Pippins Preview: June 6 at Ridgefield

The Pippins go for the season-opening series sweep tonight in Ridgefield after a late burst of offense on Wednesday night led to a 10-3 win. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM PT, with live coverage beginning at 6:20 PM on pippinsbaseball.com/live, with Miles Klotz on the call.

Full Game Notes

PIPPINS BATS EXPLODE LATE TO TAKE SERIES: The Pippins used 4-run innings in both the 7th and 9th against the Ridgefield bullpen to grab a 10-3 win on Wednesday and clinch the season-opening series with a game to play. The Raptors grabbed an early 3-0 lead on back-to-back home runs in the 2nd inning, and were leading 3-1 after 6 innings before the Pippins pounced on the bullpen. Daniel Cipriano’s 7th-inning, 2-run homer into the home bullpen gave the Pippins a 4-3 lead, and they added on 6 more runs from there. Nick Brown tossed 3.2 innings of hitless relief to earn his first win of the summer.

BALLERS ON THE BUMP: For the second straight game, the Pippins pitching staff held strong, allowing just 3 runs, only 2 of them earned, against the Raptors. Scott Youngbrandt, making his first start of the year, was responsible for all 3 of the runs in his four-inning stint. As a team, the Pippins have a 2.00 collective ERA after 2 games, a mark that is tied for 3rd in the West Coast League in the early goings.

FOR THE PIPPINS: Right-handed pitcher Ty Pohlmann will start for the Pippins tonight, making his first start of the season. Pohlmann pitched in relief on Wednesday, closing out the Pippins’ 10-3 win with 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The right-hander from Gilbert, Arizona, attends UNLV, where he pitched in 8 games, including making 3 starts, as a true freshman.

FOR THE RAPTORS: Ridgefield has not announced a projected starting pitcher for tonight’s game.

SEASON OPENING SWEEPS: The Pippins will go for the sweep today, and if they are able to pull out a victory, it would be their first season-opening series sweep since the Pippins swept Wenatchee to open the 2016 season. 2016 was also the only other season in team history in which the Pippins opened the season on the road. The Pippins also swept Klamath Falls to open the 2015 season, their only other season-opening sweep in franchise history. The last 3-game road series sweep by the Pippins overall came last July, when they took all 3 in Bend from July 13 to July 15.

GETAWAY DAY: With the series in Ridgefield concluding on Thursday, the Pippins will trek back to Yakima following the game to prepare for Friday’s home opener. Last season, the Pippins were 6-3 in getaway games, which included wins in each of their last 5 getaway games of the summer.

By Miles Klotz

June 6, 2019