could get Luis to strike out to end the inning, but Luis stuck the bat out and with as much power as I'm sure he has, poked the ball over the infield. Chris Duncan scored the Smokies' 4th run, the go-ahead run as it turned out........ Giron got the 9th man in the inning, Skip Schumaker, to ground out to Raburn, but the damage had been done........ Jon Hamilton added his 2nd home run of this double-header in the 6th to make it 5-3.

 

Matt Ford started that 3-run 5th and faced two batters, but was lifted presumably because of a blister that had broken on his throwing hand........ Giron struck out the last four hitters to face him........ The Stars had the bases loaded with no one out in the 2nd, but Johnny Raburn hit into a 6-4-3 double play that scored Kade Johnson, but killed a potentially big inning...... Johnson singled through short in the 3rd with two out, homered to the right of the left field foul pole to lead off the 5th, and singled to right with two out in the final inning.

 

The Stars now go to Chattanooga for a four-game series tomorrow at 6:15 CDT with Dennis Sarfate (0-0, 5.63) going against Seth Etherton (3-0, 1.06), third right now among Southern League ERA leaders, pretty good for someone lightly considered by the Reds. He's never been among their Top 30 prospects, but has had major league experience with the Reds last year and the Angels, the club that originally signed him, in 2000, going 5-1 in 11 starts........ Chris Barnwell, in spite of a .164 average, has nine RBIs, 3rd behind Brad Nelson and Prince Fielder on the club........ Prince, after a 3-for-23 start to the season, has 14 hits in his last 34 at-bats (.411), raising his average to .298......... Tony Gwynn, Jr. is on an 8-game hit streak, going 10-for-37 with 3 doubles. On the other hand, there's this 18:4 strikeout walk ratio. The Stars don't seem to be as selective at the plate as they should be, with a SO-BB ratio of 3:1 at last look.........

 

Ben Hendrickson, 2nd among International League ERA leaders with a 1.10 mark, is scheduled to start against Louisville Tuesday night.

[MassBrew]

Beloit Daily News Game Story:

 

Snappers flexing muscles

By Jim Franz

Sports Editor

 

Pohlman Field is supposed to be Death Valley for sluggers in April, when blustery weather leaves fans bundled up and blasts stay in the ballpark.

 

Don't look now, but the place has turned into a launching pad.

 

Beloit and Wisconsin combined for four home runs Monday night _two apiece_ although the Snappers got a little more bang with their bats in an 8-7 victory.

 

Beloit Manager Don Money had a simple explanation.

 

``Normally when it's cold in April the wind is blowing in,'' he said. ``Tonight, it was blowing out.''

 

Was it ever. Trailing 4-0 after the Timber Rattlers' first at-bat, the Snappers turned that around with a five-run third inning that featured Robby Deevers' three-run homer.

 

``The wind was definitely pushing balls out there tonight,'' Deevers said.

 

Drew Anderson's solo shot in the seventh inning made it 7-4 and turned out to be huge when the Rattlers rallied for two runs in the ninth. Closer Ty Taubenheim ended the game by fanning Wladimir Balentien with the bases loaded.

 

That was Beloit's 15th strikeout and made a winner of Carlos Villanueva (1-3).

 

``Fifteen strikeouts will get you out of a lot of tough situations,'' Money said.

 

Villanueva had a rough first inning, with Josh Womack leading off the game with a home run. Later Chris Collins cleared the bases with a two-out triple that Deevers nearly flagged down with a leaping try.

 

``I had it in my glove, but it popped out when I hit the wall,'' Deevers said.

 

Villanueva then settled down and pitched scoreless ball for the next four innings. He might have had some trouble in the fifth, but Womack ran himself into an out leading off. He doubled to right, but rounded second and when he tried to retreat to the bag Beloit first baseman Carlos Corporan had followed him and took a relay throw from Guilder Rodriguez to tag him out.

 

The next batter singled, but Deevers never gave up and snagged a drive to the warning track by Adam Jones. Not to be outdone, center fielder Terry Trofholz turned in a diving grab on a sinking line drive hit by Eve Bastida-Martinez.

 

Deevers started Beloit's comeback with an RBI single in the second _the first earned run off Wisconsin starter Brandon Moorhead in 19 1/2 innings.

 

``We really took that as a challenge,'' Deevers said.

 

Trofholz singled to open the third inning and two outs later Lou Palmisano and Vinny Rottino hit back-to-back singles to make it 4-2. Adam Heether's RBI double cut it to 4-3 and Deevers' shot to right center cleared the wall to make it 6-4.

 

``Off the stick, I saw the outfielders running and I thought, this might be a triple in the gap,'' Deevers said. ``But the wind helped it out.''

 

Anderson's leadoff blast in the seventh hiked it to 7-4.

 

Villanueva left after five innings, allowing six hits, four runs and two walks. He struck out seven. Simon Beresford worked three innings and allowed only one hit and no runs. He struck out six.

 

While the Rattlers dropped their fifth straight, manager Steve Roadcap admired their persistence.

 

``You have to like the way the kids battled all they way to the end,'' he said. ``They just came up a hit short. They're young and they're going to make a lot of mistakes, but they never quit tonight. They'll get better.''

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Times Doubleheader Story:

 

Martinez beats former team

Lanky lefty helps Smokies salvage split in doubleheader

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

S.O.L.

 

Same old Luis.

 

"Same guy,'' said Stars coach Sandy Guerrero. "Except he got a hit.''

 

A year ago, when Luis Martinez was pitching for Huntsville, a foul tip was cause for celebration. A ground out, they'd halt the proceedings and give him the game ball. He was a miserable hitter, even though teammates claimed he'd stalk back to the dugout after still another strikeout and fume like a .350 hitter.

 

This time, not only did Martinez get a hit, but he drove in a run, helping himself to a win over his former teammates Monday afternoon. And he was the Same Ol' Luis on the mound.

 

Martinez, an eight-game winner for Huntsville in 2003, collected his third win of the season for the Tennessee Smokies with the 5-3 victory in the second game of the doubleheader.

 

Another former Stars pitcher, Matt Parker, was less successful in the opener. He yielded a game-tying homer to Prince Fielder, then the Stars won 2-1 in extra innings on Joel Alvarado's squeeze bunt.

 

To neatly wrap up the day of coincidence: The winning pitcher for Huntsville was John Novinsky, who pitched for the Smokies last season.

 

Martinez and Parker had two different approaches in pitching to so many familiar faces. Martinez yakked back and forth, or "at least made some sign or smile.'' Parker "didn't talk. I tried to keep a straight face.''

 

The two have relied on each other to make things more at home in the Cardinals' organization, though for Parker it's a homecoming. He began his pro career in that system.

 

"It helps a lot to know somebody when you change teams,'' Parker said.

 

Parker was with the Brewers in spring training and started the season with Indianapolis. But he was released five days into the season. He was driving home to Georgia when he was called about joining the Smokies.

 

"I was in Nashville (when the cell phone rang) so I just turned left and went to Knoxville,'' he said.

 

For Martinez, it has been a more dramatic - and traumatic - change.

 

Last February, Martinez was involved in an ugly incident in his native Dominican Republic. He shot a man during an argument in a parking lot. After investigation, Martinez was cleared of any charges, ruling that he acted in self-defense; the victim recovered.

 

Martinez will not talk about the incident. "It's personal,'' he said. He did acknowledge that it's been a distraction this season, perhaps have an impact on his performance (despite the three wins, he has a 5.00 ERA).

 

The Brewers put him on waivers not long after the incident. Though they were underwhelmed by his 0-4 mark in a September call-up, after 12 wins at Huntsville and Indy, it was mostly a public relations move, say Milwaukee sources. They didn't need a pitcher on trial for shooting a man after a winter of other bad press.

 

Martinez demonstrated some of the terrific stuff that helped him amass a 17-inning scoreless streak to begin the '03 season in Huntsville. However, he also demonstrated some of same traits that were often his downfall. For instance, ignoring base runners.

 

He even napped while catcher Kade Johnson, with his road-grader speed, stole a base. Johnson was 4-for-4 at the plate, including his third homer of the year. He is batting .393 for the season.

 

However, Nate Espy had a pair of homers for the Smokies, including one on the third pitch from reliever Ryan Miller, who had been rushed into the game when starter Matt Ford strained a muscle.

 

The Stars trailed 1-0 in the first game, which was resumed in the top of the second inning after Sunday's deluge forced the day's doubleheader to be suspended. Paul Stewart struck out five in four innings and Brian Adams pitched two innings of hitless relief.

 

Fielder tied the game with a monster homer to right-center, then got the eighth-inning rally (Southern League doubleheaders are seven innings each) started with a single off Josh Kinney. Johnny Raburn, subbing for Rickie Weeks at second, singled and Brad Nelson was intentionally walked. Chris Barnwell bounced to the mound, forcing Fielder at home. Alvarado bunted right back to Kinney, but Raburn had been running on the pitch and Kinney didn't even bother with a throw, simply spiking the ball to the turf.

 

"I took a chance and the guys got the job done,'' said manager Frank Kremblas. "The credit goes to them.''

 

The Stars (9-7) head to Chattanooga for a four-game series before returning Saturday to face West Tenn, where consecutive doubleheaders await Saturday night at 6 and Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m.