Pippins Preview: June 25 at Port Angeles

The Pippins hit the road for their longest road trip of the season, a 6-game trip to Port Angeles and Corvallis, today. Yakima Valley is in the midst of a season-long 4-game losing streak, and will send reigning WCL Pitcher of the Week Joe Magrisi to the mound to try and break the streak. Magrisi leads the WCL with 27 strikeouts, and has a 1-0 record and 1.12 ERA in 16 innings. He will be opposed by Port Angeles right-hander Tyler Tan. First pitch at Civic Field is set for 6:35 PM PT, with pregame coverage with Miles Klotz beginning at 6:20 PM at pippinsbaseball.com/live.

Full Game Notes

PIPPINS SHUT DOWN OFFENSIVELY, SWEPT BY CORVALLIS: The Pippins offense struggled as much as it has all season on Monday in an 11-0 loss to Corvallis, clinching the 3-game road series sweep for the Knights. The Knights had a nice day offensively, teeing off for 5 runs in the fourth off of Pippins starter Mark Woinarowicz to take an early lead, but the story was left-handed starter Chase Watkins, who shut down the Pippins over 6 shutout innings, allowing one bloop single and a pair of walks while fanning 7. The Corvallis bullpen was shutdown as well, as three different arms tossed scoreless frames to seal the victory. Owen Cobb collected the only hit of the day for the Pippins, a single.

FOR THE PIPPINS: Right-hander Joe Magrisi will make his fourth start of the summer for the Pippins tonight to open the series in Port Angeles. Named the West Coast League Moss Adams Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, Magrisi holds a 1-0 record and 1.12 ERA through 4 appearances (3 starts), while striking out a league-leading 27 batters in 16 innings of work. In his last start against Kelowna last Wednesday, Magrisi tossed 6 no-hit innings, walking one and striking out 11.

FOR THE LEFTIES: Right-hander Tyler Tan will make his third start of the summer for Port Angeles tonight against the Pippins. The 5-foot-7, 160-pound native of Kent, Washington, is 1-0 on the season so far with a 2.76 ERA through 2 starts, although he has not pitched since June 15 in Ridgefield, when he allowed 3 earned runs over 6 innings of work. In his season debut against Bellingham, he picked up the win with 7 innings of one-run ball. Tan attends Skagit Valley College, a junior college in Mount Vernon, WA, where he is coached by Lefties head coach Darren Westergard.

A LOOK AT THE LEFTIES: After jumping out to a 4-2 start, winning series against Portland and Bellingham, the Lefties have slowed down considerably over the last two weeks. Port Angeles has lost their last four consecutive series, including a home sweep at the hands of Wenatchee last week. The Lefties, who sit 5th in the WCL North Division with a 7-11 record, one game ahead of the Pippins, rank near the top of the league in many offensive categories, including runs scored (115, 3rd) and home runs (13, t-2nd). On the flipside, their pitching staff ranks near the bottom in many categories, including team ERA (5.42, 9th) and walks allowed (79, 4th).

TRYING TO STOP THE BLEEDING: With Monday’s loss, the Pippins have dropped four straight, their second four game losing streak of the season, as well as their longest home losing streak of the season. In addition, the Pippins have lost four consecutive road games, with their last win away from home coming on the season’s second day in Ridgefield. The Pippins’ last four-game losing streak came in 2018, when they were swept on the road by Portland and lost the opening of a 3-game series at home to Kelowna in June.

A LOT OF DUDES: Nick Israel made his debut for the Pippins on Monday with an 0-for-4 performance, in turn becoming the 37th different player to appear in a Pippins uniform so far this season through 18 games. A litany of injures has led to larger-than-expected roster turnover early in the season.

ODDS & ENDS: The Pippins committed 3 errors on Monday, their 7th consecutive game with multiple errors…the Pippins, having lost four straight at home, will now play 9 of their next 12 away from Yakima County Stadium to close out the first half of the WCL season.

By Miles Klotz

June 25, 2019