APPLESOX READY FOR SATURDAY SHOWDOWN

The Yakima Valley Pippins and the Wenatchee AppleSox play for a second time on the weekend, Saturday night at County Stadium.

WENATCHEE APPLESOX at Yakima Valley Pippins
County Stadium     |       7:05 p.m.  
R- Ross Clevenger (1-2) vs. R- Tanner Simpson (0-1)
GAME NOTES       |       APPLESOX STATS       |       LISTEN LIVE

The Wenatchee AppleSox (12-25, 2-8, 4-8 North), fifth place in the North Division are visiting the Yakima Valley Pippins (22-15, 7-3, 12-9) to complete the final portion of the pre-All Star schedule...the AppleSox fell in their second shutout loss to the Pippins on the season and all-time last night...the AppleSox are playing their 17th franchise season (12th in the WCL) and are led by second-year skipper, AJ Proszek (40-56) (.417), who is in his 4th season with the Sox...Proszek is assisted by Kyle Hunt and Colton Loomis, both in their first seasons.

LAST NIGHT - APPLESOX 0, YAKIMA VALLEY 1
YAKIMA –  Grady Miller threw 8 2/3 innings for Wenatchee AppleSox (12-25, 2-8 Second Half), but it wasn’t enough in a 1-0 loss to the Yakima Valley Pippins (22-15, 7-3), in a tightly contested contest at County Stadium, Friday...both Miller and Pippin starter, Zach Draper were locked in from the start at County Stadium in Yakima...each pitcher threw a scoreless opening eight innings, but reached the ninth following different paths...Draper struk out seven batters en-route to his shutout no-decision, while Miller kept the ball in the field of play, particularly at shortstop, recording ten outs through Ryan Kreidler...notably, the AppleSox squandered scoring opportunities in the fifth and sixth innings with runners in scoring position...the best possible spot to get a run off of Draper came in the sixth inning with runners at the corners and one out...a 1-6-3 double play ended the AppleSox threat...in the ninth inning, with Miller nearing the century mark in pitches, and a runner at first base, the left-hander had to leave the contest with two outs...the Pippins’ next batter was hit by a pitch and Michael FIlia blooped in an RBI single for the Pippins’ game-winning run...Ryan Garcia (3-3), who moved from designated hitter to pitcher in the ninth inning, picked up the win for the Pippins...the loss was charged to Miller, as the runner at second base was his responsibility...Miller only allowed four hits over his innings of work, and held Yakima Valley to just two hits through eight innings...unfortunately, his offense had no answer for the West Coast League’s leading pitcher. 

TONIGHT'S NOTES
A SUMMER TO REMEMBER
Since allowing 7 earned runs to the Yakima Valley Pippins in his first start of the summer, June 5, Grady Miller has been the AppleSox’ most consistent starting pitcher...in his next six league starts he has pitched 39.1 innings, allowing only eight earned runs and only an average of 5.3 hits per start....Miller is the AppleSox leader in innings-per-start (6.38), and average pitches-per-start (91.6)...last night he was the definition of a tough-luck losing pitcher, throwing 8.2 innings while allowing only 4 hits and a run that was charged to his line but driven in off of Miceal Taylor. 

STREAKS SNAPPED
Last night, Jordan Rahbone had an on-base streak of 11 games snapped...and before the run came home in the ninth off of Grady Miller, he had thrown 13.2 consecutive-scoreless innings. 

NEEDING THE ‘O’
Wenatchee has been shutout in its last two games versus the Yakima Valley Pippins...the AppleSox have been outscored 12-0 in the contests.

CLOSE GAMES
In the all-time series with the Pippins, 11-of-22 meetings have been decided by two runs or fewer...the AppleSox are 0-2 in one-run games versus Yakima Valley this season...all-time the AppleSox are 2-5 in one run games and 3-1 in games decided by two runs or fewer...a total record of 5-6 in games decided by two runs or less. 

A SLIVER
This year, in 25 total losses, Wenatchee has fallen by two runs or less 17 times...the AppleSox are now 2-7 in one-run games and 1-7 in two-run games after last night...since an 8-2 stretch following a seven-game losing streak to start the season, Wenatchee is 4-16 over its last 20 games, and the 16 losses have been decided by an average of 2.4 runs-per-game. 

LOSING STREAKS
Right now the AppleSox have lost five-straight games to the Pippins, tied for the longest negative streak in the all-time series for the Sox (Aug. 9, 2014-June 25, 2015)...the AppleSox have also lost eight-consecutive games on the road...the team’s longest home/road losing streak of the year.