Late Charge Falls Short for Biscuits

[Game recap provided by Joe Davis of the Montgomery Biscuits.]

HUNTSVILLE, AL – The Huntsville Stars (31-37) scored all their runs with two outs then held off a late charge to top the Biscuits (38-28) 9-6 Friday at Joe Davis Stadium, giving the Biscuits their first back-to-back losses since May.

The Stars got two in the second against Jeremy Hall, then poured across five in the third. Lee Haydl and Brett Lawrie led off against Hall with back-to-back walks, but Hall retired the next two to nearly escape. Zelous Wheeler then hit a two-run smash to make it 4-0, and after Hall hit two batters in a row, Chuckie Caufield knocked a three-run shot to open the lead to 7-0.

The Biscuits got an RBI single from Matt Sweeney in the fourth, but the Stars added two in the seventh off of Ryan Reid to grow the advantage to 9-1.

Montgomery began to mount a comeback in the seventh. Chris De La Cruz scored Cody Cipriano on a Huntsville error. Emeel Salem then collected an RBI with a single, a run came home on a wild pitch, and Chris Nowak completed the frame with an RBI double to make it 9-5.

The Biscuits finished the scoring in the eighth on a dropped third strike.

Hall (4-3) allowed seven runs (six earned) on three hits and four walks over just 2.2 innings. Amaury Rivas (6-5) was splendid for the Stars, fanning eight Biscuits while allowing a run on four hits over his five innings of work.

Salem and Leslie Anderson each recorded two hits to lead the Biscuits.

The magic number for the Biscuits is now down to two with two games left. A single win would mean that Jacksonville would have to win the final three games against Birmingham to win the division.

LHP Jake McGee will throw for the Biscuits on Saturday at 7:05 against RHP Josh Butler.