Link Report for Sat. 4/17 -- A Magic Day (in the Minors!)

[MassBrew]

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

David discusses Enrique Cruz' "error", which I apparently should not have mentioned earlier -- see, nothing beats watching and/or listening to the ballgames for accuracy...

 

DPs HELP END STARS' 5-GAME SKID

Hopefully the Stars' cold spell has come and gone coincidenatlly with the climatological one that saw temperatures in Huntsville plunge as low as the upper 30s on Tuesday. I guess it took an extra day (Friday) for the Stars to thaw out, but it appears, that like the weather, better days are ahead....... Tonight in Montgomery, their nine hits, spread pretty evenly across the lineup, nearly equalled the grand total of their last four games, in which the Stars hit .105 (11-for-105).

 

The Stars wasted no time, anxious to purge this cold funk....... Anthony Gwynn, 3-for-24 at the plate, and Ryan Knox, the only consistently hitting regular at .304, hit back-to-back singles in the 1st to leadoff the game. Gwynn took third thanks to a passed ball while Knox was at the plate........ Prince Fielder hit a fly out to left and Dan DeMent thought he had a play at the plate, but Robinson Cancel saw Reckless Ryan offering himself as a sacrificial lamb. Cancel's throw to second base nailed Knox easily, but Gwynn scored the Stars first run, every one a crucial one in this game......... Juan Salas countered for Montgomery with a two-out double to right-center that scored B.J. Upton, who had singled.

 

The Stars did a good job at keeping the Biscuits away from scoring position in the 2nd and 4th innings......... Leadoff hitter Amado German was erased in the 2nd inning by a 4-6-3 double play, which was good cause Brian Martin subsequently walked, and German did it again in the 4th, hitting into a 6-3 DP, Enrique Cruz wisely deciding not to flip to Weeks who was out of position........ In the top of the 4th, Rickie Weeks snapped an 0-for-21 string at the plate with a single to right, but was stranded.

 

So the game is tied at 1-1 going into the bottom of the 5th........ Brian Martin led off against Mike Jones and hit a scorcher to Cruz that kicked up on him and scooted over his left knee. The ball rolled all the way to the base of the wall in left-center field, allowing the speedy Martin to advance to third. At first it was scored a triple, but the scorer unjustly handed an error to Cruz on the play, the 18th error in nine games for the Stars........ Martin would stay put after a comebacker by Fernando Cortez to Jones, but Martin would score anyway on a wild pitch that would make it 2-1 for Montgomery........ Jones finished the 5th, his final inning, by getting out of a jam with runners on first and second, when Juan Salas hit into a force play.

 

Then the oven door slammed on the Biscuits (excuse me, but these word plays at the expense of this team are too good to resist)........ Ryan Miller and Paul Stewart held them to six scoreless innings. Miller, himself, didn't allow a single hit in three innings, adding to a fearsome log already this month. In 10 innings of relief, he's allowed just a run on six hits and struck out 15.

 

Maybe Miller just loves April......... Last year, he put up the 4th best April of any Stars pitcher in their history, giving up just one earned run in 16 1/3 innings. Despite a 1-7 record, he proved to be one of the best set-up men in the pen for Huntsville and during the post-season, threw scoreless relief in three appearances covering just over four innings.

 

The outstanding relief helped get the Stars back in this game and they did so quickly against former Diamond Jaxx reliever T.P. Waligora. With Gwynn on first and two away, Weeks hammered an 0-1 pitch deep to the track in center field over the head of Amado German, looking as if it may go out, but it caroms off the wall and Gwynn scored all the way from first, while Weeks dived into third with the first triple of the season for the Stars, knotting the score at 2-2, and giving him his first RBI since the second game of the season.

 

Stew came on in the 9th inning on the heels of a fine three innings of relief in last Wednesday's no-hitter by Carolina......... But after getting two quick outs on German and Robinson Cancel, he found the Biscuits as sticky as dough to get rid of (are you having a good laugh?). Brian Martin fought off one 0-2 pitch after another until he shot a broken bat hit over the second base bag for a single....... Diminutive Fernando Cortez then lined Stewart's first pitch off the end of his bat to right-center, advancing Martin to third. The winning run was now 90 feet away with pinch-hitter Aaron Clark at the plate for Joey Gathright........ After allowing Cortez to steal second without a throw on a 1-2 count, Stew whizzed an 89 mph fastball by Clark for the inning-ending strikeout.

 

Stewart worked out of another bad situation in the bottom of the 10th when B.J. Upton led off with a double that finds the corner in left field. Manager Frank Kremblas decides to put Jose Velazquez, 8-for-24 this season vs. the Stars, on first intentionally........ Juan Salas, another dangerous hitter, faces Stewart with two on and nobody out. Stewart erased the bunt option for the Biscuits by getting ahead on Salas, 0-and-2. Then Salas grounded a ball back to Stewart, who turned a successful 1-6-3 double play, the Stars' third of the game. (Defense was a huge plus for a change in the Stars' win tonight, in contrast to the Biscuits who allowed two unearned runs.)........ Stewart finished the inning by striking out Dan DeMent on a nasty slider --- his money pitch tonight.

 

On we go to the 11th in the Stars' first extra-inning affair of the season.......Chris Flinn, who gave the Stars a 3-run 8th last week, comes in for Montgomery....... He quickly retires Knox on a liner to right, then Fielder bounces a 3-2 pitch up the middle for an infield hit........ Weeks, looking for hit number three, goes full, then lines a ball right at Martin in right. Fielder was a dead duck at first, but a certain double play was foiled when Martin dropped the ball. Fielder advanced to second....... Brad Nelson seized on the second chance almost immediately. He blooped Flinn's first pitch to left. DeMent can't get to it and Fielder takes off like a bat out of hell. Hurriedly, DeMent's throw dribbles away from the cutoff man, allowing Weeks to reach third, but the Stars now had a 3-2 lead........ Chris Barnwell, a graduate of last year's Frankieball Academy, laid down the perfect squeeze bunt. Weeks, just the runner to have on third for this play, scored to give the Stars an insurance run.

 

John Novinsky is in the bullpen just in case, but Stewart needs only six pitches in the bottom half of the inning to end the game, ending the Stars' 5-game losing streak......... Stew won his first game for the Stars since August 28, 2002....... The series at Riverwalk Stadium ends Sunday with Chris Saenz going for the Stars against lefty Jason Cromer.

 

Matt Parker, released by the Brewers just last Thursday, I believe, was snapped up quickly by the St. Louis Cardinals. Tonight, Matt picked up the win for the Tennessee Smokies (who come in Friday at the Joe) in relief in a 6-3 win over Mobile....... Matt, a fan favorite, was 12-10 with a 3.43 ERA in 82 appearances for the Stars in 2002-03. He was acquired by the Brewers with Elie Alfonzo on June 13, 2000.

 

Mike Coolbaugh hit a pinch-hit 3-run HR for New Orleans in the 7th inning in a 6-2 victory over Iowa, Saturday night........ Dionys Cesar went 5-for-5, drew a walk, and drove in 3 runs for the Chattanooga Lookouts, who were victorious over the 1-8 Greenville Braves...... The Gary Railcats of the independent Northern League signed former Stars outfielder Anthony Iapoce, who hit .223 for the 2000 Stars.

[MassBrew]

 WEST DIVISION W L PCT GB [b]INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (MILWAUKEE) 5 2 .714[/b] TOLEDO MUD HENS (DETROIT) 4 6 .400 2.5 COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (NEW YORK YANKEES) 3 5 .375 2.5 LOUISVILLE BATS (CINCINNATI) 3 6 .333 3.0

 WEST DIVISION W L PCT GB BIRMINGHAM BARONS (CHICAGO WHITE SOX) 5 3 .625 WEST TENN DIAMOND JAXX (CHICAGO CUBS) 4 4 .500 1.0 MOBILE BAY BEARS (SAN DIEGO) 4 5 .444 1.5 [b]HUNTSVILLE STARS (MILWAUKEE) 4 5 .444 1.5[/b] MONTGOMERY BISCUITS (TAMPA BAY) 3 6 .333 2.5

 SOUTH DIVISION W L PCT GB INLAND EMPIRE 66ERS (SEATTLE) 6 2 .750 LANCASTER JETHAWKS (ARIZONA) 6 3 .667 .5 RANCHO CUCAMONGA QUAKES (ANAHEIM) 5 3 .625 1.0 LAKE ELSINORE STORM (SAN DIEGO) 4 5 .444 2.5 [b]HIGH DESERT MAVERICKS (MILWAUKEE) 3 7 .300 4.0[/b]

 WESTERN DIVISION W L PCT GB CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS (ANAHEIM) 7 2 .778 KANE COUNTY COUGARS (OAKLAND) 5 4 .556 2.0 CLINTON LUMBER KINGS (TEXAS) 5 4 .556 2.0 WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS (SEATTLE) 4 5 .444 3.0 QUAD CITY RIVER BANDITS (MINNESOTA) 4 5 .444 3.0 PEORIA CHIEFS (ST.LOUIS) 4 5 .444 3.0 [b]BELOIT SNAPPERS (MILWAUKEE) 4 5 .444 3.0[/b] BURLINGTON BEES (KANSAS CITY) 3 6 .333 4.0

[MassBrew]

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

 

Ninth inning dooms Wizards

By Sarah Trotto

The Journal Gazette

 

Fort Wayne Wizards manager Randy Ready said it simply, but the comment captured exactly what had unraveled.

"It was unfortunate," Ready said. "Girardeau deserved a better fate."

 

After starting pitcher Clark Girardeau threw six scoreless innings Saturday afternoon against Beloit, the Wizards blew his chance at victory by allowing seven runs in the ninth inning. The Wizards (2-7) lost 7-1 at Memorial Stadium in front of 3,018 fans.

 

Girardeau had struck out nine and allowed three hits and no walks. After Wizards third baseman Skip Adams drove in a run in the seventh inning and relievers Jake Upwood and Ryan Klatt pitched two scoreless innings, the last-place Wizards looked ready to assemble their first winning streak of the season.

 

They combusted in the ninth, sacrificing the 1-0 lead by giving up seven runs on eight hits and an error. The Wizards didn't produce a baserunner in the bottom of the inning.

 

"Jeez, that was a good game," Ready said. "We pitched great until the ninth. We started fumbling the ball a little bit and had opportunities to make plays and just didn't. It was too bad because we had some real good pitching."

 

Closer Aaron Coonrod was removed in the ninth with more than the loss after allowing three runs, two of them earned. He also emerged with scrapes across his forehead and right arm after he dove into the Beloit dugout to try to cut off an errant throw from the outfield that scored the winning run.

 

Coonrod entered in the ninth, struck out the first batter, gave up a single up the middle and advanced the runner to second on a wild pitch. After a single placed runners on first and third, the Snappers' Vinny Rottino hit a grounder past Adams into left centerfield, scoring the runner from third and advancing a runner to third.

 

Left fielder Casey Baker threw the ball to Adams to try to catch Lou Palmisano at third, but the ball sailed into the Beloit dugout, scoring Palmisano.

 

"I guess (it was a) base hit to left field," Coonrod said. "The ball was overthrown, I slid in the dirt and I tried to stop the ball. It's tough when a guy throws really well for six innings, and guys don't make plays and stuff."

 

A shaken-but-uninjured Coonrod was pulled from the game with the Wizards trailing 2-1 and Rottino on third. Chuck Bechtel took over, allowing four earned runs on five hits. The Wizards faced 12 batters in the inning.

 

"(Coonrod) had good stuff tonight," Ready said. "What can I say? A guy got on with a wild pitch, a base hit and the other hit tied it and put it up. He's going to be all right."

 

Ready sent out Coonrod after Klatt struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning, his only inning of work. Ready said Klatt didn't stay in the game longer because he's the Wizards' setup man and Coonrod is the closer.

 

"We have a plan we stick to as far as setup and reliever," Ready said. "If we have the lead, that's how we'll go. However we get to the setup guy in the eighth is how we get to him. ... He's the setup man and Coonie is the closer and that's from the organization. By the organization, we were set up that way to go into the season."

 

The Wizards struggled with their hitting against Beloit starter Kenneth Durost, who allowed three hits and struck out six in 5 2/3 innings. Reliever Greg Kloosterman won the game by allowing one run on three hits in 3 1/3 innings. The Wizards got leadoff hitters on base in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings but were unable to score.

 

"Their guy pitched good, kept us off balance, and we never got anything going," Ready said.

 

Adams scored the Wizards' leadoff hitter, Billy Hogan, in the seventh inning with a single to right field, one of the Wizards' six hits.

 

"It's not really a big deal," Girardeau said of the game. "It's a team game. The guy pitched a great game. We had (six) hits. It wasn't really one thing that did it. It was kind of a pitchers' duel."

 

Girardeau was commanding throughout the game, ending each of the second through fifth innings with called strikeouts.

 

"Girardeau, the results are there," Ready said. "He was very effective, located well. He had a great breaking ball and kept guys off balance all night. It was a tremendous outing."

 

Wizards' left-hander Daniel Moore (1-0, 5.40 earned-run average) will start against Beloit at 2 p.m. today. Luis Pena will start for the Snappers.

[MassBrew]

Daily Press High Desert Game Story:

Quotes from OF Chris Morris, Manager Mel Queen...

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...568,60034,

[Al the Thinking Man]

It's tough not to disregard error totals at every level. Last night, Wes Helms was given an error on a ball that he was fortunate to get a glove on last night, an absolute shot that he had hardly any chance to even react to. Yet, a dropped fly ball by Biggio was ruled a triple. The inconsistency even in the majors is astounding, so you know the minors is much worse.