Nearly 75% of all doubleheaders are split, so the Sidewinders got unlucky
streak-wise in having to play Portland twice on Tuesday. Tucson dominated
game one, belting five homers off of Portland pitching. Phenom Micah Owings turned in another impressive start, improving to 6-0 in Triple-A play.
He did walk five Beavers, however. Owings' strikeout-to-walk ratio has
been a concern since the callup to Tucson, and rests at 22/20 after the victory.
In game two, the Sidewinders took a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning before
Casey Daigle surrendered a three-run blast to Portland cleanup hitter Jon Knott.
The homer gave Knott sole possession for the PCL lead in homers with 21, and the
Beavers went on to win by that score of 3-2.
Despite the loss, Tuscon has the best record in the PCL at 61-34.
During the streak, they saw All Star shortstop Stephen Drew get called up to the
majors to replace the injured Craig Counsell. Drew had been hitting .284
with 13 home runs at the time of his callup. Taking over the everyday
shortstop duties for Tucson is Kenny Perez, who is currently batting .289.
Replacing Drew on the Sidewinders' roster is All Star catcher Miguel Montero.
Montero is widely considered the best catching prospect in the organization, and
had hit .270 with ten homers in AA before his promotion. Montero is
expected to see the majority of the work behind the plate for the Sidewinders,
with Juan Brito primarily starting against left handed pitching.
Read more from Keith Glab at
www.baseballevolution.com