Pippins Preview: July 17 vs. Bend
After picking up their second 1-0 win of the season on Tuesday and taking the series opener from the Bend Elks, the Pippins will look for their fifth win over their past six games on Wednesday night as the 3-game series continues at Yakima County Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM in game two, in which the Pippins will send right-hander A.J. Wood to the mound against a to-be-determined starter for Bend. Pregame coverage with Miles Klotz at pippinsbaseball.com/live begins at 6:20 PM.
PIPPINS PULL OUT NARROW WIN OVER BEND TO OPEN SERIES: The Pippins scrapped and clawed their way to a hard-fought series opening win against the Bend Elks on Tuesday at Yakima County Stadium, pulling out a 1-0 win, their seventh consecutive victory against the Elks. Tyler Frazier, the Pippins’ starter, was fantastic, allowing just four baserunners over seven shutout innings, only one of whom advanced past first base. Frazier picked up his second win after striking out 8, and Mark Woinarowicz threw 2 scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save of the summer. The Pippins picked up their only run of the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Nick DiCarlo singled into center field with two on and two out, and Eddy Pelc, pinch-running for the injured Zach Meddings, scored from second base. It was the only run allowed by Bend starter Gil Luna, who walked 6 and threw 118 pitches over 6.2 innings of work to take the loss.
FOR THE PIPPINS: Right-hander A.J. Wood will make his third start of the summer tonight for the Pippins in the second game of the series against Bend. Wood, out of Central Washington, has made his last two appearances in relief after making a spot start on July 4 against Bellingham. He has allowed at least one run over each of his last four appearances, but still holds a 2.86 ERA on the season in 22 innings of work. In that stretch, Wood has a 1-1 record, and has struck out 19 batters to 10 walks. Opponents have hit .250 off of the right-hander native to Sacramento, California.
FOR THE ELKS: The Elks have not announced a projected starter for tonight’s game.
TYLER TERRIFIC: Tyler Frazier picked up his second win on Tuesday after firing seven shutout innings, continuing a strong recent stretch across all competitions. Frazier carried over momentum from his non-league start last week against the Northwest Honkers, in which he allowed one earned run over five innings of work. In his last five WCL appearances, Frazier has allowed one earned run over 11.2 innings, good for a 0.77 ERA. In that stretch, he has 13 strikeouts to just four walks.
HIGH QUALITY STARTERS: Frazier’s seven shutout innings marked the 8th quality start by a Pippins starter this year, and the third in the past week, after Joe Magrisi’s 7 shutout innings against Port Angeles on Saturday, and Jack Gonzales’ 7-inning complete game on Sunday. Overall, five of the Pippins’ eight quality starts on the season have come in the month of July. Tuesday also marked the Pippins’ third team shutout of the season, the second-most total in the league. Only Corvallis (4) has more shutouts on the year.
A LOT OF DUDES: Within the past week, the Pippins have had three new players debut for the team in WCL play, brining their total number of players to appear in a game this season, through 34 games, to 46. Brothers Kyle and Tyler Dean, both position players, debuted early in the weekend against Port Angeles, while left-hander Anthony Alvarado made his season debut on the mound on Sunday. A litany of injures has led to larger-than-expected roster turnover early in the season.
ODDS & ENDS: The Pippins’ win last night over Bend was their first win at home against a South Division team in 2019…Bend only had one runner advance past first base on Tuesday (Vinny Zavolta, 7th inning)…the Pippins improved to 3-6 in one-run games with last night’s 1-0 win, their second 1-0 win of the season…Mark Woinarowicz earned the first save by a Pippins reliever in the second half, and the first in over two weeks (Trystan Vrieling, July 3 vs. Bellingham).
By Miles Klotz
July 17, 2019