Link Report for Sat. 9/15 -- Gulin, Stars Force Deciding Game Five!

[Mass Haas]

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

 

 

[Mass Haas]

Here's hoping there's one more Link Report left beyond this one --

 

Huntsville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Montgomery (Devil Rays), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime; Game Four of a Best-of-Five for the Southern League Championship; Biscuits lead, 2-1

 

Audio link:

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Huntsville Box Score / Game Log:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_15_monaax_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville wins, 4-1, the final game of the Brewer minor league season will be at 6:05 Central Sunday evening at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

All the details soon.

 

It'd be great to have Don Money back in Miller Park for his bobblehead night in two weeks with a Southern League championship trophy in tow.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/news/news.asp?newsId=1368

 

Gulin Hurls Huntsville to Game Four Win, Sets Up Fifth and Decisive Game

 

Lindsay Gulin overcame a rough beginning to put together a masterful eight-inning performance to pitch Huntsville to a 4-1 victory Saturday night in game four of the Southern League Championship Series at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars evened the series at two games apiece to force a decisive fifth game Sunday evening at 6:05. The Stars will be trying to win their fourth-ever league title, while the Biscuits are trying to become the first repeat winners in 30 years.

 

Gulin walked the bases loaded with one out in the first inning and induced John Jaso to bounce into a force out at second base that scored Fernando Perez with the game's first run. He worked out of further trouble in the second inning by striking out Erold Andrus, getting Perez to fly to shallow left and fanning Josh Asanovich with runners at the corners.

 

Steve Moss walked to open the home third, went to second on a Ryan Crew sacrifice bunt, moved to third on a Guilder Rodriguez single and scored to tie the game on an Alcides Escobar fielders' choice grounder. Steve Sollmann then launched a two-run home run, his first since August 20th, to put the home team in front for the first time.

 

Gulin fanned Asanovich with the bases loaded to end the fourth, got Gabriel Martinez to fly to shallow right and Sergio Pedroza to bounce into a force at second with runners on the corners to end the fifth and induced the speedy Perez to ground into a double play to end the sixth. The veteran left-hander then retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth innings to finish off his second season-saving start in the post-season, during which he allowed one run in 17 innings. Luis Pena gave up a two-out single in the ninth to Perez before punching out Asanovich to end the game and earn his second playoff save.

 

Brendan Katin singled in a run with a chopping ground ball over Patrick Cottrell at third against a drawn-in infield off of Nick DeBarr in the eighth to add an insurance run. Biscuits' starter Mike Prochaska gave up three runs on six hits over seven innings and suffered the hard luck loss.

 

Huntsville southpaw Steve Hammond will take the hill in the deciding game on Sunday against Biscuits' right-hander Richard De Los Santos. Coverage of the game begins at 5:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on 770 AM WVNN and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com .

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Huge gutsy win by Lindsay Gulin -- the Stars' rotation isn't exactly filled with 23-year-olds that profile as long-time Brewers, but it may net Huntsville fans two half-season crowns and a league championship; Guilder Rodriguez hits leadoff in the season's biggest game -- Don Money pushing the right buttons; you can bet Steve Hammond will have a mighty short leash Sunday -- the Stars' should have red-hot relievers Robert Hinton and Patrick Ryan available, and of course, Luis Pena...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_15_monaax_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_15_monaax_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

http://www.starsboxscore.com/

 

SOLLMANN's TWO-RUN HR EVENS SERIES

GULIN SURVIVES SHAKY 1st

 

It came on as a bad sign....... With an alpha, there is an omega, and with the breeze coming in from the north coupled with the 68° temperature, forcing some fans to get out the sweaters and jackets (even blankets), it was remindful of how the season started (only not nearly as cold as the opener's 47° opener)....... Was this to be the season's omega, too?

 

It started out looking that way....... With a healthy number of hyped-up Biscuit fans positioned behind the visitors' dugout on the 1st base side, imported via special coach rumored to have been paid for by Montgomery mayor Bobby Bright (I couldn't imagine former mayor Emory Folmar doing such a thing), the Biscuits benefited from cheap hits and wildness from Lindsay Gulin to take an early 1-0 lead.

 

Of the first four hitters to face Gulin in the 1st, he went to three-ball counts on three of them....... Fernando Perez walked on four pitches and after Josh Asanovich sacrificed him to second, Reid Brignac walked on five....... Gulin got behind on dangerous Chris Nowak, 3-and-0, threw two strikes, then walked him to load the bases....... Manager Don Money was going with his pitcher, but not before there was a little trip to the mound for a confidence vote....... John Jaso, yet to get untracked in the series average-wise (.219), but leading the Biscuits in runs batted in, grounded the ball to Alcides Escobar, who quickly fed to Guilder Rodriguez for the force on Nowak, but Jaso was called safe at first on a close call........ Perez scored....... Gulin got out of the inning, but of his 19 pitches, only seven were strikes.

 

Gulin shook off his wildness in the 2nd inning, but a pair of cheap hits to the outfield put runners on the corners with nobody out....... Designated hitter Sergio Pedroza threaded an 0-1 grounder under G. Rod's glove into right for a single and 3rd baseman Patrick Cottrell dropped a 1-1 pitch on the edge of the outfield grass on the right side of the infield for another hit, sending Pedroza scampering to third....... After that, Gulin started becoming a different pitcher....... He challenged Erold Andrus and struck him out swinging at a 68 mph curve, retired Perez on a fly ball to left, and then struck out Asanovich on an 82 mph fast ball....... Gulin threw 20 pitches this time, but got 15 of them over for strikes.

 

The Stars, however, had yet to get untracked........ Not one ball was hit out of the infield in their first two innings, and three of the four ground balls were hit back to starting pitcher Mike Prochaska (0-2, 3.65 vs. Huntsville during the regular season)........ Finally, in the 3rd inning, the Stars started shifting the momentum, and it was Steve Sollmann to get the pendulum over to our side.

 

Prochaska walked his only hitter, Steve Moss, who worked a 3-2 count, to start the 3rd. He is sacrificed to 2nd on a bunt in front of the plate by Ryan Crew that he actually beat out by a half-step, but the call by 1st base ump Eric Loveless didn't go our way........Sounds like whining, I know, but it's the truth....... Guilder Rodriguez, in just his 2nd post-season start, and leading off for the first time this season, lined a one-hop single to right; not deep enough to score Moss, but it puts runners on the corners........ Alcides Escobar then hit a one-hop chop to Cottrell at third. Cottrell goes to Asanovich, who forces out Rodriguez, then throws to try to complete the double play. Escobar beats the throw, but Moss was going on the pitch, and slid beautifully into home, just beating Nowak's throw to Jaso for the Stars' first run.

 

Up stepped the hero of the hour -- Steve Sollmann....... Sollmann was hitting just .207 in the post-season when he stepped up to the plate, but during the regular season, he feasted on the Biscuits, hitting .410 and driving in 11 runs in 10 games....... He got a 2-2 Prochaska pitch and skied it high and just far enough to creep over the left field wall for a two-run homer, giving the Stars the lead they would never relinquish....... Had left fielder Gabriel Martinez played him a few steps deeper, he might have had a chance to pluck that ball away, but such was not the case....... Sollmann hit just three home runs during the regular season (the last on August 20).

 

Montgomery continued to threaten....... They loaded the bases in the 4th on a pair of singles and a walk, but Gulin struck out Asanovich on a 68 mph curve to end the inning....... In the 5th, pesky Chris Nowak hooked a 3-2 pitch that fell inside the right field corner for a one-out triple. Gulin then hit Jaso with a 1-1 pitch with a breaking ball. It unintentionally set up the double play, but after Gabriel Martinez lined out to right, Gulin was able to get a 4-6 force on Jaso to end the inning....... After that, Gulin sailed through the next three innings, finishing with somewhere around 113 pitches. The Biscuits managed just two hits, both singles, off Gulin and closer Luis Pena, in the final four innings. Gulin retired eight straight hitters before Pena entered in the 9th to pick up his 2nd save of the post-season......... Sollmann gave the Stars some insurance in the 8th inning when he hit a one-out single to right-center, advanced on Adam Heether's ground ball single into left, then to third on a double steal, and scoring on Brendan Katin's sharp single to left over a drawn-in infield.

 

Now it comes down to what this whole season is all about -- the championship -- and it couldn't come on a better day........ The Stars are 17-2 on Sundays this season....... That's a good omen, if you believe in omens, but if you believe in what gets you there in the first place -- ability -- you have to say tomorrow's anybody's game....... The Stars will call on Steve Hammond........ During the regular season, the Biscuits went to town on him in two starts, scoring 12 runs (11 earned) on 16 hits in just 9 2/3 innings and in the final game of the playoffs against Tennessee, he was lifted after four innings, leaving the Stars to dig out of a 5-1 hole. Also, Hammond surrendered 19 home runs during the season. As I've mentioned before, that's the most since Mark Brownson served up 18 in 2001. (Corey Thurman also gave up 18 this year.)....... If Hammond gets into early trouble, Don Money won't waste any time in bringing in a well-rested bullpen. Robert Hinton last pitched in Game One. Sam Narron will be available. E.J. Shanks is available (and in fact, warmed up when Gulin was getting in trouble early on) and newcomer Patrick Ryan, who made his impressive debut on Thursday, has had a day's rest.

 

Montgomery plans to send Tony Peguero, who has been more effective as a reliever this year (2.53 ERA in 10 2/3 innings) than as a starter (1-1, 5.59 in four starts). Peguero did not pitch in the Southern Division Series, but he held the Stars scoreless for an inning-and-a-third in the Stars' Game One victory at Montgomery....... Last year, Peguero was the #2 starter behind 15-game winner Andy Sonnanstine, and against the Stars, was 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in two starts.

 

The Biscuits are hitting .267 in the post-season, but with more power than the Stars (23 extra-base hits, including 10 HRs, compared to 15 extra-base hits for the Stars and five HRs).

 

The Stars are hitting .286 in this series with Montgomery, and .295 in the post-season, with Hernan Iribarren, at .389, leading nine different players hitting at a .300 clip ........This is the best post-season mark since 1994 (Athletics' organization), when the Stars hit .292 in dispatching Chattanooga in three games and Carolina in four for the Southern League title....... The Stars had five .300 hitters in the post-season that year: Garrett Beard (.345), Chris Hart (.318), Joel Wolfe (.357), Jimmy Waggoner (.368), and Ernie Young (.391)........ Incidentally, this will be the first time since 1994 that the Stars will play the deciding game for the home crowd. The final game of the 1997 series was played at Greenville, the 2001 series was cancelled because of the terrorist attacks on the United States, the 2003 decider was played at Five County Stadium, and last year's championship was finished up in Montgomery.

 

The post-season team ERA is 3.76. The bullpen ERA of 4.33 is a bit skewed by the shellacking received in the 11-6 loss to Tennessee in Game 3 of the Division Playoffs at Smokies Park. Take that away, and you have a 1.50 ERA......... After a 1-for-8 post-season start, Lou Palmisano is hitting .381, but he's driven in only one run, and that was in Game 1 of the Northern Division Playoffs........ Iribarren has hit safely in every game of the playoffs, but has driven in just one run during the Championship Series........ In post-season history, there have been four .400 hitters. Last year, Jeff Eure hit .429 in four games of the Championship Series, after not having a single official at-bat against Chattanooga in the Division Playoffs. Webster Garrison hit .400 in just 10 at-bats in 1998. Joe Xavier hit .500 in 14 at-bats in 1987, and Rocky Coyle hit .414 in 1986, after hitting .394 in the post-season the year before.

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com's link includes Montgomery audio of the Steve Sollmann home run:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070916&content_id=303255&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

 

Gulin keeps Stars alive again

by Marissa Rega / Special to MLB.com

Lindsay Gulin's second strong outing with the Huntsville Stars' postseason fate on the line could be attributed to some good home cooking.

The 30-year-old left-hander pitched eight strong innings Saturday as Huntsville topped the Montgomery Biscuits, 4-1, to force a decisive fifth game in the Southern League Championship Series.

"I had some good tacos last night," said Gulin, who prepared for Saturday's contest with the traditional meal that his wife, Traci, prepares. "That usually does the trick."

Gulin (2-0) gave up one run on seven hits and four walks with six strikeouts to lower his postseason ERA to a league-best 0.53.

"I didn't really have the control I usually have," he said. "[Catcher Lou Palmisano and I] tried to mix it up the best we could."

Gulin tossed a complete-game three-hitter against Tennessee on Sunday to help Huntsville stave off elimination in Game 4 of the North Division Finals.

"All the money is on the line on this one," he said. "This is what it's all about."

Gulin went 12-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 21 regular-season starts, winning his lone outing against Montgomery.

"I was just going to enjoy it. I knew it was going to be my last start of the year," he said of taking the mound Saturday.

Luis Pena pitched around a hit and fanned one in the ninth to notch his second save and force Game 5 on Sunday at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Alcides Escobar grounded into an RBI forceout and Steve Sollmann cranked a two-run homer, his first postseason blast, over the left-field wall in the third to give the Stars a 3-1 lead.

"The guys come right back and pick you up," Gulin said.

Sollmann also singled and scored on Brendan Katin's base hit in the eighth. The 25-year-old first baseman shares the team lead with seven playoff RBIs.

Biscuits starter Mike Prochaska (1-1) surrendered three runs on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts over seven innings. Nick DeBarr yielded a run on three hits while fanning three in the eighth.

Fernando Perez, Reid Brignac and Chris Nowak walked to load the bases and John Jaso stroked an RBI forceout in the first for Montgomery, which is trying to become the first team to defend its Southern League championship since 1977.

The Biscuits loaded the bases in the fourth, but Gulin struck out Josh Asanovich to escape the jam.

 

 

Lindsay Gulin gave up one run over 17 innings in two postseason starts. (Tom Priddy/MLB.com)

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2007/09/16/beApTLxS.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Long after the Brewers, Cubs, and even Packers are done this afternoon, your Huntsville Stars play for a league title. Give them a listen tonight at 5:50 Central!

 

I'm guessing quite a few Brewer front office staff will be tuning in, and we wish all the players the best, and have a great time with the broadcast, Brett Pollock and Bryan Neece. Here's to the loyal Booster Club as well.

 

Looking for a wild card? Lou Palmisano turns 25 Sunday, hopefully will have a big game.

 

As of this post, the Huntsville Times doesn't have any coverage of Saturday's game, because, of course, it's the state of Alabama, and it was a college football Saturday, so you need to assign 25 sports writers to that. I'm guessing Mark McCarter will be at Joe Davis Stadium tonight. So thanks to David Weiser for his first-hand account again this morning.

 

Every single series in all of Minor League Baseball is complete except for this one. Go Stars!

 

(I'll kick off the final Link Report for 2007 this afternoon during the Brewer game...)

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1189934250174560.xml&coll=1

 

Stars need one more

A win today gives Huntsville Southern League title

By MIKE EASTERLING

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, mike.easterling@htimes.com

 

Pitchers routinely start games on shortened breaks during baseball playoffs.

 

How about no days rest?

 

Huntsville manager Don Money and the Stars no doubt would like to see veteran Lindsay Gulin toe the mound again today with the Southern League championship on the line.

 

Instead, they'll send Steve Hammond against Montgomery in a one-game showdown for the league title after the Stars forced a fifth and deciding game of the SL Championship Series by scratching out a 4-1 victory Saturday night at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

The two teams meet here tonight at 6:05.

 

"It's a one-game season,'' Money said. "Hopefully when we come out (tonight) we'll play like it's a one-game season because it is.''

 

An announced crowd of 1,141 looked on as Gulin battled for eight innings to get his second clutch win in a week. Last Sunday, he tossed a a three-hit shutout to beat Tennessee and force a fifth and deciding game in the North Division series.

 

This time, he allowed seven hits, walked four and hit a batter over eight innings. But six timely strikeouts and some solid defense that committed no errors helped Gulin strand 10 Montgomery runners.

 

"That's two in a row Lindsay stepped up and came through for us,'' said first baseman Steve Sollmann, who awakened what has been a dormant Huntsville offense with a two-run home run during a three-run third inning. "He didn't have his stuff early on but he battled through it.''

 

Gulin and his off-speed style gave way to hard-throwing closer Luis Pena in the ninth. He allowed a single but recorded the save.

 

"(Gulin) got us in a couple of jams but he's mature enough that he knows his pitches to get out of them,'' Money said.

 

Gulin said the defense "was phenomenal,'' particularly the play of second baseman Guilder Rodriguez and a running catch in the gap by center fielder Steve Moss.

 

"If you can throw it in there and let them hit it because you know the defense will make plays it makes it easier,'' Gulin said.

 

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Moss walked and went to third on a single by Rodriguez. Moss then scored when Alcides Escobar grounded to second and the Biscuits went for the doubleplay. The out was recorded at second, but Escobar beat the throw at first and a hustling Moss slid in just ahead of another throw at home to tie it at 1-all.

 

Sollmann then smashed the two-run homer to left field, and the Stars led 3-0.

 

Money turned aggressive in the eighth when Sollman singled and later moved to third on a double steal with one out. He scored on Brendan Katin's single to make it 4-1.

 

Montgomery, aided by two walks, took a 1-0 lead on a bases-loaded ground out in the first.

 

Mike Prochaska took the loss for the Biscuits, who will start Richard De Los Santos tonight.

 

"It wasn't really smooth sailing,'' Gulin said. "I just felt lucky to be able to go out and pitch.''

 

And because he did the Stars lived for one more game.

[Mass Haas]

Mis-spoke a bit earlier, the California League Championship ends tonight as well, with Steve Garrison's Lake Elsinore team looking for a victory (Steve won't be pitching).