Seals in Free Fall

Last night's shocking 13-12 loss to the Tucson Toros, their fifth in a row, was a loss for the ages. After scoring 10 runs in the top of the second, the Seals let 10-0 and 12-2 leads go by the boards en route to their most difficult loss of the season. It's pretty difficult to see this team recovering from such a heart-breaking loss. The Seals are now 6 games back of the Calgary Vipers in the second-half standings and a whopping 8 1/2 games behind the Edmontol Capitals on the season. It's going to take a minor miracle for this team to make the playoffs.

The culprit last night was shoddy fielding. Victoria made eight miscues on the night, including three errors by Terry Mermer on only four chances. Mermer is normally an outfielder and first baseman, but he played third base in place of the injured Brian Rios. Backup third baseman Carlos Duncan was traded last week to the Edmonton Capitals, so Mermer has been pressed into service at third for the Tucson series. Let's hope Rios' injured ankle is improving, because the Seals are really missing his glove work. If Mermer's defensive struggles continue, I wouldn't be surprised to see Pedro Montero filling in at third until Rios is ready to return.

Seal Blubber Bits

• Newcomer Dane De la Rosa has got off to a rough start with the Seals. He gave up both walk-off hits in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday and Saturday nights.
• Light-hitting Billy Krause has also struggled in his first couple of games with the team. Krause is 0-for-7 with 4 strikeouts.
• Sergio Pedroza is quietly putting together a solid season offensively for the Seals. After hitting his tenth homer of the year on Saturday night, Pedroza is now batting .330 with 38 RBIs. He also has a .440 on-base percentage and a .575 slugging percentage.
• The team plays a rare Sunday night game to conclude the Tucson series before returning to RAP on Tuesday night to start a three-game set against the Edmonton Capitals. Isaac Hess should receive a heroe's welcome when he starts. It will also be interesting to see how Carlos Duncan plays against the Seals, roughly one week after being traded away.