Chattanooga Claims Second Straight From Stars

Published on April 28, 2009 under Southern League (SL1)
Huntsville Stars News Release


Jesus Rodriguez tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief and Chattanooga scored in four straight frames en route to a 7-2 decision over Huntsville Tuesday night in the fourth of a five-game set at AT&T Field. The Lookouts improved to 5-14 with wins in back-to-back games for the first time this season, while the Stars slipped to 10-9 but remain in first place in the North Division, a half game ahead of the Tennessee Smokies, who fell at home to the Carolina Mudcats for a second straight day.

The Stars jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning with two outs when JR Hopf doubled in Drew Anderson and scored on a single by Johnny Raburn, who knocked in his first run of the season. However, the Looks tied the game in the bottom half of the inning when starting pitcher Francisco Felix doubled into right field to chase home Lucas May and Juan Gonzalez.

Chattanooga took the lead for good in the third when Gabriel Martinez mashed a two-run home run to right field, his second of the season, off of starter David Welch, who took the loss to drop to 0-3. Felix was removed with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth and replaced by Rodriguez, who got Raburn to bounce into a force play at the plate and Welch to ground into a force out at second base. The Lookouts then tacked on a run against Welch in the bottom of the inning on a scoring fly ball off the bat of Victor Mercedes, who drove in his third run. Welch was charged with five runs on seven hits, while walking two and striking out four.

Josh Wahpepah took over in the fifth and surrendered two runs on a bases loaded walk to Juan Gonzalez and an infield single by James Tomlin that finished the scoring for both teams. Wahpepah walked three, gave up three hits and struck out three in his two innings and was followed to the hill by Omar Aguilar, who threw two shutout frames.

Felix, in his first start of the year, allowed six hits, while walking one and recording one strikeout. Rodriguez put together his longest outing of the season and yielded three hits while striking out one. He improved to 1-1 and was followed to the hill by Brent Leach, who threw two shutout innings and was removed with two runners on in the ninth. Victor Garate took over and struck out Kevin Melillo to end the game.

The series wraps up Wednesday morning with right-hander Mark Holliman making the start for the Stars against Lookouts' left-hander James Adkins. Coverage of the game begins at 10:00 am central time and can be heard through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Southern League Stories from April 28, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central