Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Toros trample Seals

The Victoria Seals lost the first game of their six-game Arizona road trip, falling 12-4 to the Tucson Toros on Tuesday night. The Tucson win snapped their seven-game losing streak.

The Toros chased starter Jason Kershner when they scored eight runs in the fourth inning. Kershner gave up eight hits, four walks and seven earned runs in his 3 2/3 innings pitched.

Colin Moro continued to swing the bat well and he collected two of the team's eight hits. Sean Smith and Charlie Strandlund struggled with 0-for-4 nights.

The loss dropped the Seals' record to 6-4 on the year. They are now in third place, two games behind the first-place Chico Outlaws.

Seal Blubber Bits
  • The Seals released outfielder Steven Wright. Wright had only made two plate appearances in the Seals first nine games.
  • Victoria re-signed outfielder Phil Ortez to replace Wright on the roster. The 24-year-old Ortez is in his first professional season after playing college baseball for UCLA. He was one of the last cuts made by the Seals in spring training this year. Ortez made his professional debut on Tuesday night and lined a base hit into centre field in a pinch-hitting appearance for Anthony Pluta.
  • Dale Swinford also made his Seals debut on Tuesday night and he got a base hit and knocked in a run in his only at-bat.
  • Going into Tuesday night's action, the Seals had a total of 26 steals on the year. That's twice as many stolen bases as the second-best teams -- Maui and Yuma had 13 steals each. Some have taken to calling the Seals the Cardiac Kids because of their knack for pulling out late-inning victories, but perhaps a more appropriate nickname is the Go-Go Seals. Back in 1959, the Go-Go Sox lead the American League in steals and used a hustling style of baseball to win the AL pennant.
  • 18-year-old knuckle ball pitcher Eri Yoshida made her GBL debut on Saturday night for the Chico Outlaws. In three innings pitched, she gave up four earned runs on five hits and one walk. Chico eventually won the game over Tijuana 8-6. To the surprise of many, she got a base hit and an RBI in her only at-bat of the night. The Outlaws front-office must have been happy with the attendance, as there were 4,414 in the stands to see Yoshida's debut. The GBL is even trying to get in on the action by selling Eri Yoshida T-shirts on their web site.