After a tough 11-1 loss last night, things got off on the right foot for the Hawks – but quickly went downhill from there, as Boise saw their season opening record fall to 1-7 with a 12-3 loss at Salem-Keizer.

As I write this from Caldwell, the team is just leaving Keizer for the eight-hour jaunt home, arriving at Memorial Stadium just after the sun rises in the morning.

What they leave behind is a tough series in which they recorded 30 hits in five games – but allowed 31 hits by the Volcanoes in the final two games alone.

Tonight, it was lost opportunities – as the Hawks grounded into four double plays, and if it weren’t for hustle by a couple men, it could have been six.

Boise jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, as starter Javier Hernandez could not find the zone – walking four men, including two with the bases loaded, but Miguel Sierra and Danny Keefe could not hold the lead, allowing a combined ten runs in three innings of work.

On the positive side, great to see Greg Rohan get a pair of base hits – not including a ball he ripped into the left-field corner foul in the first inning, while both Jose Valdez and Hak-Ju Lee added two hits apiece, with Lee extending his hit streak to eight.

THE BACON: Pitching coach David Rosario has tweaked the piggy-back rotation for the next three nights, as Robert Whitenack will make his first professional start tomorrow night against Yakima, with Larry Suarez throwing Monday, and Jon Nagel on Tuesday…Jeff Antigua will be the back-end of the piggy-back tomorrow, Tarlandus Mitchell on Monday, and Josh Whitlock, Tuesday.

ROSTER MOVE: The Chicago Cubs have announced that Joe Simokaitis has been promoted from rookie ball in Mesa to the Hawks…Simokaitis, a tenth-round pick in 2005 out of Nebraska, is a converted pitcher, after advancing as high as AAA as a shortstop…the Hawks will now have four converted pitchers among their 17 pitchers.

HISTORY:  The 1-7 start by the Hawks is not the worst in franchise history, as the 2006 team began 2-9 and the 2007 squad went 0-9, eventually 1-11…however, the 2006 team won the Eastern Division pennant and the 2007 squad was in the pennant chase up until the final week.