Wenatchee walks away with 13-4 victory

The last 12 games of the HarbourCats season just might seem like an eternity. One day after the departure of four pitchers (Watkins, Torres-Costa, Delgado and Marinch) forced Victoria to go to a 10-man pitching staff, they were thumped by a score of 13-4 by the AppleSox in Wenatchee. The loss drops the ‘Cats record to 19-24 on the season and relegates them to last place in the West Division.

Balls to you!!!

The loss was even uglier than the score indicated, as the HarbourCats smashed the franchise record for most walks allowed in game. Coming into tonight, the franchise record was 12 walks allowed, but you can kiss that record goodbye. On Tuesday night, four pitchers combined to walk a stunning 17 batters in eight innings: Dylan Stowell (10 BB in 4 IP), Tim Peabody (3 BB in 0 IP), Mikey Wright (2 BB in 1 IP) and Preston Ryan (2 BB in 2 IP). The only Victoria pitcher to avoid walking a batter in the game was Carson Schneider and he only threw one inning of relief. The previous team record was set less than three weeks ago (July 9th in Yakima Valley) by Tim Peabody (8 BB in 4 ⅓ IP), Dylan Stowell (3 BB in 2 ⅓ IP) and Mark Marinch (1 BB in 1 ⅓ IP).

It is difficult to determine, but the 17 walks is likely an all-time league record. Dating back to 2010, the most walks allowed by a team in any WCL game was 14 by the Kelowna Falcons in both 2014 and 2012. Statistical records from 2005 to 2009 are not readily available.

On the plus side, the HarbourCats haven’t broken every record for most walks allowed. The individual record for most walks surrendered in a season was surpassed on Sunday by Klamath Fall’s Michael Silva. The previous record was 41 walks, set by David Otterman of the Kelowna Falcons in 2011, but Silva has already issued 44 walks this season -- in only 15 ⅔ innings!!! Unfortunately, Tim Peabody is only 10 back of Silva after walking his 34th batter of the year in 29 innings on the hill. Given that we’ll have to make regular use of all 10 remaining pitchers, Peabody still has time to catch him. Eleven more games...



HarbourCatNip

• Hunter Mercado-Hood went one-for-four on Tuesday night, but he did not knock in a run. Unfortunately for HMH, Yakima Valley's Vince Fernandez knocked in three on Tuesday and Kevin Kline of the Knights also knocked in a pair, giving Fernandez and Kline a share of the league RBI lead with 40. Mercado-Hood is one back with 39. This tight three-way race for the RBI title will be a fun one to watch down the stretch, with the winner likely holding the new all-time league record. The current record is 48 runs batted in by Mitchell Gunsolus of the Wenatchee AppleSox in 2012.
• Nathan Lukes went two-for-three on Tuesday night to raise his batting average to .355 (4th-best in the WCL). Don't be surprised to see Lukes make a late run at the batting title.
• Victoria is 8th in the WCL in team ERA with a 4.40 mark, but the ten remaining pitchers on the staff have a combined ERA of 4.51. The HarbourCats are also 8th in the league with a team WHIP of 1.51. The ten remaining pitchers have a combined WHIP of 1.49.
• The HarbourCats are second in the WCL with a team batting average of .278. They are fifth in the league with a team on-base percentage of .368.
• Victoria’s Alex Fagalde (1-0, 2.84 ERA) gets the start on Wednesday night against Wenatchee’s Brandon Bailey (2-2, 1.90 ERA). Staff ace Alex Rogers (2-3, 2.89 ERA) faces Ian Buckles (3-3, 3.71 ERA) on Thursday. We're rooting for you A-Rog. Go get 'em!