Las Vegas Stars scorecard — June 4, 1998

Friday, June 5, 1998 | 6:59 a.m.

By Steve Guiremand

The Stars won their showdown series opener with Fresno with a dramatic 4-3 victory Thursday night at Cashman Field. Dave Hajek's bases-loaded bouncer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth deflected off Fresno pitcher Jeff Darwin's glove to shortstop Wilson Delgado, who threw the ball into the bleachers allowing two runs to score. The win moved Las Vegas to within two games of the first-place Grizzlies in the PCL's South Division. "That was big for us to come back and win like that," Hajek said. "I'll take any victory against a team ahead of us, but we still made too many mistakes," Stars manager Jerry Royster said. "We're winning games on luck and not like we're supposed to." ... Las Vegas opened the key series with just one catcher, Creighton Gubanich, dressed. Mandy Romero, who was hitting .290 with eight home runs and 22 RBI, was called up by the San Diego Padres to fill the spot of Greg Myers, who was put on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained wrist suffered Wednesday night while trying to grab an errant Steve Finley throw. Romero flew out early Thursday morning and was in San Diego in time for the Padres' 5-1 win over Houston. To replace Romero's spot on the roster, Las Vegas called up catcher Jimmy Gonzalez from double-A Mobile. Gonzalez, who was hitting .294 with six homers and 17 RBI in 26 games, is due to arrive in Las Vegas today. ... Royster admitted before Thursday's game that he lobbied to have the Padres' send up highly-touted catching prospect Ben Davis but was overruled. Davis, who is hitting .250 with five homers and 24 RBIs in 42 games at Mobile, is considered one of three top prospects in the Padres' organization. "I asked for him," Royster said. "I wanted him." ... To make room for Eddie Williams on the roster, Las Vegas sent outfielder Rick Prieto back to Mobile. ... Doug Mirabelli, who prepped at Valley High and lives in Henderson, is the starting catcher for Fresno. Mirabelli entered Thursday night's game with a .288 average, five homers and 12 RBIs in 25 games.

Upcoming games

The Stars continue their series with the PCL South Division leading Fresno Grizzlies tonight at Cashman Field. Right-hander Matt Clement (5-4, 3.13) will start for the Stars and will be opposed by right-hander Russ Ortiz (1-0, 0.99) while right-hander Brad Kaufman (2-4, 5.09) will go against Grizzly right-hander Chris Brock (7-2, 4.00) on Saturday night. Right-hander Stan Spencer (4-0, 2.93) will start Sunday afternoon's home stand finale against Fresno right-hander Joe Roa (5-3, 4.52).

Attendance

Thursday's crowd: 3,311.

Season total: 134,626 (32 dates).

Average per date: 4,207.