Stars drop series finale to Cubs

One of the winning streaks had to come to an end.

The Las Vegas Stars entered Friday's game against the Iowa Cubs winners of four straight games, while the Cubs countered with ace Kennie Steenstra, looking to improve his already impressive 9-0 record.

Steenstra struck out seven batters in seven innings, yielding eight hits and giving up four runs as the Cubs ended the Stars' run with a 9-4 victory at Cashman Field.

"We didn't do much wrong," Stars' manager Jerry Royster said. "We faced a guy who hadn't lost all year. We got four runs and that should have been enough...there is not a whole bunch you can do."

The Cubs plated three runs in the first and fourth innings to jump out to a 6-0 lead and give Steenstra a big cushion.

Las Vegas starter Matt Clement (9-6) gave up back-to-back singles to Jason Maxwell and Kary Bridges to open the first. Micah Franklin cleared the bases with a three-run home run.

In the fourth, Rod McCall doubled to start the inning and scored on a Chris Peterson RBI single. A two-run error by Clement allowed the Cubs to score their other two runs of the inning.

The Stars made things interesting with three runs in the fourth.

Chris Prieto singled and Dave Hajek doubled to start the rally. Prieto scored the Stars' first run of the game on a George Arias run-scoring groundout and Mike Devereaux belted a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Iowa answered back with two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to seal the victory. Despite the loss on Friday, the Stars are optimistic after taking three of four from the Cubs.

"You better believe (it's nice)," Royster said of his team's performance against the Cubs. "It's nice to see something like that. We haven't yet gone on a streak when we take 15-of-20."

The Stars did a lot of things right in the four game set.

On Tuesday, they opened the series with a easy 10-4 win. Then on Wednesday, the Stars rallied back from a 8-1 deficit, eventually winning 11-10. And on Thursday, the Stars turned a team-record six double plays to stop several Cub rallies and win 5-4.

Royster was pleased with the way the Stars executed in clutch situations. "A combination of everything, pitching and hitting," the coach said. "We got big hits we had to and the pitchers got key outs when we needed to."

When the Stars open a four game series tomorrow at home against the Albuquerque Dukes (the Los Angeles Dodger's affiliate) they'll have the confidence that they can challenge for the Pacific Coast League's Southern Division title. Entering Friday's game, the Stars trail the Fresno Giants by 12 games.

"I'm telling everyone if we can mount a streak, anything can happen, " Royster said.

NOTES: The Stars have won four straight games two other times this season (4/22-4/24 & 5/1-5/5)...Las Vegas' longest losing streak of the year is five games, which they have done twice (6/5-6/12 &7/3-7/6)...Arias went 2-for-4 with two RBI to extend his hitting streak to a season best nine game. Arias has also hit safely in eight consecutive games twice this season... The announced attendance was 7,766, several of which stayed after to enjoy country singer Monty Holmes in concert... Brad Kaufman (7-7, 6.26) is scheduled to start tomorrow's game which gets under way at 7:05 p.m. Jeff Williams (3-5, 5.54) is the scheduled started for the Dukes.

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