Tuesday, April 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Jerry Royster is of the belief that with the lineup the Las Vegas Stars put on the field, every batter who steps to the plate is capable of driving in a run.
Monday night, it was Todd Steverson's turn.
Steverson lined a 3-1 offering from Phoenix reliever Steve Mintz into the gap in left-center in the ninth inning to drive in Jason Thompson from first base and give Las Vegas a 6-5 come-from-behind victory at Cashman Field. The win was the Stars' fifth in a row and gave them their first sweep of a four-game series in more than four years.
"With our lineup, we always have an RBI guy coming up," Royster said. "When you get down to Rico (Rossy), who is hitting eighth in this scenario, here's a guy who's a pretty good RBI guy for a number-eight hitter. We're in a pretty good situation right now."
The Stars didn't have to wait for Rossy to step to the plate in the ninth inning to drive in Thompson, who had led off the inning with a single to right. Steverson followed Thompson with a solid double and Royster did not hesitate in sending Thompson, who just beat the throw to the plate.
"As soon as I got a chance to score a run, I was," Royster said. "Basically, in that situation, you never (send the runner home from first) with nobody out in the ninth. It's not that I don't like that situation, but as soon as I get a chance to score, I'm going to do it. When you have an opportunity, you've got to go for it."
Steverson said he was waiting on a fastball after taking one for a strike with the count 3-0 -- and he got it.
"I had the green light on 3-0 and I told myself if he puts one over for a strike -- a fastball or whatever -- he's going to come back with the same pitch," Steverson said. "I told myself to stay short and drive the ball. He (came back with a fastball) and I drove it."
Pete Walker (2-1), who pitched out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth after walking three batters (one intentionally), was the beneficiary of the Stars' late rally and got the win.
After scoring only three runs combined in Scott Lewis' past three starts, the Stars staked the former UNLV star to a 4-1 lead after three innings, but the 30-year-old right-hander couldn't hold the lead.
Lewis limited the Firebirds to one run on four hits through five innings before the Firebirds caught up to him in the sixth. Jacob Cruz and Keith Williams singled to open the inning and, with one out, Marcus Jensen drove a first-pitch fastball over the wall in right-center for a game-tying three-run homer.
"Here I finally get a lead and then I go ahead and blow it in three pitches," Lewis said. "We've been pounding these guys with fastballs in all series. The inning before, I told (catcher) Sean (Mulligan) that they were starting to look for the fastball and instead of making the adjustment when I recognized it, I kept staying with the same thing -- I went to the well too many times.
"Baseball is a game of adjustments and I didn't make it in time. Other than that, though, I was pretty happy with the way things went. We got the win and that's what counts."
The Firebirds went ahead 5-4 in the seventh against Stars reliever Weston Weber, but the Stars tied it in their half of the seventh on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Thompson.
With the win, the Stars (9-12) pulled to within a half game of first place in the Southern Division of the Pacific Coast League. The last time the Stars swept a four-game series was April 23-26, 1992, against the Calgary Cannons at Cashman Field.
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