Help on the way for Stars

Ask and you shall receive ... finally.

One day after Las Vegas Stars manager Jerry Royster ripped into San Diego Padres management for their lack of action in sending up replacements for injured Stars players, Royster found out he was getting two top players from the Padres' double-A squad in Mobile.

Veteran major league outfielder Doug Dascenzo, who played each of the two years with the Stars, and outfielder/first baseman Dusty Allen, who is leading Mobile in home runs (6), and RBIs (42), will join the slumping Stars (20-19) tonight in Omaha where Las Vegas opens a four-game series with the Royals at Rosenblatt Stadium.

To make room for the newcomers, the Stars sent outfielders Scot Hemmings and Brent Horsman back to extended spring training in Peoria, Ariz.

"I was saying (Tuesday night) that I wanted to see a commitment (from the Padres) and they did it," said a much happier Royster before the Stars' 10-2 loss to the Vancouver Canadians at Cashman Field. "This will take care of us for a while."

Following Tuesday night's 9-4 loss to Vancouver, a game attended by San Diego General Manager Kevin Towers, Royster complained: "We've worked hard to create a new fan base here. Now we don't even have the capability to keep a roster. ... I understand why. But it's too bad. This shouldn't happen in triple-A baseball, especially to a team that's this good."

Two of the Stars top players, DH/1B Eddie Williams and outfielder Ruben Rivera, were recalled by the Padres recently. Four other key everyday starters --- outfielder Aaron Guiel (blurred vision), outfielder Charles Poe (sprained knee), outfielder Chris Prieto (reaction to pain medicine) and first baseman Jason Thompson (jammed shoulder) --- were either on the disabled list or unavailable for duty.

Until Wednesday, the only moves the Padres had made to help out was sending Hemmings and Horsman, a couple of players who combined had played a grand total of 80 games of Rookie League ball in their careers.

Things were so bad that first base coach Craig Colbert was activated and has started three straight games as DH. And Guiel, despite his vision problems, actually volunteered to warm up pitchers in the bullpen because backup catcher Creighton Gubanich had been forced into the starting lineup at first base.

But Poe and Thompson are due back in the lineup this weekend and Guiel should be getting new glasses any day now. That, combined with the additions of Dascenzo and Allen, had Royster much more upbeat Wednesday.

"This will take care of us while we're hurt," Royster said. "Poe and Thompson should be back soon. Mix them in along with guys like (Dave) Hajek, George (Arias) and Mandy (Romero) and the new players and we're going to look pretty good again."

The switch-hitting Dascenzo, who was hitting .278 and had two stolen bases in 10 games at Mobile, will likely lead off which means Hajek can move back into his natural No. 2 spot in the lineup. The 6-4, 215-pound right-handed hitting Allen will add some much needed power in the middle of the lineup and probably play first base.

"He'll hit four, five or six," Royster said. "He'll be right in the thick of it."

Dascenzo, who hit .277 with nine homers, 45 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 109 games at Las Vegas last year, began the season as a coach at Mobile but was forced into action there when that club was also hit with a rash of injuries.

"Doug wanted to play this year and I wanted him to play this year but the opportunity just wasn't there," Royster said. "Now it is."

Allen, who was a 30th round draft pick out of Stanford University in the 1995 June draft, made a good impression on Royster during spring training in Peoria, Ariz.

"He had a very good spring," Royster said. "He's a power-hitter who already has 42 RBIs for them already. That's just what we need here."

But Royster warned that things won't turn around for the Stars, losers of three straight, just because of the additions of Allen and Dascenzo.

"We can't ask Dusty Allen to come in and be a savior," Royster said. "The guys already here aren't doing anything as a team. Somebody has just got to step up."

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