Stars take early lead, but Lookouts prevail in season opener

By: Aaron Morse

The Huntsville Stars wasted no time taking an early 2-0 lead in their first game of the season, but the Chattanooga Lookouts took advantage of three Stars errors and prevailed 4-2 on Thursday night.

Lookouts starter Chris Withrow struggled in the first inning as Brett Lawrie doubled home Lorenzo Cain with nobody out. After Lawrie advanced to third, Taylor Green drove him in with a sacrifice fly. But after that, Withrow was in complete control. He tossed six innings while surrendering only three hits and two runs. At one point, he retired 16 Stars in a row.

But Stars starter Amaury Rivas was tough as nails as he went five shutout innings, scattering three hits, while striking out four and walking three.

The Lookouts got one run back in the sixth off reliever Brandon Kintzler. Andrew Lambo reached on an error, and two outs later Scott Van Slyke doubled him home.

The Stars still hung on to their 2-1 lead until the bottom of the 8th, when the Lookouts exploded for three runs to take the lead for the first time in the game. With one out, Lambo walked, chasing reliever Casey Baron from the game. New pitcher Robert Hinton was immediately victimized by a throwing error that allowed the Lookouts to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one down. One out later, Van Slyke dealt the killer blow as he doubled home both runners to give the Lookouts the 3-2 lead. Pinch hitter Tommy Giles singled home Van Slyke for the insurance run.

Javy Guerra nailed down the save for the Lookouts, who start the year 1-0. Jesus Rodriguez (1-0) picked up the win out of the bullpen, while Hinton (0-1) suffered the loss. All four of the Lookouts’ runs were unearned.

The two teams will do battle tomorrow at 6:15pm Central Time. You can hear all the action on WTKI AM 1450 and FM 92.9. The game can be heard online at www.wtkiradio.com and www.huntsvillestars.com. Pre-game show starts at 6:00.