Link Report for Tue. 8/5 -- Steve Hammond faces his old mates

[Boy Jeenius]

The Jeffress inigma actually seems kinda logical to me - he's learning how to pitch. In the show, everyone can hit a fastball. Jeffress has been getting by in the lower rungs of the system by being a thrower. But his growth as a professional will have to include hitting his spots, with maybe a couple of MPH off of his stuff. So he's figuring out that his stuff is far more wicked placed properly, than pure gas brought straight on and challenging hitters. So the 4 walks could mean he's trying to learn to live on the black part of the dish with very good stuff, not on the white part of the dish with great stuff.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Power welcomes day off after falling to Delmarva

Manager Jeff Isom says team needs a break as it is poised for SAL pennant race

by Christopher Wade

For the Charleston Daily Mail

 

With West Virginia clinging to a two-game Northern Division lead over second-place Lakewood and a South Atlantic League baseball playoff berth on the line, the Power officially is entering the stretch run.

 

After playing games for 12 straight days and enduring a pair of long road trips since mid-July, the Power (30-15) gets a much needed off day today.

 

With 25 games left in the second half, the Power play 20 straight days starting Thursday, and Manager Jeff Isom hopes the players enjoy a rare relaxing day off before facing the brutal stretch.

 

The day off might have been even better had it not been for a 4-3 loss to the Delmarva Shorebirds on Tuesday night at Appalachian Power Park before a crowd of 2,092. The Power squandered many opportunities for victory.

 

"It was unfortunate but tomorrow (Wednesday) is a well needed off day, there's no question about it," Isom said. "We need to get rested up because it's a big series coming up on Thursday.

 

"Every team is in the same boat as we are at this point. It's the dog days of summer. We have less than 30 games to go. It wears on you mentally and physically."

 

Isom and the rest of the staff have tried to get the players prepared for such a situation all season long, and said his team is ready for the crucial stretch drive.

 

"We talked about it early on in the season," Isom said. "It's a good time to get yourself prepared -- getting your sleep, eating the right food, and all those important things."

 

As for the day off today, Isom doesn't care what his players do but hopes they, along with himself and the rest of the coaches, try to take their mind off baseball and the playoff push for at least a day.

 

"We can do what we need and want to do, like go fishing," Isom said. "Some of us will go fishing and golfing. It's nice just to relax and not have a game. I am anxious about the next series though (starting Thursday night at home against Hickory)."

 

The players themselves are very much looking forward to the off day but also know the importance of the remaining games starting Thursday as the Milwaukee farm team tries to reach the postseason for back-to-back seasons.

 

"We will definitely enjoy our off day," Power left fielder Lee Haydel said. "We will rest up and get ready for the home stretch. We have to rest up and get ready for that."

 

The Power had every opportunity to go into the off day on a high note against the Shorebirds, but unlike most of the second half when the offense has led the way, West Virginia couldn't get the big hit against Delmarva.

 

The team had nine hits -- two apiece by Haydel and Eric Farris -- but left seven runners on base and squandered several crucial chances midway through the game.

 

After the Power scored three runs in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead, Delmarva responded with a run in the third and two runs in the fourth to take the lead they would not relinquish.

 

"We had tons of opportunities there in the middle innings, and had a good chance to win," Isom said. "You can't rely on the offense every night. We let the lead go and couldn't do anything offensively the rest of the way unfortunately."

 

In the fourth inning, the Power had a runner thrown out caught stealing and Haydel was thrown out at second trying to turn a single into a double.

 

One inning later, the Power had its best scoring opportunity after loading the bases with one out when center fielder Caleb Gindl hit a line drive shot up the middle.

 

However, Delmarva pitcher Nathan Nery snared the hot shot and doubled off Steffan Wilson from first base to end the threat.

 

The sixth and seventh innings also saw the Power have a runner on second base with no outs and one out, respectively, but both times it couldn't get the runner home or even to third.

 

"We just couldn't get the runs when we needed them," Haydel said. "It's a tough loss. We just have to move on and get the next series. We didn't get a timely hit. That's baseball and it was just one of those days."

[TheCrew07]

You must have missed this from the Link Report from this past Friday. To find it I used the "Search Forum" function here at Brewerfan.

 

Helena Pre-Game Interview with 4th round LHP Josh Romanski

, out initially with elbow soreness, but now out due to a groin injury

Click on the KCAP archive of August 1st, then browse to the 15:00 minute mark

I did miss that, thanks Mass. The Search function has been hit or miss quite a bit lately, sometimes it works for me, sometimes I get like 1/10 the results that I should, it's been a real pain trying to dig up threads and posts to answer people's questions lately, when most of the questions being asked have been previously discussed. I noticed casey had posted about it as well in the issues forum so I figure it's just a bug they are working on.