By Josh (9 Inning Know It All):
Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions for the Volcanoes organization. During batting practice Chris Stratton, the 2012 first round pick for the Giants, was injured in a freak accident. While reaching to pick up a ball off the ground he was struck in the head by a line drive. He was helped off the field and taken to the Salem Hospital to be looked at but last that was heard is that he was doing okay and was simply being held overnight to make sure that it wasn’t more than a concussion.
Accidents like this are rare but they do happen and all that anyone can do hope that no serious injuries occur and that there is a speedy recovery.
To add even more disappointment to the team Matt Duffy, the Volcanoes’ starting shortstop, was sent to Arizona after it was confirmed that he had a broken bone in his hand.
After the unfortunate accident and the injury news that occurred during the day, things finally started to look up for the Volcanoes. Facing the Vancouver Canadians in the final game of a three game series the Volcanoes came out and shut down the Canadians. The Volcanoes pitching staff only gave up six hits to the Canadians with Joan Gregorio going six shutout innings to get the win.
The Volcanoes offense was centered on one swing of the bat by Chuckie Jones, who hit a 3 run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the pitching staff all the run support they would need.
Normally this would just be another game that would be celebrated for a few moments than everyone would move on except for a milestone that was reached last night. With the win Tom Trebelhorn received is 1,200th win as a manager in professional baseball.
Side Note
The Canadians loss and a win by the Eugene Emeralds makes the race in the West Division much tighter. The Canadians only have a 1 game lead with 10 games to play. The Canadians will play 5 games in Yakima against the Bears and then finish the season at home with a 5 games series against the Boise Hawks. The Emeralds will go to Tri-City to face the Dust Devils, followed by a 5 game series at home against the Spokane Indians.