As the old saying goes, sometimes it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.
The Omaha Storm Chasers wrapped up their longest road trip of the season by splitting a series with the Rochester Red Wings. Omaha ends their 12-game road trip by going 6-6 and splitting both series’ in St. Paul and Rochester. Not pretty but given how both series started, going .500 against a St. Paul squad that’s better than their record and a red-hot Rochester team, who could be coming to Werner Park at the end of the season, is pretty solid.
Let’s take a quick look at the series:
The Chasers were in every game despite some of the lopsided scores. In Game 1, Omaha committed a season-high five errors in one game which ultimately led to a late-game surge from the Red Wings. The Storm Chasers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a homer from Nate Eaton, but also committed four more errors and got outhit 12-4 in a ten inning loss in Game 2. Another late surge from Rochester in the 7th Inning of Game 3 gave the Red Wings a 3-0 lead in the series.
It was as if the offensive mojo of the Red Wings was sucked out of them after that. Drew Waters scored on a fielder’s choice in the 10th Inning and Carlos Hernandez retired the side to get the Chasers the 1-0 win. Omaha took Game 5 in shutout fashion thanks to two runs in the 6th Inning and only allowed five base runners in a 2-0 victory. In Sunday’s series finale, CJ Alexander hit a first inning grand slam and the pitching staff held down the fort in a 9-1 beatdown.
As mentioned in the game recap, Omaha outscored Rochester 12-1 in the final three games and shutout the Red Wings in 23.2 innings from inning one on Friday to the 6th Inning on Sunday.
It’s a tough call given the fact that the Chasers were held in check most of this series, but Gentry’s been tearing it up since the All-Star Break. His hitting streak may have ended in this series, but he’s been everywhere offensively. He told me last month about his adjustment to his swing and it has really started to pay off. Gentry hit his 11th home run to tie the game up on Thursday afternoon while going 2-4 with a double, he drove in the game-winning run on Friday night on a fielder’s choice, and then he went 2-4 again on Sunday afternoon while scoring a run. I’m excited to see what he can do in these final two months and of he keeps this up, maybe the Royals would give him a look in late-September.
Runner(s) Up: CJ Alexander (GS and five RBIs on Sunday) and Nick Loftin (5-9 his last two games)
When you get ten strikeouts in your first start in Triple-A start, you deserve Chaser Pitcher of the Week. The Royals #17 prospect made his first start for Omaha back on Wednesday afternoon in a 3-2 loss for the Chasers in extra innings. I do think Cameron deserved better than a no-decision in that game on Wednesday but regardless, he was spectacular. He tossed 6.2 scoreless innings allowing an earned run on seven hits and striking out ten. He never allowed a walk as well. What’s better is he threw 88 pitches and 68 of them were strikes. That is 77.2% of his pitches. That’s just ridiculous. Cameron is expected to make his first start at Werner Park on Tuesday afternoon and it’ll be interesting to see if he can replicate that performance.
Last Series: Iowa swept Omaha (3-0)
Vs Iowa: 9-6
Vs Iowa @ Werner Park: 4-2
The final edition of the I-80 rivalry of the season. The last time we saw these two teams clash, the I-Cubs swept the Chasers in a three-game series in Des Moines on 4th of July weekend. All three of those games were decided by one run. Since then, the I-Cubs are trending in the wrong direction. Iowa is 5-16 in their last 21 games and they are coming off a 12-game homestand in which they went 2-10, including getting swept two weeks ago by the Indianapolis Indians. In 11 of those 12 games, the I-Cubs surrendered five runs or more. It also doesn’t help that they have major injury concerns as both Matt Mervis and Alexander Canario are both out long-term. Yes, they are not playing well. That doesn’t mean that the Chasers should overlook them. Owen Caissie and Moises Ballesteros are two of the top Cubs prospects, both went to the Futures Game, and Caleb Kilian is back off an injury. Iowa is talented and they’ve given the Chasers fits this year, but I still think the Chasers can take this series. Omaha is going to have to start fast and be aggressive against Iowa’s leaky bullpen. Should be a great week at Werner Park.
There are some great promos at Werner Park so here’s what fans can expect when they come to East Nebraska this week:
- The 121st team in Minor League Baseball, the Malmo Oat Milkers, are coming to Werner Park on Tuesday night! This promotion is presented by Oatly, the official oatmilk of minor league baseball.
- The Storm Chasers will wear their alternate gold corn jerseys twice this week. Wednesday is a normal Cornival game, but Friday night will include a fireworks show.
- Thursday night is All Abilities Night. Omaha is honoring all members of the community with a wide range of abilities. University of Nebraska Softball Pitcher Jordy Bahl will make an appearance. As an added bonus, the Chasers will don their red July 4th jerseys.
- All super heroes are welcome at Werner Park on Saturday on Marvel’s Defenders of the Diamond night. Iron Man will be onsite and the Chasers will wear their special Marvel jerseys.
- Family Funday and Community Night is on Sunday. Fans from the Blair, Fremont, and Valley areas are invited and kids can run the bases postgame.
The Chasers and I-Cubs begin their series on Tuesday night at 7:05pm from Werner Park. Games can be streamed live on MiLB.TV or Bally Live and can be listened to on Mixlr.
