Pippins Preview: July 29 vs. Ridgefield

Following a 15-1 loss on Sunday to even up a 3-game series, the Pippins return to action to close out their series with the Ridgefield Raptors tonight at 6:35 PM at Yakima County Stadium. Right-hander Tyler Frazier will start for the Pippins against a to-be-determined pitcher for the Raptors. Pregame coverage with Miles Klotz begins at pippinsbaseball.com/live at 6:20 PM.

Full Game Notes

PIPPINS DOMINATED BY RIDGEFIELD IN GAME TWO: After a record-setting day on offense on Saturday, the Pippins could not carry over their momentum, falling 15-1 to Ridgefield on Sunday to even up the three-game series at one game apiece. The Pippins were beaten in a similar fashion to their win in the opener, with Ridgefield taking a 2-0 lead early and then scoring runs in 7 of the next 8 innings in a game that was never particularly close. The Raptors knocked around Pippins’ starter Trystan Vrieling, tagging him for 8 earned runs on 12 hits over 3.2 innings of work, and then scored runs off of three different Pippins relievers. To make matters worse, the Pippins got almost nothing going offensively, scoring just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning, when James Bell reached on an error and eventually scored on a balk. Eli Schubert earned the win for Ridgefield, allowing just one unearned run over five innings, and Marc Lidd faced one over the minimum in four innings of relief to pick up his second save of the summer.

FOR THE PIPPINS: Right-hander Tyler Frazier will make his fourth start of the summer for the Pippins’ in the series finale against Ridgefield on Monday. The 6-foot-1, 150-pound right-hander from Oregon is 2-0 on the season with a 4.57 ERA, striking out 20 batters and walking 13 in 19.2 innings of work. Frazier took a no-decision in his last start on Wednesday in Kelowna, allowing four earned runs over 4.2 innings of work. In his last start at home, on July 16 against Bend, Frazier struck out 8 over 7 scoreless innings.

FOR THE RAPTORS: Ridgefield has not announced a projected starter for Sunday’s game.

RUNS AT A PREMIUM: Saturday’s one-run performance by the Pippins offense was the 18th time this season that the Pippins scored 2 or fewer runs, and they dropped to 2-16 in those games with the loss. In games in which the Pippins score at least 3 runs this year, Yakima Valley is 17-9, including a 13-5 mark at home. On the season, the Pippins’ 199 runs in 44 games (an average of 4.5 per game) ranks as 4th-fewest in the West Coast League.

DICARLO’S LONG STREAK: Infielder Nick DiCarlo went 2-for-4 with a double on Sunday, extending his on-base streak to 13 games. The streak, which dates back to a July 14 doubleheader against Port Angeles, is the longest on-base or hitting streak by any Pippin this year, snapping the previous high set by Tanner Parker (both on-base and hitting) in June. DiCarlo has collected hits in 12 of the 13 games, with an 0-for-1 with 3 walks performance on Friday in Kelowna the only game without a hit. Over the 2 week long span, DiCarlo has raised his on-base percentage from .395 to .429, and his batting average from .214 to .286.

AN EVENLY MATCHED SERIES: With five of the six games between the Pippins and the WCL’s newest team, Ridgefield, in the books, the series has proven to be very evenly matched so far in Ridgefield’s first season. The Pippins lead the season series, 3 games to 2, and have outscored the Raptors by a slim 38-32 margin after two lopsided games over the past two days. With a win on Monday, the Pippins can clinch the inaugural season series against Ridgefield, one of two South Division teams to play the Pippins six times this season. The other was Corvallis, who the Pippins went 0-6 against.

ODDS & ENDS: The Pippins have never lost in their history on July 29, going 5-0 in five seasons on this date…the Pippins failed to draw a walk on offense for the third time in 2019, and the first since June 15…Nick Brown tossed a scoreless ninth inning out of the bullpen, lowering his ERA on the season when pitching as a reliever to 2.57, as opposed to his 4.36 mark on the summer.

By Miles Klotz

July 29, 2019