Tuesday, June 8, 2010

SSDD

Well, they only played 8 innings thanks to the damp sunshine of the Left Coast, but the result was the same as the Seals ran their franchise high losing streak to 8 games with a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Vipers. The game was washed out at the start of the 9th inning when Brandon Villafuerte had some difficulty getting his footing on the already makeshift mound. The start of the game was delayed by 15 minutes or so as the Victoria grounds crew (a.k.a. the pitchers, led by Aaron "Handyman" Easton) had to fix up a poorly prepared mound. It must have surprised the city that the Seals were back in town.

In a slow-moving game, the Vipers consistently put up a run here and a run there, and Victoria threatened many times but couldn't get that breakthrough hit. They loaded the bases in the 8th when Matt Kavanaugh hit the ball hard and deep but it ended up being just another F8. No team scored more than a single run in any inning; the Vipers just did it 3 more times than the Seals.

Once again, the hits were fairly even at 6-5 in favour of Calgary, but the Vipers were just that much more efficient and were also aided by 2 Seals errors. The home crowd was sparse for the first game of a homestand, but vocal in their attempts to "r-a-t-t-l-e" the opposing pitchers. Let's hope that support picks up.

One thing I did notice was that the Seals seemed to have a casual air about them sharing lots of smiles and banter with the Vipers players, which doesn't sound like a team that is on a 7 game skid. I'm all for being relaxed, but a little intensity would be a good thing right now. I was actually glad to see Chris Van Rossum throw a bit of a fit in the dugout after popping up at an inopportune time. Let's see some more of that! Come on boys...fire in the belly! Eye of the Tiger and all that! Don't make me request it over the P.A. system!

Seal Blubber Bits
  • 6 different players from Calgary had a single hit and only 1 Seal had a multi-hit game. Terrance McClain had a terrific game going 3 for 4 and swiping 2 bases with amazing jumps on both pitches, not even having to dirty his uniform once.
  • Shane Cronin had a great game at the dish going 0 for 0 but drawing walks on 4 very good at bats
  • Sean Smith was nowhere to be seen tonight as T-Mac was patrolling left field. Injured? Maybe, but why wasn't he on the bench? Shipped out? Always a possibility given the woes of late.
  • The Seals sported camo-type hats today marking the start of Sea Dog Days to honour the Canadian Navy. Nice touch!