Vipers Take a Bite Out of Seals

The beleaguered Victoria Seals pitching staff continued its struggles on Wednesday night as the team dropped an 11-7 decision to the Calgary Vipers. Eduardo Baeza took the loss to drop to 1-5. He gave up 7 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings and saw his ERA rise to 6.59.

The Seals rallied three times to overcome 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 deficits. However, the Seals gave up a total of 10 runs in innings four through six and could not stage any late-game heroics.

Chris VanRossum returned to the lineup after a four-game absence. He played RF, while the regular right fielder Sergio Pedroza replaced Carlos Duncan as the DH. Van Rossum went 3-5 on the night and was a home run short of hitting for the cycle after clubbing a single, double and a triple. His average now sits at .270. The competition for the regular CF job and leadoff spot appears to be well underway. Rookie challenger Trevor Davidson played center field on Wednesday and went 0-4 at the plate to drop his average to .278.

Sergio Pedroza hit his fourth homer of the season in the fourth inning to tie Carlos Duncan and Jamar Hill for the team lead.

Veteran hurler Travis Wade (1-4, 5.58 ERA) starts for Victoria on Thursday night in the series finale. Then the Seals bus it to Edmonton for a three-game weekend set against the Capitals.