Stars surge into a tie for first

By Aaron Morse

Taylor Green smacked a three-run homer and the Huntsville Stars (11-9, 44-46) scored five runs in the fifth inning on their way to a 9-3 victory over the Mississippi Braves (12-8, 42-46) Wednesday night.

The win gives Huntsville a share of first place in the north division with the Carolina Mudcats. It’s the first time all year the Stars have been on top of the standings.

Huntsville grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first against Braves’ starter Tom Gustafson. With one away, Lee Haydel doubled down the right field line. After Zelous Wheeler walked, Gustafson got the second out of the inning by striking out Drew Anderson. But his wildness hurt him when he proceeded to also walk Steffan Wilson. With Green at the plate, a passed ball allowed Haydel to score from third.

Mississippi took advantage of some sloppy defense to take the lead in the third against Stars’ starter Josh Butler. Jesus Sucre blooped a single to shallow center. Two outs later, Butler issued a free pass to Alejandro Machado. After a wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet, Eric Duncan hit a slow chopper to second base. Brett Lawrie charged hard, but had a hard time getting the ball out of his glove. He airmailed the rushed throw, allowing two runs to score as the Braves went up 2-1. A Mauro Gomez RBI double down the line gave them a 3-1 edge.

All three runs were unearned and Butler was excellent again, going 5.2 innings giving up four hits and striking out five while walking four. It’s his third straight start without surrendering an earned run.

The Stars’ big fifth inning started innocently enough with two straight outs. Gustafson struck-out Haydel swinging, but the pitch was wild and Haydel hustled to first safely. A wild pitch advanced him to second and Zelous Wheeler drove him in with a single to left. On the throw to the plate, Wheeler moved to second base. He’d score on a Drew Anderson RBI single and the game was tied.

After Steffan Wilson walked, Green unloaded on an off-speed pitch for his fifth homer of the year.

The 6-3 lead was more than enough for the Stars’ pitching staff, but just for good measure the Stars tacked on one in the seventh thanks to a Donell Linares error on a grounder off the bat of Dayton Buller that scored Wilson from third.

In the eighth, a RBI single from Wilson and a Green sacrifice fly extended the lead to 9-3.

That’s how the game would end as Eddie Morlan, Nick Green, and Robert Hinton combined to toss 3.1 shutout innings in relief of Butler (3-4) who picked up the win. The game marks the end of the Braves’ seven-game winning streak.