Magrisi’s Stellar Start Not Enough as Falcons Even Series

YAKIMA, Wash. – Joe Magrisi threw 6 innings of no-hit baseball as the Pippins’ starter on Tuesday, but the Kelowna Falcons rallied off of the Yakima Valley bullpen to claim a 3-0 win and even up the 3-game midweek series on Tuesday at Yakima County Stadium.

The Pippins (7-6) got one of their best starts of the year on the mound from right-hander Joe Magrisi, who was dominant from start to finish in his six innings of work. Magrisi allowed just one baserunner – a four pitch leadoff walk to Dan Pruitt in the second inning – while striking out 11 of the 19 batters he faced. He left with a no decision, however, as the Pippins were shut out for the first time all season.

Kelowna (3-8) got a good start on the mound from right-hander Gage Wall, making his second start of the season. Wall exited after allowing the first two batters of the fifth inning to single, but got off the hook and exited with no runs in 4-plus innings. He walked four batters and struck out two. Nick Nygard came in and finished off the job for the Falcons, tossing 5 shutout innings of relief and stranding the two inherited runners he had in the 5th inning. Nygard walked 4 batters, struck out 6, and earned his first win of the year.

The game was still scoreless after 6 innings before the Falcons scratched and clawed for three runs off of the Pippins’ bullpen – one each in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. In the 7th inning, pinch-hitter Tyler Williams hit a ball towards third that was knocked down by the bare hand of Pippins’ third baseman Spencer Bramwell, allowing a run to score. Matt Voelzke’s bloop single added another run in the 8th off of Jack Gonzales, and Tylor Nixon hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to make it 3-0.

The Pippins threatened a bit in the ninth inning by putting runners on the corners with one out, but James Bell, in his first game with the team, grounded into a game-ending double play, 6-4-3. Reliever Ryan Jameson, in his Pippins debut, allowed one unearned run and was tagged with the loss.

Offensively, Tanner Parker led the way for the Pippins with 2 hits, his seventh consecutive multi-hit game. Greg Fuchs also walked 4 times, setting a season-high for any Pippins batter in 2019. No Kelowna player had more than one hit on offense.

The series concludes on Wednesday with a 6:35 PM first pitch at Yakima County Stadium. Left-hander Mark Finkelnburg will make his third start of the summer for the Pippins. He is set to be opposed by Kelowna lefty Marcus Cain, making his first appearance of the summer for Kelowna. Pregame coverage at pippinsbaseball.com/live begins with Miles Klotz at 6:20 PM.

By Miles Klotz

June 19, 2019