Pippins Preview: June 29 at Corvallis
CORVALLIS, Ore. – After dropping their season-long 7th consecutive game on Friday in the series opener against Corvallis, the Yakima Valley Pippins try and even up the series with the Knights with Game 2 of the series at Goss Stadium. Right-hander Mark Woinarowicz, who lost his last start against the Knights last weekend in Yakima, starts for the Pippins opposite Corvallis’ Connor Redmond. First pitch is set for 6:30 PM, with pregame coverage beginning with Miles Klotz at pippinsbaseball.com/live at 6:15.
PIPPINS LOSE 7TH STRAIGHT TO OPEN SERIES IN CORVALLIS: The Pippins opened up the second leg of their season-log six game road trip with a loss on the road to the Corvallis Knights on Friday. Right-hander Jackson Arnsdorf was spectacular for Corvallis, shutting out the Pippins over 5 innings of work, striking out five while allowing just two hits and one walk. Ryan Jameson had a decent start for the Pippins, keeping Corvallis off the scoreboard early, but ran into some trouble in the fifth, as Jake Harvey and Brooks Lee connected for back-to-back 2-RBI hits to give Corvallis a 4-0 lead, and the Knights never looked back. The Corvallis bullpen used four different arms to shut down the Pippins at the back end, despite a two-run seventh, extending the Corvallis winning streak to 7 games, and the Pippins’ losing streak to 7 as well.
FOR THE PIPPINS: Right-hander Mark Woinarowicz will make his third start of the season on Saturday. The Yorba Linda, California native is 3-2 on the year with a 3.32 ERA, striking out 16 batters and walking just 1 over 21.2 innings of work. In his last start against Corvallis on Monday in Yakima, Woinarowicz allowed a season-high 7 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits and 5 strikeouts over 4 innings of work. In his first start of the summer against Kelowna, he went 7 innings, allowing 1 earned run.
FOR THE KNIGHTS: Right-hander Connor Redmond will make his 2nd start of the summer for Corvallis today. In his last start, on June 20 against Bellingham, the Danville, California native went 3 innings, allowing one unearned run on 2 hits and 3 strikeouts. In 2 appearances this season, spanning five innings, Redmond has struck out 3 batters, not issued a walk, while opponents hit .211 off of the righty.
TRYING TO STOP THE BLEEDING: With Friday’s series-opening loss in Corvallis, the Pippins have dropped seven straight games, which is their longest losing streak of the season, and the longest losing streak of any WCL team in league play in 2019. Their opponent, the Knights, currently hold the longest active winning streak in the WCL at 7 games. In addition, the Pippins have lost seven consecutive road games, with their last win away from home coming on the season’s second day in Ridgefield.
A LOT OF DUDES: The Pippins had two new additions to the starting lineup on Friday, with catcher Brett Wells and infielder Brady Hormel becoming the 38th and 39th different players to appear in a Pippins uniform so far this season through 21 games. Additionally, infielder Zach Meddings joined the roster, but did not play on Friday. A litany of injures has led to larger-than-expected roster turnover early in the season.
NEWCOMERS LEAD THE WAY: The Pippins managed six hits on Friday, with all 6 coming from players who have joined the roster within the last 10 days. Outfielder Noah Andrews and infielder Aidan Welch both collected their first multi-hit games in a Pippins uniform, while debutants Brett Wells and Brady Hormel both added base hits, while also collecting their first Pippins RBIs.
FRAZIER FIRES ZEROES: Right-hander Tyler Frazier had his first scoreless outing in a Pippins uniform on Friday. After allowing 6 runs in 2.1 innings in a start against Corvallis last weekend, the righty struck out 3 in a scoreless 8th inning of relief on Friday night.
ODDS & ENDS: After stealing 10 bases in 3 games last weekend against the Pippins in Yakima, the Knights were held without a stolen base on Friday (0-for-1).
By Miles Klotz
June 29, 2019