Galaxy Gas 2059.28 – Stars Sweep Des Moines

[DugoutDesperado]

The Stars played host to the Des Moines Kernels this past week. Going into the series Valencia and Des Moines were battling for the final two wild card spots in this relatively young season along with the Bikini Krill. Valencia’s record at the beginning of the series was 34-32 while the Kernels weighed in at 33-33. By the end of the series the Stars got a sliver of breathing room by completing a four-game sweep.

In the first game of the series, the Stars jumped out early scoring 4 runs in the 1st inning. Vincente Rivera broke the ice with a RBI double followed by RBI singles from Tim Bartlett and Tyler Conklin. The Stars added another run in the 2nd inning on a RBI single by Kenny Blackwell.

Valencia tacked on 3 more in the 4th inning to make the score 8-0. The scoring strokes in that inning were a 2-RBI single by Mark Kimball and a RBI single by Kevin Lambert.

Des Moines got on the board with a run in the 6th on a RBI single to shallow right field by Isat Kasturirangan.

After trading runs in the 7th and 8th innings, the final score was 9-2.

Xavier Vargas (6-4) gained the win allowing 1 run on 6 hits over 6.1 innings. Tommy Akers (5-5) received the loss allowing 6 runs in 3 innings of work.

In game 2 the Stars again scored 4 runs in their half of the 1st inning thanks to a 2 RBI double by Qadir bin Gamal and a 2-run homer by Tim Bartlett. Valencia added another in the 2nd inning with a RBI double by Kenny Blackwell after Habib bin Ameen hit a one-out triple.

Des Moines foiled the shutout in the top of the 8th inning with a sac fly off the bat of Julio Perez. The Stars closed out the scoring in the bottom of the 8th with a solo homer by Qadir bin Gamal for a final score of 6-1.
Reynold Voermans (5-4) garnered the victory by allowing 1 runs over 7 innings of work while Alonso Amaya (6-5) received the loss.

In the third game of the series, the bats on both teams heated up as the Stars eventually won by a score of 8-7.

The scoring started in the top of the 2nd inning when Hector Cano Jr tripled and then scored on an Erik Wignes groundout. In the bottom of the 2nd, Valencia scored three times a Tyler Conklin single and a 2-run double by Jose Vargas. The Stars scored again in the 4th with a 2-run shot off the bat of Luis Gonzalez.

Things fell apart for the Stars in the top of the 5th with a 5-run Kernel outburst. The big contributor of the scoring was a 2-run double by Ricardo Norman which put Des Moines on top by a score of 6-5. The Kernels scored again in the top of the 8th with a RBI single by Hasheem Makin to increase the lead to 2.
The Stars then came back in the bottom of the 8th with a 2-run shot by Mark Kimball and a solo homer by Kenny Blackwell to make the final score 8-7.

Lindsay Barber (3-2) was credited with the win as he got the final 2 outs in the 8th inning before the stars rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Martin Roman picked up his 21st save by pitching a perfect 9th. Brick Pollitt (2-3) took the loss.

In the series finale, the Stars scored a run in 4 of the first 5 innings en route to a 5-4 win. Homering for Valencia was Kenny Blackwell and Tim Bartlett. Siua Hooheno (2-0) pitched the final 2.2 innings without allowing a run for the win.