Series Report: St. George @ Reno (August 1-3, 2008)

Game One: This game ended up with a lot more drama than us Sox fans would like. I worked late so I just headed home and turned on the game. However, it wasn't there. Mike Murray, PA announcer for the team resigned which put Ben Deach on PA duty and no one on announcing duty. There was no announcement on Mike so I can only assume it may not have been a completely amicable parting. In any event, I tuned to John Potter's broadcast for the game.

The next bit of drama came as Kevin Frederick had to leave with an unspecified injury during the second inning. I speculated that he may be hurt because it had been a while since he pitched and tonight didn't help that. There is no additional information on him on the website and without a home broadcast, there wasn't any provided last night.

The final drama came with the Sox blowing another lead to lose the game. Schnieder has blown at least three saves that I can remember. It is not a stat tracked by the GBL or Howe Sports so it is hard to tell exactly how many he has. I think, at this point, other than mentioning the bad pitching, there is no need to really dig into it. These guys are just not that good on the whole. There are some good pitchers and some flashes of solid work but for the most part, we lose a lot of games even though our hitters are racking up an average of 6.7 runs a game. Good pitching beats good hitting, and bad pitching erases good hitting as well. But I think my bigger issue with this is even though it was obvious Schneider was off his game, no one got up in the pen. I realize the guys are burned out but to watch your closer struggle badly and watching him give the game away was not enough to at least get a guy up? The feeling I got last night that our team really didn't care about winning the close game. It was all on Schneider, win or lose. And he lost it allowing 4 runs (3 of them his) on three hits and hitting two batters in that fateful 8th inning.

One bright spot was another big night from Ryan Brown who went 3-4 raising his average to .358 (2nd on the team) and he is now third in OPS behind D.J. Dixon and John Hattig. I am glad to see those three guys do well. They are really nice guys, have great chemistry with their teammates, and are solid ball players. With the losses continuing to rack up, these guys still give the fans a reason to come out to Peccole. Let's hope the Sox can turn it around in game two.

GAME TWO: Jesse Hall started for us and had a rough outing despite his current string of good starts for the team. He went 6 innings but gave up 6 runs along the way before yielding to Billy Simon who gave up two runs over his two innings of work. Mitch Arnold was able pitch a scoreless ninth but the damage was done. The Sox started the game up 3-0 but eventually lost 9-4. The potent Sox offense only managed 8 hits which included just two extra-base hits (doubles by Madrid and Alvarado).

On the rumor front, check out the comment on this blog entry indicating that Dixon and maybe Senreiso will be gone in a couple of days as their contracts were purchased. I am really happy for those two as they both have the skills to at least get a look (again) at the affiliated level. The bottom line is that at 23-37, the Sox are probably not going to catch red-hot Edmonton (34-29) or win the second half outright to make it into the playoffs. So since the pitching has never allowed the Sox to string together more than 3 wins at a time this season, even the loss of two power bats won't make a difference. So good luck, guys...I'll be keeping tabs on your progress just as we do for other guys like Kane Simmons (recently promoted to Class A Modesto for the Rockies).

GAME THREE: Another game, another loss, another sweep. I cringe writing that but it is what it is. Daniel Chaffardet started (it was supposed to be Derrick Landavazo) and got the loss, dropping to 0-3. He definitely pitched better this time but his supporting cast let him down as he allowed five runs, all unearned. The Sox decided to go with yet another new pitcher. He is not on the roster yet or the GBL transaction page but his name is Piccarillo. Unfortunately, despite a decent start, he allowed a grand slam and home run late in the game, pitching just 2.1 innings to establish his ERA in the GBL at 19.29. And St. George pitching was on tonight racking up 15 strike outs.

There is still no Sox broadcast which is getting frustrating because John Potter, although very good, really has nothing to add about our team or any insights into the players. I love what he does for the Roadrunners and just wish we could get that level of information as well for our guys. And the website continues to have a derth of information...rosters that still have Crespi but not some newer guys, no annoucement on Mike Murray who has been with the team since day one, and no information at all on the players. Last year, I really liked that when an acquisition was made, we got a quick e-mail to say where he came from with a quote on his potential from the manager or GM. We have no radio this year, no road broadcasts, and now no home broadcasts. I hate to bash the team since I am their biggest cheerleader with this blog but it is really starting to get disappointing. Game day activites are less than last year and that has turned off a few as you can see by the poll results on this blog. Many giveaways were delayed or never scheduled (for 3 months it has said check back for baseball card and mini-bat nights). It really feels like the Sox have mailed it in and that is sad for all those who have supported them through the years. And if the rumors are true about our two best players going to other INDEPENDENT teams (just like Crespi did), it really says a lot for what the players think of the team. With zero players sold to affiliated teams this year, I think it also says a lot about what the players think of Reno as a springboard back to affiliated ball. And, unless something changes in the next month, this will be the first season ever that the Sox never sold anyone back to affiliated ball.

We get the same e-mails every day telling us about the same promotions each week. I'd like it if we got one or two with some other information. Why did Crespi leave? What was Frederick's injury? What is Jeffrey Leonard's strategy for the way he uses his pitching staff? Again, I hate to bash the team on the "official" blog but there may very well be just four more weeks of Silver Sox ball EVER. Let's go out with a bang, guys!