Darr comes out swinging, leads Stars past Sky Sox

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, June 14, 2000 | 9:59 a.m.

The Stars' Mike Darr had a unique hitting strategy going into Tuesday night's 9-1 victory over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at Cashman Field.

"I tried to hit the ball before they could call it," Darr said.

"They" would be home plate umpire Mike Alvarado, who ejected Darr from the Stars' loss to Tucson on Saturday night over a ball-strike disagreement, causing an on-field confrontation that will likely cost the Las Vegas outfielder a hefty fine whenever the folks in charge of discipline at the Pacific Coast League get around to ruling on the case.

But because PCL officials -- surprisingly -- went another day without a decision on the matter, Darr and Alvarado found themselves inches apart from each other again on Tuesday night. However, no words were exchanged and there were no further confrontations between the pair.

Not surprisingly, the normally selective Darr did a lot of first-pitch swinging on Tuesday night. And that strategy paid big dividends as Darr went 4-for-4 and scored two runs in the win.

Three of Darr's four hits came on the first pitch. He fouled off a pitch in his other at-bat before eventually banging out another single.

"I just went up there and swung," Darr said. "I saw the ball well tonight and they left the ball over the plate a few times."

"It was good to see him being aggressive in the count," Stars manager Tony Franklin said. "I thought maybe Mike was taking too many pitches. When you do that, you start looking for pitches maybe you don't get."

One player who probably wished Darr was a little more selective was Colorado Springs starter Doug Linton.

In the third inning, Darr rocketed a line drive directly at Linton's face. Fortunately, Linton managed to get his arm up at the last moment to deflect the ball away.

Linton fell to the ground and was in obvious pain before walking off under his own power. X-rays later proved negative and he will likely just miss one start with what was diagnosed as a bruised ulnar bone.

"Geez, that ball was hit hard," Franklin said. "That ball just jumped off Mike's bat so quickly. I don't think he really had time to react. Luckily, he got his arm up."

"I thought it was broken," Linton said of his wrist, which was in a soft splint afterward. "It was going straight for my face. I've had balls come back close to my head like that before, but nothing like that."

The misters were kept off during the entire contest, which ended with temperatures still in the mid-90s.

Shortstop Kevin Nicholson had three doubles to tie the team single-game record last accomplished on Sunday by third baseman Greg LaRocca.