Thursday, April 7, 2005 

W 1 - 0

Zebulon , NC --- Baseball is a game of balls and strikes.  Fortunately for the Carolina Mudcats, in their Southern League opener against the Huntsville Stars Thursday night, the strikes heavily outweighed the balls as Carolina eked out a 1-0 win before 2,769 fans.

The Stars had merely one chance against Carolina 's Josh Johnson, who was making his Double-A debut.  The 6-foot, 7-inch Johnson, rated as Florida 's # 11 prospect, found early trouble before the crowd could settle into their seats.  Johnson walked leadoff hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. on five pitches, then saw Gwynn steal the first of his two bases of the game.  After Johnson struck out Callix Crabbe, Johnson uncorked a wild pitch, sending Gwynn to third with one out.  With the Carolina infield playing in, Johnson recovered to fan Brandon Gemoll and retire cleanup hitter Nelson Cruz on a medium fly ball to end the threat. 

Huntsville managed just three singles against a quintet of Carolina pitchers, while the Stars offense struck out 11 times in the loss.

From that point forward, the Stars' chances were rare.  Johnson benefited from a second inning double play before handing over to the Mudcats bullpen, which thanks to a pair of relievers with major league service time, doused any hopes of a Stars rally.  Chad Bentz and Joe Rodriguez utilized their big league experience to combine for 1 2/3 innings of spotless relief, while closer Chris Resop (S, 1) whiffed the side in order in the ninth for his first Double-A save. 

The Stars' last opportunity came against Rodriguez in the eighth after third baseman Chris Bass booted a groundball from Enrique Cruz.  Stars veteran Chris Barnwell, on a 3-1 count, forced a bunt toward the second base grass, and easily scooped by Rodriguez, who turned that into a force play.  Gwynn, the ensuing batter bounced into an inning-ending double play.  In the ninth, Resop would not give the Stars life, striking out Crabbe, Gemoll and Cruz on 12 pitches.

Johnson (W, 1-0), who earned the win with 5 1/3 innings of scoreless pitching, wasn't just the game's story on the mound.  Johnson was responsible for the win with his bat.  In the third inning, in his first professional plate appearance, Johnson drove in the only run.  Carolina 's Rex Rundgren opened the inning with a scratch hit, then appeared to be picked off thanks to an early break toward second base, but a balk was called to move Rundgren ahead.  Vinny Rottino, who caught just five games for Money's Beloit Snappers last year, committed a passed ball, sending Rundgren to third.  Johnson then fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches from Stars starting pitcher Dana Eveland (L, 0-1), then lifted a sacrifice fly inside the left field line to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.

"They had two chances, converted once, and it was their pitcher who drove in the run," Money said.  

James Shanks had two of Carolina 's six hits, including a first inning double. 

Carolina improved to 3-0 in its three season openers as a Marlins affiliate.  Scott Olsen makes his Double-A debut Friday night at 7:15 PM ET against Huntsville 's Dennis Sarfate.

HUNTSVILLE       0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 0   ---   0   3   0   4

CAROLINA           0 0 1   0 0 0   0 0 x   ---   1   6   1   6

WP - Johnson (1-0)

LP - Eveland (0-1)

S - Resop (1)

Att:  2,769

Time:  2:27

HR - None.