Pippins Preview: July 20 at Victoria

After a 17-2 loss in Friday’s series opener in Victoria, the Pippins return to action tonight north of the border, looking to tie the series up at one game apiece. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM. West Coast League All-Star Joe Magrisi will start for the Pippins, squaring off with Victoria right-hander Dakota Hawkins. Pregame coverage with Miles Klotz will begin at pippinsbaseball.com/live at 6:20 PM.

Full Game Notes

PIPPINS BEATEN IN SERIES OPENER AT VICTORIA: The Pippins kept things competitive in the first five innings of Friday’s series opener in Victoria against the HarbourCats, trailing 4-0 after five innings, but things quickly collapsed on the mound from that point forward in a 17-2 loss. The Pippins’ offense was not at its best, stranding a total of 14 runners in 9 innings, but the struggles came from the pitching staff, which allowed consecutive 6-run innings in both the 6th and 7th innings. The HarbourCats pounded out the 17 runs on 18 hits, including sending six men to bat against Pippins reliever Anthony Alvarado in the 7th, and all six of them scored without an out being recorded. The Pippins did tack on two runs in the ninth inning, but it was too little, too late at that point.

FOR THE PIPPINS: Right-hander Joe Magrisi will make his sixth start of the summer for the Pippins on Saturday in Victoria. The right-hander from Cal State Fullerton was dominant in his last start against Port Angeles, striking out 11 and allowing just four hits over seven shutout innings. The WCL All-Star has an ERA of 0.62 in 28.2 innings of work this season, but Victoria is the only team to score runs off of him this year. The HarbourCats tagged Magrisi for two earned runs in a season-low (for a start) four innings back on June 12 in Yakima. Magrisi leads the West Coast League with his 53 strikeouts on the season.

FOR THE ELKS: Right-hander Dakota Hawkins will make his fourth start of the summer for Victoria in Saturday’s game two against the Pippins. After opening his Victoria career in the bullpen, the Chehalis, Washington, native has made back-to-back turns in the HarbourCats rotation, most recently picking up a no-decision after allowing four runs (2 earned) over 5.1 innings last Sunday in Bend. On the year, the 6-foot, 195-pound righty from Lower Columbia College has pitched to a 3.06 ERA in 14.2 innings, striking out 8 and walking 3, while opponents have hit .250 off of him.

LONG ONES: After playing their longest nine-inning game of the season on Thursday against Bend (3:52), the Pippins played another 3-plus hour game on Friday, lasting 3 hours and 15 minutes in the 17-2 loss. The Pippins have now played 12 games this season that have gone at least 3 hours long, including six in the first 12 games of the second half of the season. The Pippins have only played 10 nine-inning games this year that took less than 2 and a half hours, with 7 of those 10 coming in the first three weeks of the season.

PARKER POWER: Pippins infielder Tanner Parker had the first 4-hit game by any Pippin this season on Friday, continuing a recent return to form for the shortstop. After sitting around .200 with his July batting average, Parker has collected 7 hits in 13 at-bats in his last 3 games – a .538 batting average. Parker leads all Pippins this year with 38 hits, including a team-high 9 doubles, 2 home runs, and 20 RBIs.

A LOT OF DUDES: Within the past week, the Pippins have had four new players debut for the team in WCL play, brining their total number of players to appear in a game this season, through 36 games, to 47. Brothers Kyle and Tyler Dean, both position players, debuted early last weekend against Port Angeles, while left-hander Anthony Alvarado made his season debut on the mound on Sunday. On Thursday, right-hander Dominic Miller debuted in relief. A litany of injures has led to larger-than-expected roster turnover early in the season.

ODDS & ENDS: The Pippins set a season high on Friday with 13 hits, and tied a high with 14 runners LOB.

By Miles Klotz

July 20, 2019