Milb.com Preview of the Chattanooga Lookouts playoff series

Chattanooga Lookouts vs Huntsville Stars
(Best-of-5)

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES

The two teams squared off just 15 times during the regular season (as opposed to the 25-game series between the other two participants in the semifinals), with Chattanooga winning the series, 9-6, and outscoring Huntsville, 71-55.

HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS

Chattanooga
The Lookouts combined for a healthy .273 average against the Stars, led by switch-hitting infielder Luis Bolivar, who batted .340 in 15 games. OF Chris Dickerson's 11 RBIs led the club against Huntsville. 3B Aaron Herr batted .359 with 10 RBIs in 10 games. OF Javon Moran faced Huntsville just five times but batted .381 in 21 at-bats. And, of course, league MVP Joey Votto was his usual dominant self, hitting .309 with three homers and 10 RBIs. On the mound, the Lookouts combined for a 3.41 ERA as RHP Homer Bailey posted a 2.45 ERA in two starts. RHP Josh Hall had a 4.85 ERA in two starts, while LHP Tyler Pelland posted a 4.86 ERA in three games. RHP Edward Valdez was also effective against the Stars with a 2.75 ERA in four games. LHP Camilo Vazquez faced the Stars just once this season, giving up six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Huntsville
3B Ryan Braun batted .324 with three homers and eight RBIs in 10 games. Switch-hitting SS Ozzie Chavez was hitting .429 against the Lookouts in 10 games with a team-high 10 RBIs. OF Ron Acuna hit .300 in 14 games. Overall, the Stars hit .262 against Chattanooga and posted a 4.59 ERA. Yovani Gallardo had a 3.46 ERA in two starts, while Steven Hammond posted a 1.64 ERA in two games. Corey Thurman's ERA against Chattanooga was 3.21 in two games. Tim Dillard had the most looks at the Lookouts' lineup, posting a 3.57 ERA in five outings. LHP Manny Parra faced the Lookouts once, allowing one run on three hits over five innings.

ON THE MOUND

Game 1: Sept. 7, Huntsville at Chattanooga
(Corey Thurman vs. Homer Bailey)

Game 2: Sept. 8, Huntsville at Chattanooga
(Tim Dillard vs. Josh Hall)

Game 3: Sept. 9, Chattanooga at Huntsville
(Tyler Pelland vs. TBA)

Chattanooga
Bailey, the Reds' top prospect, joined the Lookouts from Sarasota, right after striking out the side on 12 pitches in the Florida State League All-Star Game. With Chattanooga, he's been even more dominant than he was at Sarasota, going 7-1 with a 1.59 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 68 innings. Pelland was 9-5 with a 3.99 ERA but struggled in August, posting a 7.03 ERA in five starts. Hall was 9-6 with a 3.39 ERA on the season. Rounding out the rotation are Valdez (3.89) and Vazquez (4.33), both of whom had ERAs over 5.00 in August as well. Closer David Shafer posted a 2.36 ERA and 26 saves.

Huntsville
While the club had no end-of-season All-Stars on the roster, it certainly had two pitchers worthy of some hardware. One of the leading contenders for Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Gallardo, joined the team midseason from Brevard County, and has gone 5-2 with a 1.63 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings to combine for a 1.86 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 155 innings, tops in the Minors. Due to his innings pitched, however, he and Hammond (2.93) will be limited to just one start apiece during the playoffs, leaving the opening-round rotation up in the air. A Comeback Player of the Year argument could certainly be made for Game 1 starter Thurman, who spent 2005 in the indie leagues rehabbing from shoulder surgery, and has posted a 2.96 ERA for the Stars. Dillard's ERA was 3.15. Parra posted a 2.96 ERA at Brevard before joining the Stars in August and has gone 3-0 with a 2.87 ERA in six starts since then, striking out 29 while walking just eight in 31 innings.

AT THE PLATE

Chattanooga
The Lookouts were led by Southern League MVP Votto, who won the batting title at .319 and vied for a Triple Crown, adding 22 home runs, 77 RBIs and 24 steals. Herr hit .287 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs. All-Star OF Noochie Varner batted .285 with 10 homers and 73 RBIs. Dickerson hit .242 with 12 home runs, 48 RBIs and 21 steals but got hot late, batting .309 with a team-high seven home runs and 19 RBIs in August. Moran, who missed a month on the DL before coming back mid-August, hit .353 in August and .320 on the season with 16 steals to give the top of the order a good lift.

Huntsville
Braun, the Brewers' first-round pick out of Miami in 2005, joined the club shortly after the All-Star break and hit .309 with 15 home runs and 40 RBIs. Switch-hitting 2B Callix Crabbe hit .267 with 32 steals on the season, including a .361 average and 17 steals in August alone. 1B Brad Nelson is no longer the power prospect he once was, but he batted .333 with four homers and 16 RBIs in August.

POINTS OF INTEREST

Chattanooga won the first half in the West with a 44-26 record, edging West Tenn (Cubs) by a game, to earn the team's first first-half title since 1992. In the second half, they were 37-33. Huntsville, meanwhile, was the turnaround team, finishing last in the West at 24-45, 19 1/2 games behind the Lookouts, before going 43-26 in the second half, including 36-6 from August on.

SERIES COULD TURN ON
With a team average of .246, the Stars have to rely on the strong pitching they've gotten down the stretch to shut down the Lookouts' bats. If Gallardo and Hammond are not able to go deep into a game, the team will have to rely on its bullpen and capitalize on early scoring opportunities. The fact that three-fifths of the Lookouts' rotation posted an August ERA of over 5.00 gives Huntsville a nice psychological edge in a five-game series, though the Stars have to get past Bailey.

PREDICTION
Huntsville, for an all-Alabama final.

Written for Milb.com by Lisa Winston