Stars blow four-run lead, then lose in extra innings

By Aaron Morse

What started as a good night for the Stars turned into a disastrous one as they dropped the series opener by a score of 6-5 in 12 innings to the Jacksonville Suns Thursday.

Huntsville got some two out lightning in the first inning against Suns’ starter Jeff Allison. With two in the well, Zelous Wheeler doubled to right. Drew Anderson followed with a RBI single in the hole between first and second to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.

Chris Nowak drew a lead-off base-on-balls in the second inning. Taylor Green continued his torrid hitting with a single to right-center that advanced Nowak to third. One out later, Anderson De La Rosa picked up his first RBI as a Star with a sacrifice fly to center field.

The 2-0 lead got cut in half in the bottom of the second when Lee Mitchell took Stars’ starter Michael Bowman deep to right field for a solo homer.

It seemed like the Stars grabbed control of the game in the third. Brett Lawrie started things with a triple, his league-leading 12th of the year. After Caleb Gindl walked, Wheeler hit a hard grounder and was robbed of a base hit. Instead it was a double play, but Lawrie scored to make the score 3-1. Anderson followed with his fourth homer of the year to extend the lead to 4-1.

They’d add an insurance run in the fifth. With one away, Wheeler smoked a ground-rule double. Then with two outs, Nowak came up huge as he grounded a single up the middle, driving in Wheeler and giving the Stars a 5-1 lead.

Bowman was excellent as he went six innings, giving up only three hits and one run. He walked two and struck-out six in the effort.

But it would not be enough for the “W” as the bullpen imploded in the seventh. New pitcher Andre Lamontagne was greeted rudely with a Matt Dominguez double. One out later, Lamontagne issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. Jeff Corsaletti made Lamontagne pay for his wildness as he singled in two to make the score 5-3. Nick Green entered the game and immediately walked the first man he faced to reload the bases. After Brandon Tripp struck-out, former Star Vinny Rottino tied things up with a single to left.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Suns threatened against Stars’ reliever Jim Henderson. With one away, Corsaletti reached on a two-base throwing error by Zelous Wheeler. A ground-ball to second moved him to third base. But Henderosn struck-out Tripp to get out of the jam and send the game to extra innings.

Eddie Morlan would surrender the winning run in the bottom of the 12th as he walked pinch hitter Elih Villanueva, who happens to be a starting pitcher, with the bases loaded to end the game.

It’s the fourth loss in a row for the Stars and they fall two games back of the Smokies in the north division.

The game featured both benches clearing when the Suns kept brushing back Michael Bowman at the plate. Suns’ reliever Dan Jennings was ejected for throwing a pitch behind Bowman.

Mark Rogers will head to the mound Friday night. Tune to the Stars Radio Network beginning at 5:50pm central time for the Window World Pre-Game Report.