Stars pretenders not contenders in 1998

FRESNO --- If this was supposed to be the series that was going to determine whether the Las Vegas Stars are serious Pacific Coast League South Division contenders or pretenders, Jerry Royster's squad may want to see if Chrissy Hynde is available to be their mascot.

Although the Stars (39-43) still have one game left here tonight with the South Division-leading Grizzlies (53-27) that will be televised on KFBT-Channel 33 --- women and children be forewarned --- there appears to be little doubt left that the Stars are nothing more than mere pretenders in 1998.

The Grizzlies, who two-hit the Stars in a 4-0 win in Saturday night's opener, topped that Sunday with an impressive sweep of a day-night doubleheader of Las Vegas at Fresno State's Beiden Field.

Tough-luck Kevin Lomon saw his record fall to 0-9 in a 2-0 loss in the nightcap after the Grizzlies hammered out seven solo home runs, including a Las Vegas team record six off starter Brian Tollberg, in a 15-7 spanking in the opener.

Fresno, which has won its last six games in a row against Las Vegas, now leads the Stars by 15 games with just tonight's contest to go before the triple-A All-Star break.

The Stars couldn't have looked any uglier in losing Sunday's twinbill, either.

In the opener, Tollberg (2-3) looked as though he was auditioning to be the pitcher in today's major league All-Star home run derby at Coors Field, surrendering six gopher balls in just 4 1/3 innings. That easily eclipsed the team single-game record for home runs allowed by a pitcher. The old mark was four.

Tollberg came close to breaking that record in the second inning alone, allowing back-to-back-to-back home runs to second baseman Jason Canizaro, backup catcher Craig Mayes and starting pitcher Darin Blood, the 7-8-9 batters in the Fresno order. Remarkably, two of the six home runs Tollberg allowed were by Grizzly pitchers: Blood and reliever Dean Hartgraves (1-2).

Lomon, who allowed just four hits and one earned run in the nightcap, could only dream of such support. He looked like he might finally have a chance to garner his first victory of the season when the Stars loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth. But Fresno starter Russ Ortiz got out of the jam without allowing a run by striking out right fielder Charles Poe, shortstop Juan Melo and catcher Jimmy Gonzalez in succession.

The good news? The Stars haven't been mugged by any Fresno State basketball players here ... yet.

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