Link Report for Games of Sunday, May 20th

[TheCrew07]

Hasn't it just been every other day, or did I miss a day? Or is that normal, I thought he caught more than that in the past, DH'd like once or twice a week.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1

 

Katin cranks one out in 11th

Stars DH's walk-off home in 11th beats Diamond Jaxx 8-7

By BRAD SHEPARD

For the Huntsville Times

 

Heading into his at-bat in the bottom of the 11th inning, Brendan Katin had three hits and three broken bats.

 

With one swing of his fourth bat of the day, he splintered the spirits of West Tenn.

 

The Stars' designated hitter smacked an opposite-field, walk-off home run to complete a dramatic 8-7 comeback win over the Diamond Jaxx in front of 1,516 fans at Joe Davis Stadium. It ended a four-hour, five-minute marathon that featured Huntsville crawling out of 5-0 and 7-3 deficits early.

 

"I was very confident going into that last at-bat," Katin said. "But it didn't really hit me till I came around third and saw everybody. I mean, that ball just barely went over."

 

It was just enough. Despite leaving 14 baserunners on and making two costly blunders on the base paths, the Stars won their third consecutive game by smacking 15 hits and coming through in the clutch.

 

With two on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Stars trailing 7-6, Lou Palmisano emerged from the dugout as a pinch hitter on his day off. He ripped an RBI single to left to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

 

"Unbelievable, unbelievable," Palmisano said of the game afterward. "The way we've been swinging the bats, we always feel like we're in the game. It's the type of guys we have, but I can't believe this."

 

With the game on the line, Palmisano tried to stay as even-keeled as possible. Since he'd not played all day, he felt much rustier than Katin.

 

"You just try to be as calm as possible and not get too amped up," Palmisano said. "When you get the hit, all the pressure just falls off you."

 

Early, it appeared there wouldn't be much pressure at all on the Stars.

 

Way back on what seemed like Saturday, Adam Pettyjohn started the game and lasted only one-third of an inning.

 

Seven of the eight batters he faced reached base, as he allowed five hits, one walk, one hit-batsman and four earned runs. Bo Hall replaced him and got an inning-ending double play, but the Stars were in a huge hole early.

 

After a pair of comebacks, Ruben Mateo missed a go-ahead home run down the left-field line by mere inches in the sixth. After the noisy foul, he grounded out weakly to second.

 

A long time later, none of that mattered - even with so many men left stranded.

 

"That tells you we had a lot of chances to get them in," Stars manager Don Money said. "At least we were putting pressure on them."

 

The Diamond Jaxx finally cracked, too.

 

They couldn't muster any offense against Huntsville's last three pitchers - Luis Pena, Marino Salas and Jeff Housman - who worked five near-spotless innings, allowing only two baserunners.

 

It was Pena's first outing with the Stars after being recalled from Single-A when the Brewers released Luis Villarreal, and his two scoreless innings provided a spark.

 

"I felt like it was our game when Pena came in and shut down the side in his first game for us," Katin said. "That's when it turned for me."

 

He made sure of it later.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2007052022

 

First-place Power returns home tonight

By Mike Whiteford

Charleston Gazette Staff Writer

 

The West Virginia Power made it look easy in April, winning 17 of its first 21 games, and is now within sight of a division championship.

 

The Power opens an eight-game home stand at Appalachian Power Park tonight and, with less than a month remaining in the season?s first half, needs a solid finish to secure the title and the accompanying playoff spot.

 

Entering tonight?s play, the Power is 28-12 and holds a 4 1/2-game lead over second-place Greensboro in the South Atlantic League?s Northern Division with 27 games left, including four with the Bats. Each of the two first-half division winners advances to postseason play in September.

 

?It would be nice to win something after all the hard work you go through,?? said Power manager Mike Guerrero, ?but it?s also part of the players? development. It?s part of what we?re trying to do as an organization. We?re trying to teach the kids how to win and the importance of being a winner.??

 

The pressure of a division race, Guerrero added, enhances the development process.

 

?Actually, players will develop better when they know they have to go out there and perform [in pressure situations],?? he said. ?As they go higher in baseball, there?s more pressure and, once you learn to perform in those situations, it becomes easier. These guys know what they have to do out there, and if they execute the little things, the big things will come more easily.??

 

The Power will face the Augusta Greenjackets tonight and Tuesday and, after a Grand Slam School Day Wednesday, will conclude the series with another evening game Thursday. The Power will play host to the Greenville Drive Friday through Monday.

 

Last year, the Power missed out on the playoffs, finishing second in each half with records of 39-30 and 35-32, respectively. The season?s first half ends June 17.

 

POWER POINTS: Even with the 17-4 record, the Power?s biggest lead was just 4 1/2 games on May 1. ... Entering Sunday?s play, the Power led the league with a .297 average. Lake County was second at .275. Darren Ford leads the Power with a .351 mark. ... The Power?s Michael Brantley played in the outfield last year and started this season there but is seeing time at first base. A hip-flexor injury slowed him, prompting the move. ?He?s expanding his horizons,?? said Guerrero. ?Players need to learn as many positions as they can. It?s better for them. They can only get better for it. He knows all three positions in the outfield now; he knows how to play first base.?? ... Brantley hadn?t played first base since high school. ... The Power will play two games at Greensboro June 2-3 and two games against the Grasshoppers at APP June 5-6.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

citizen-times.com/apps/pb...7705210307

 

Power outslug Tourists

By Jason McGill

JMCGILL@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM

 

ASHEVILLE- Ask most Asheville Tourists pitchers, and they might tell you the West Virginia Power can't leave town fast enough.

 

For the fourth time in as many days, West Virginia hitters peppered McCormick Field with hit after hit after hit. The Power (28-12) took a 9-8 win Sunday and in the process handed the Tourists (29-13) their first series loss of the year.

 

West Virginia went 59-for-160 (.368) at the plate and scored 37 runs in four games - the Power won three of four in Asheville, including a one-hitter Friday and a shutout Saturday. West Virginia also entered the game with the best batting average in the South Atlantic League (.297) - 22 points higher than the next ballclub and 33 points higher than fifth-ranked Asheville (.264). West Virginia is even better on the road with a .307 average.

 

"I think we just caught a hot team," said Asheville relief pitcher James Burok, who managed 2 1-3 scoreless innings in the series. "We didn't help ourselves out, and they didn't miss good pitches. You got to give them credit. They could swing it."

 

Asheville starter Keith Weiser looked to become the first pitcher in professional baseball to start the year 8-0, but he gave up five runs - one earned - in the third and allowed 13 hits. Weiser did not figure in the decision as Matt Repec knotted the game at 8 with an RBI double in the seventh inning. But the Power hit back-to-back two-out doubles off Zach Simons (2-1) to retake the lead, 9-8, in the eighth inning.

 

"It's tougher to lose games like this than when you get blown out," Asheville manager Joe Mikulik said. "You just go over all the ways we gave them the game. We just got to keep fighting back. We'll learn from this. Coaches can talk all the want, but sometimes the game teaches you."

 

Every West Virginia player tallied a hit, six of whom got at least two hits. Things could have been worse for the Tourists, as West Virginia stranded 10 runners.

 

"They didn't make many mistakes," said Mikulik, who remains 10 wins shy of setting the Asheville all-time managerial wins record.

 

E.J. Shanks shut the door on the Tourists with a perfect ninth inning for his sixth save.

 

Hector Gomez led the Asheville offense, as he went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs. Michael McKenry, Victor Ferrante and Repec each homered for the Tourists. Ferrante notched an inside-the-park home run with one out in the second inning. He crushed a ball off the wall in center field and made it home easily thanks to a long carom.

 

Weiser finished with eight runs - three earned - on 13 hits and two walks in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out six batters, but it's only the second time in nine starts he hasn't lasted at least six innings.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=56267

 

Dillard delivers in Sounds win

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

All season long, Tim Dillard has been a case study in pitching better than your record indicates.

 

Entering Sunday?s home game against Albuquerque with a modest 1-3 record, Dillard has been overshadowed by the stellar early season performances of his rotation-mates Yovani Gallardo, Zach Jackson and Chris Oxspring.

 

Dillard turned in yet another quality outing, while Joe Dillon and Mike Rivera hit back-to-back homers to lead Nashville to a 5-2 victory over the Isotopes in front of 5,313 fans at Greer Stadium.

 

Dillard went six innings, scattering eight hits for two earned runs en route to the win. He moves to 2-3 on the season with his ERA dropping to 3.25.

 

?I try to put the team in position to win,? Dillard said. ?It?s kind of been half and half. There?s been times I go out there and give up five runs so obviously I?m not doing my job.?

 

Scott Seabol took Dillard deep for a solo homer in the fourth. In the sixth, Eric Reed tripled and eventually scored. Besides those mistakes, Dillard was effective at pitching out of trouble and holding down the Isotopes offense.

 

His defense did its part, making several highlight reel-caliber plays ? especially a diving grab by Laynce Nix in center.

 

?I gave up eight hits, but the defense made some great plays,? Dillard said. ?When you?ve got defense like that, you just let them put it in play and let your team do their thing.?

 

The Sounds offense ? inconsistent as it has been for much of the season ? reared its ugly head Sunday. They didn?t collect a hit off starter Paul Mildren until the bottom of the fourth when Nix broke through with a single.

 

But Nashville came out of its slumber in style as Joe Dillon followed Nix?s base hit with a two-run homer. Mike Rivera followed with a home run of his own, a solo shot that pushed the Sounds? lead to 3-1. It was the first back-to-back homers by the Sounds since one year ago to the day.

Rivera won a Copley guitar for his efforts, as his blast bounced off the guitar scoreboard in left center.

 

The Isotopes cut into the league in the sixth when Reed tripled and later scored on a sacrifice by Chad Hermansen.

Nashville answered back with a pair of runs in the sixth. Ozzie Chavez and Andy Abad both collected RBIs during the inning.

 

The Nashville bullpen kept Albuquerque offense quiet after that. Grant Balfour and Luther Hackman combined for three scoreless innings to finish the game. Hackman earned his sixth save.

 

Sounds regain Braun: The Milwaukee Brewers? top offensive prospect, Ryan Braun, returned to action on Saturday after missing 12 games because of a sore wrist. Braun replaced outfielder Drew Anderson, who was demoted to Double A Huntsville.

 

In his first two games since returning from the injury, Braun is 0-for-7 with two walks.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Happy HR anniversary: Sounds go back-to-back

It's first time since same date in '06

By MIKE ORGAN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Opponents might want to steer clear of playing the Sounds on May 20.

 

Nashville hit back-to-back homers for the first time since that date last year in Sunday's 5-2 win over Albuquerque.

 

Joe Dillon and Mike Rivera clubbed back-to-back home runs on Sunday in the fourth inning when Nashville pulled ahead 3-1 before a Greer Stadium crowd of 5,313.

 

"That gave us a lot of confidence,'' Rivera said. "We needed to get something going and that's a pretty good way to get something going. I got a fastball down the middle and took advantage of it."

 

Rivera also had the second of consecutive homers in the Sounds' 7-4 win over Tacoma last May 20. Nelson Cruz had the other.

 

Dillon's homer, a two-run shot and his second in the series against Albuquerque, cleared the left field wall just over the outstretched glove of former Sound Chad Hermansen.

 

Rivera followed with a solo shot that hit the Sounds guitar-shaped scoreboard in left field.

 

Nashville's Tim Dillard (2-3) allowed just one more run over the next two innings before being replaced by Grant Balfour in the seventh. Luther Hackman earned his sixth save.

 

"I was just trying to keep our team close before we got those two homers,'' Dillard said. "It was kind of slipping away and I didn't have my best stuff. I was like, 'Anything right here would be great,' and the next thing you know it was a couple of bombs. When you have an inning like (the fourth) you really just try to get your team back in there because when they're seeing it well, it's contagious.''

 

Tennessean feature on Rick Ankiel, visiting Nashville starting Monday night:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Sounds closer Hackman compiles saves in bunches

By MIKE ORGAN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Sounds closer Luther Hackman picked up his fourth save over a seven-day stretch Sunday.

 

Hackman helped Nashville beat Albuquerque 5-2 by retiring the side in the ninth inning.

 

No other Pacific Coast League pitcher had more than one save over the previous six days.

 

Hackman now has a total of six saves on the year.

 

He's safe: Joe Dillon, who hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, has hit safely in seven of the last eight games.

 

Locked in: Laynce Nix has hit safely in eight of his nine games with Nashville on a rehabilitation assignment.

 

The center fielder singled to left field Sunday. He has eight RBIs and six of his hits have been for extra bases.

 

Strumming: Mike Rivera's fourth-inning home run hit the Sounds guitar-shaped scoreboard, meaning for the second time this season the catcher will receive a free Copley guitar. A presentation will be made later in the season.

 

The only other Sound who has hit the guitar this season is Ryan Braun, who hit it twice.

 

Braun's back: Braun returned Saturday after missing 12 games with left wrist tendinitis. Braun, Milwaukee's No. 2 prospect according to Baseball America, leads the Sounds with eight home runs. But he is 0-for-7 over with a walk since returning.

 

Reed speed: Albuquerque center fielder Eric Reed, one of the fastest players in the PCL, showed off his speed in the sixth inning. Reed got a triple off a shot that bounced to the warning track in center field. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Chad Hermansen.

 

D-E-F-E-N-S-E: Nashville defense has played mistake-free baseball in five of the last six contests and has committed a Pacific Coast League-low 25 errors. The Sounds also lead the PCL with a .984 fielding percentage. The only error in the last five games was an overthrow of second by catcher Vinny Rottino.

 

The Sounds led the PCL last season with a .982 fielding mark.

[Mass Haas]

Charleston Daily Mail:

 

The Power returned to the Capital City after Sunday's victory -- their third in a row -- to start an eight-game homestand at Appalachian Power Park with a four-game series against the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets tonight.

 

The first pitch is set for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central) on a Fat Two for Tuesday at the stadium.

 

The Northern Division-leading Power (28-12) and the Southern Division-leading GreenJackets (30-13) are the South Atlantic League's top two teams, albeit with contrasting strengths.

 

West Virginia (.300 batting average) is its top hitting team, while Augusta (2.36 earned run average) is its top pitching team.

 

The Power is starting left-hander Brae Wright (3-2, 6.20). The GreenJackets are pitching left-hander Clayton Tanner (4-2, 1.56).

[hsvstarsfan]

JUST ENOUGH DISTANCE

 

Brendan Katin worked the count to 3-1 in the bottom of the 11th, then fouled off a pitch....... WT's new pitcher Luis Sandoval tried to slip an outside fast ball past him, but Brendan drove it high to right....... Prentice Redman went back to the track, not far from the foul line....... Could he make the catch? Would the ball go far enough? When Redman dropped his arms and watch the ball barely drop over the first fence, about 346 feet away from home, it put an end to a 4-hour, 11½ inning, 8-7 comeback win, the Stars' 8th in their last 10 ........ I didn't think it would go over, and later, Katin told me he didn't think it was going to make it either.

 

Adam Pettyjohn (0-1, 4.50 in his last three starts) was knocked out in the shortest start for any starter this year. A double, a walk, two singles, a hit batter, and another single later, he finally retired his first hitter, #7 Jeff Frazier on a short fly ball to center....... After Yohannis Perez was unable to make a play on a sharply hit one-hopper that was headed for the hole, Pettyjohn was gone after 34 pitches........ Bo Hall (1-1, 2.00) came in to carry the major portion of 10 2/3 innings of relief work for the Stars and doing a fair job. Hall went 3 2/3 innings, but gave up a 2nd inning home run by Erick Monzon in back of the 2nd fence behind the Admiral sign in left......Now behind, 5-0, the Stars went to work at chipping into the lead.

 

Now herein lies another difference between this Diamond Jaxx team and last year's speedy bunch........ Last year's Diamond Jaxx had the best pitching in the Southern League (2.84 ERA), gave up the fewest HRs, and was the only team to give up less than 400 earned runs....... This year's reminds me a lot of the Stars' 1997 pitching staff --- unable to keep down opposing bats....... Dead last in ERA (4.41) and tops with 39 home runs allowed........ You gotta wonder how the fans in Jackson, what few there are (they're averaging 1,761 per game) feel about this 180° turn....... It only serves to doom this team from staying in the league very much longer.

 

The Stars closed the gap as eight batters went to the plate in the 3rd inning -- sacrifice flies by Hernan Iribarren and Carlos Corporan, (the Stars now have 17, 2nd to the Diamond Jaxx' 18 in the SL), and a one-hop RBI liner to left by Brendan Katin, scoring Ruben Mateo, making the score, 5-3........ Robert Hinton, who heretofore had allowed only 2 earned runs in 17 innings for a 1.06 ERA, came on in the 5th, but the D'Jaxx tacked on two more runs to make it 7-3....... Matt Tuiasosopo bounced a leadoff double off the warning track in right and scored on Charlton Jimerson's line drive single to center. Jimerson, himself, scored on Luis Valbuena's sac fly fairly deep to Steve Moss in center.

 

Hinton, Luis Pena (making his Stars debut), Marino Salas, and Jeff Housman then held the Diamond Jaxx the rest of the way allowing just one hit -- a single to right by Jeff Frazier, who just five days earlier, had a 20-game hit streak, longest in the league this season, stopped by Montgomery....... That gave the Stars enough time to rally -- three more runs in the 6th to make it 7-6 -- the 6th run provided by a balk called after Jose de la Cruz threw a 2-2 pitch outside --- then the dramatic 9th inning.

 

Carlos Corporan started things with a one-out 2-hop single to right and with a relief change, Brendan Katin walked....... Adam Heether (4-for-12 in this series and a livelier .214 this month) fouled out to left for the 2nd out........ With Guilder Rodriguez running for catcher Corporan, a pinch-hitting situation for Lou Palmisano came at the right time........ Batting for shortstop Yohannis Perez, Lou ripped a 3-2 pitch from Craig James into left....... Frazier took the ball on the second hop and fired it home, but not in time as G. Rod crossed the plate with the tying run.

 

G. Rod failed to deliver in the clutch in the 10th inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd, but two double plays -- one in the 10th and one in the 11th -- held the Diamond Jaxx down before Katin came to bat as the leadoff man in the 11th, to provide his 2nd game-winning home run this season........ Ironically, Katin had beaten Montgomery, April 22, with a game-winning 2-out HR in the 11th at Riverwalk Stadium, 9-8.

 

The Stars, who have never been able to take four-out-of-five this year from anyone, have a chance, Monday night......... Steve Hammond (3-5, 6.2http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/glasses.gif will be opposed by Joe Woerman (1-1, 3.82)........ Since his 6-hit shutout over Birmingham on April 29, Hammond is 1-2 with a 7.20 ERA, and had never gotten past the 5th inning........ Woerman threw 7 scoreless innings over Montgomery in his last start, holding the Biscuits to just 2 hits last Wednesday.

 

The Stars are now 11-7 this month, their best May mark in 3 years (in 2005-06 combined, they were 16-43), and hitting .270. Guilder Rodriguez tops all averages with a .387 mark in 31 at-bats and Brendan Katin has bounced back from a .210 April to hit .303 this month with 4 HRs and 14 RBIs, nearly matching his April total........ The Stars are now 11-4 in day games and unbeaten on Sundays (6-0)....... The Stars have released outfielder Mike Carlin (1, 7, .222) to make room for Drew Anderson, who was sent down from Nashville when Ryan Braun came off the disabled list and prior to Sunday's game, released pitcher Luis Villareal, who had just come down from Nashville when Joe Thatcher was promoted to the Sounds....... Villareal, the winning pitcher in relief for the Stars on opening day, had been sent back to Huntsville only a couple of days previously

 

David Weiser's Huntsville Stars Box Score