Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Stars’ Darr hopes to avoid suspension after altercation

Mike Darr will report to Cashman Field tonight with the assumption he'll be in his customary No. 2 spot in the batting order and starting in center field for the Las Vegas Stars.

Whether he does play in tonight's game against the Tucson Sidewinders will probably be determined by the Pacific Coast League just a few hours before the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.

Darr was ejected in the eighth inning of the Stars' 4-2 loss to Tucson on Saturday night at Cashman Field. Darr charged out of the dugout to argue with home plate umpire Mike Alvarado just moments after teammate Joe Vitiello had also been ejected for arguing a third strike.

Darr expects a fine in the $300 range for his ejection. The big question is will he also face a suspension for leaving the dugout.

"(The PCL) is trying to curtail all the on-field violence with the fights and also the confrontations with umpires," Stars manager Tony Franklin said. "They're trying to clean all of that up. ... I expect to hear something (today)."

"I'm not worried," Darr said after going 1-for-4 in the Stars' 12-1 win over Tucson on Sunday afternoon. "Who knows what (Alvarado) wrote in his report. It's just wait and see now."

"We'll just see how it feels tomorrow," Franklin said. "You don't know how those things are going to feel the next day. Hopefully it will be an injury that keeps him out only a couple of days and not a month. He's a gutsy guy. He didn't want to come out of there."

Vitiello, who played parts of five seasons with the Kansas City Royals before signing as a minor league free agent with the Padres this winter, entered Sunday's game ranked fourth in the PCL with a .345 average.

This despite the fact it was 99 degrees at game time. In the past, Stars' management has complained that 4 p.m. starts weren't practical because that is normally the hottest time of the day.

It will be interesting to see how many folks brave the heat for the next 4:05 start on July 2 when the game-time temperature figures to be well into triple-digits.

David Newhan hit a two-run home run and shortstop Kevin Nicholson added a two-run double to highlight the rally. Third baseman Greg LaRocca tied a team record with three doubles in the game, the 16th player in Las Vegas history to accomplish the feat.

Right-hander Junior Herndon (7-4) settled down after yielding a leadoff triple to Jason Conti to pitch a complete game five-hitter, walking just two while striking out six.

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