A tough night for the Hawks in Vancouver, as the pitching staff was roughed up for 16 hits in a 9-0 loss to the Canadians, before the biggest crowd Boise has played before this season (4,846).  Things seemingly were off to a good start (the pic of me was taken before the game – the swelling from yesterday’s bee sting has gone down in my cheek), as Hak-Ju Lee had a perfect bunt single on the first pitch.  But on a hit-and-run, George Matheus lined a hot-shot to the first baseman, doubling off Lee – which proved to be an omen.

What ensued was another rough night, as Jon Nagel hit his pitch count in the second, Josh Whitlock barely got through the third, and Miguel Sierra barely got through the fifth.  The bright spot on the bump was Ryan Sontag – back at the scene of his first professional outing on the mound, working a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

Talking with Brett Jackson after the game, he was pleased with his at bats, espeically a first inning single – one that was extremely hit hard.  He said he had a great round in the cage today and is hoping for a good outing tomorrow.

Something else that really caught me over the last 24 hours is how much skipper Casey Kopitzke will fight for his men.  A hit was ruled on a routine ground ball to Lee in the infamous 7th inning rally by the Canadians (whose mascot, Bob Brown Bear is pictured to the right) – one that I, Kopitzke (here hitting some infield-outfield with the team today), and the staff felt should have been an error.  Up until the 24th and final hour that the call could be overturned, Boise’s manager was trying to get the call reversed – to no avail, but it was his passion to try and turn a couple earned runs to unearned runs for his pitching staff that earned my respect.

Tomorrow will be a quick turnaround for the club, as the team will leave for the yard around 10 a.m. for the 1 p.m. (Pacific Time) ball game – the first afternoon game of the year for the Hawks.  The saving grace for a lot of the guys is that tomorrow night, they will get to explore Vancouver (including the new bridge over the Fraser River as part of the Airport-to-Downtown Sky Train pictured at the left) – which is better than downtown Richmond, where we are staying.

BACON: The loss for the Hawks was their seventh straight defeat away from Memorial Stadium and the club fell to 1-9 on the road…Jackson has now hit safely in 6-of-7 games with the Hawks, while Jae-Hoon Ha has hit safely in nine of his last ten games…Lee had a scary moment in the 3rd inning, colliding with C’s third-baseman Ryne Jurnigan – but he shook off a knee injury…Vancouver scored in each of the first six innings tonight.

TOMORROW – Former Hawk, Josh Vitters, will play for the USA team in the MLB Futures Game in St. Louis, as part of All-Star Week…he is the youngest player on the USA team.