‘Cats split first doubleheader in franchise history

The HarbourCats played their first doubleheader in team history on Thursday night with bittersweet results. After winning the first game 1-0, Victoria dropped the nightcap to the Black Bears by a score of 4-3. The ‘Cats record now sits at a disappointing 18-21 on the season.

Quintin Torres-Costa

Quintin Torres-Costa gutted out a solid performance in game two, but he would ultimately take a no-decision. He gave up three earned runs on five hits in six innings pitched, walking three and striking out nine batters. Torres-Costa threw 100 pitches on the night, one week after throwing that same number in his first start of the summer. Prior to that July 17th start, Torres-Costa had not thrown more than 56 pitches in any outing since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2013.

Alex DeGoti tied the game at 3-3 with a clutch RBI single with two outs in the top of the final frame. Hunter Mercado-Hood had an RBI single to knock in his league-leading 36th run of the season, and Sean Watkins also chipped in with an RBI.

Preston Ryan entered the second game with a 3-3 score in the final inning of game two, but he took the walk-off loss after allowing three of the four hitters he faced to reach base. It was Ryan’s fourth consecutive appearance in which he was tagged for the loss and his fifth loss in his last six outings. Ryan now has a 5.32 ERA and 1.61 WHIP on the season. The reliable Sean Watkins and Alex Fagalde weren't available to pitch after making appearances in the first game of the doubleheader, but reliever Angel Delgado (2.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) was nowhere to be seen with the game on the line.

In the first game of the doubleheader, the HarbourCats squeaked out a 1-0 victory in a pitcher’s duel between Alex Fagalde and Cowlitz’s Chris Castellanos. It was the first start of 2014 for Fagalde, and he was impressive, giving up only three hits and two walks in 5 ⅔ innings on the hill. Falgade also struck out five batters to lower his ERA to a tidy 2.84. Sean Watkins picked up his second save of the season by pitching 1 ⅓ innings of hit-less baseball. Gabe Clark knocked in Alex DeGoti with the game’s only run in the top of the sixth.

HarbourCatNip

• Hunter Mercado-Hood is on pace to knock in 50 runs, which would be an all-time WCL record.
• Last Wednesday we wondered if the Bellingham Bells were as good as their 25-7 record indicated. We pointed out that they had benefited from an extremely easy schedule up until that point and that they still hadn't played Corvallis, Yakima Valley or Medford. So what did they do this week in their six games against Corvallis and Yakima Valley? They went 3-3, proving that they are at least competitive against the best in the league. However, that still gives them a 4-5 record against Corvallis, Yakima Valley and Bend and a 24-5 record against the rest of the league. The Bells play their only three games of the season against Medford early next week.
• The HarbourCats are heading into the toughest part of their schedule this season. Their next 12 games are against Corvallis, Wenatchee, Bellingham and Walla Walla, so Victoria will be challenged to finish the season at the .500 level. Their last three games of the season are against the feeble Kitsap BlueJackets, however.
• The standings in the wildcard race are as follows:

	Team	Record	GBL
	Bend Elks	24-15	-
	Medford Rogues	21-18	3
	Wenatchee AppleSox	21-18	3
	Walla Walla Sweets	19-20	5
	Victoria HarbourCats	18-21	6
	Cowlitz Black Bears	17-22	7