Night of Knights

If you watch enough baseball games, you see more than a few where the numbers on the scoreboard are not indicative of the play on the field. Saturday night at RAP was one of those nights.

Chris Lewis fights off the evil Sun Monster to record an early out

Through eight innings, the cats were held off the scoreboard, and trailed by 2. Starter Ty Provencher had pitched another gem - one in a long line of tremendous starts recently by Cats starters - only giving up small-ball manufactured runs in the 3rd and 8th. At one point, he had retired a record 13 in a row...

On the HarbourCats line, the numbers weren't good at that point (no runs on 4 hits), but they seemed in this game. Corvalis defence seemed to be making the difference.

Case in point... The Cats best chance to score was in the fifth inning. Brandon Smith legged out a dropped third strike, and Jordan Ellis moved him to second with a sharp single. Alex DeGoti was called upon to bunt and move them over, but just couldn't drop one down. So instead, with two strikes, he lined one to the gap in left center, a sure hit that would plate at least one, maybe two... but it never hit the grass. Knight CF Blake Drake laid flat out in the air to make a spectacular catch to steal the base hit, and scramble the runners back. Alex Real then him into an uncharacteristic double play, and the threat was done.

Defense continued to help the Knights, with Drake making at least one more all-out running catch, while All-Star 3B Cody Lenahan made a couple of fabulous grabs at third base to end threats. 

The Cats had at least one base runner in 7 of the 9 innings tonight, but it wasn't until the 9th when they strung together enough offence to score a run - and that would have made the game really interesting, if Scott Kuzminski wouldn't have come in and given up 3 runs in the top of the inning to put it out of reach. What's that - a starter puller "early"? Yes, Ty-Pro hardly threw at all, sending only 105 pitches hurtling toward the plate before leaving after 8.

Like I say, until the 9th, it seemed the Cats were just a hit away from coming back. A failed bunt attempt here, a caught stealing there, and a couple key double plays ended rallies, and kept the Knights ahead. The team looked tired tonight after a long day of travel.

Still, a few good signs this night, and plenty of opportunity. If the Cats can perfect the small-ball game at some point this weekend, they stand a good chance of besting the Knights at least once...

Random Thoughts on the game tonight...

I wonder what the psyche of a team is after being on the losing end of a perfect game? If you didn't catch it - the 'Cats were dominated by Kitsap's Spenser Watkins Friday night. Watkins threw the first perfect game in WCL history, striking out 10 HarbourCats in the process... It Didn't seem to have much of an impact early, as Jordan Ellis hit the 4th pitch of the game into center field...

The Cats roster has changed a bit in the past week. Gone are OF Mike Darr and P Tanner Kiest. Darr was actually hitting a respectable .265 over 35 AB. The crowd will miss the Daarrrrrrrr! chant when he came to the plate. Kiest was one of those guys we were waiting for to show up after the draft, but really struggled in two starts with a horrible ERA over 11. Taking Darr's place in the lineup is local boy Daryl Blaskovich, who started the season on a 10-day contract. Tyler Rowe joins the pitching staff to take Kiest's place.

Tonight's game saw a return of the WCL speed game - a lack of hits will do that. The game clocked in at 2 hrs, 14 minutes.

Someone in the Cats clubhouse should figure out how to iron a pair of ball pants. I haven't seen that many wrinkles since grandma passed...

Good giveaways tonight for Steve Nash foundation night (um, where was he? Steve?), but a couple of times the mid-inning events had pitchers standing on the mound waiting for the schtick to end. Tough to do on-field promos in this league the way these guys hustle on and off the field...

Glad to have Pig for dinner, but I gotta say after trying it at the All-Star game, I was missing the Dead Beet's Steak sandwich tonight. Also when the Beet's aren't there, the only veggie choice in the park is the Veggie burger at Ambrosia. While it's good, it's not something you can eat game, after game, after game. Can someone not bring in some more variety for the herbivores in the crowd? If the city won't do a veggie-dog, why not let someone else do one??