The night after Zach Braddock made Stars history by becoming the first Huntsville pitcher to hit a grand-slam HR (in his first professional at-bat, no less), Robert Hinton made his milestone 100th pitching appearance for the Stars -- the 6th Huntsville pitcher to reach that platform, as the Stars continued to dominate Chattanooga in this series...... The Stars have outscored the Lookouts, 34-14 in this six-game series, while hitting .284........ Nice to see them win on my birthday.

Hinton came into the game, in relief of starter Mark Holliman and Casey Baron, looking for his 10th save, after powerful Andrew Lambo turned a 5-0 game into a game within reach for the Chattanooga Lookouts with a monstrous 3-run homer almost to dead-center....... Cruising with a two-hitter, it looked like the momentum was shifting in this game when in the 6th, Jonathan Lucroy, with the bases loaded and one out, hit a comebacker right back to pitcher Javy Guerra, who didn't have to move a foot to start a 1-2-3 double play ending a possible big inning....... The omen continued to grow in the top of the 7th when Kevin Melillo's throwing error allowed Joseph Becker to reach for a two-base error. Holliman struck out Josh Bell, but Holliman grazed Eduardo Perez with a pitch, setting the stage for Lambo's big blast. Tommy Giles singled hard up the middle with two out, ending Holliman's night, and Gabriel Gutierrez did likewise off Casey Baron, the new pitcher, finding a hole through the left side of the infield. With runners on first and second, it looked like Chattanooga was going to have another big inning, but pinch-hitter Mike Rose lined out to Freddy Parejo in right.

Hinton, the Stars' hot-and-cold closer, took over in the 8th to face the top of the order. After a called strike, Hinton came off the first base side of the mound to field a tough slapper by James Tomlin. It would have been a risky throw. Hinton kept the ball and as fast as Tomlin was able to reach first with the single, he was forced out on Becker's grounder to Johnny Raburn. Hinton finished the inning with four more pitches, then retired the Lookouts in order with a grounder and a pair of strikeouts, using 17 pitches in the 8th....... But no save for Hinton....... The Stars put across a pair of runs in the 7th on a two-run single by Johnny Raburn (who had his biggest game this year: 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs) and a 2-run HR by Melillo (his team-leading 8th) that stayed just within the right field foul line in the 8th.

Adam Stern continued his stolen base resurgence, picking up his league-leading 27th stolen base with a swipe of third in the 2nd inning. He has 4 in his last 5 games after managing only one in the first three weeks of June........ Saturday, the Stars turn back the clock and commemorate 1985 -- the very first successful year of the team's existence when they drew over 300,000 and won the Southern League championship. Josh Butler and Travis Chick return to face each other, as they did in the first game of this series, so that should make the game interesting....... Chick was San Diego's #4 minor league prospect in 2005.

Robert Hinton has now moved into 45th place among the Stars' all-time relief list in innings pitched (148), ahead of Mike Maurer. Next is Jack Krawczyk, who has 151 2/3 innings...... Hinton has a few more games to catch up to Scott Huntsman (107), then should cruise past Dave Latter (111) and Steve Phoenix (112) for 3rd place before he's locked behind Maurer and the all-time leader, Derek Lee, who leads with 136 appearances.

Shane Justis, 7-for-18 (.389) since the second half started, raised his average to .312, 7th best in the Southern League. The Stars, as a team, is 2nd in the league in batting with a .262 average........ Donovan Hand, who starts against Tennessee when the Stars go on the road, is 2nd among SL ERA leaders (2.34). The Stars are 8th in ERA (4.08).

The Diamond Jaxx released former Stars pitcher Patrick Ryan (2-5, 6.62), Friday night...... Also Friday night, Birmingham pitcher Lucas Harrell (8-3, 3.25) was promoted to Class AAA-Charlotte (IL)....... Chattanooga signed Ramon Nivar, a former major leaguer with Texas and Baltimore, prior to Saturday night's game, as a free agent. Holliman got him on a grounder to Melillo in the 6th....... Omar Aguilar picked up his 1st win for Brevard County, tossing two scoreless, hitless innings for the Manatees who picked up the winning run in a 4-3 game in the 9th on a bases-loaded walk to Zealous Wheeler.