Reflections: Oilers @ Pilots, 6/10/2010

This is going to be a quick one today; I am packing up to get on the airplane and get to ALASKA! I've got the league schedule up and I'm planning out my first three games so I can see some matches in person and give you real reflections, plus some photos. But I just caught the first half of the audio of this game, so I only have half as many impressions to offer.

For this game, although my impressions were based on the audio, I had the opportunity to confirm my thoughts with some people who were actually there, including Joel London who hooked me up via Twitter: "[Pilots starter Joe] Sawicki was hitting his spots all night, but got hit hard in the 1st and got kinda wild in the 5th" and "[Oilers SP Kolby] Moore was all over the place Thurs but was helped by the Pilots inability to get timely hits. Had 1-hitter thru 4" This is basically the assessment I got out of it.


Joe Sawicki sounded like he was really working the corners and getting most of the calls all night -- despite the protest of some batters. This is the second time we've had a look at Sawicki and so far he seems really good. I think it took him through the first to get settled in, though, and by that time the Oilers' potent offense had seized the opportunity to do some damage. Ryan Gebhart really showed an aggressive streak for the Oilers, lining the first pitch off the game by Sawicki and then swiping second base. He did well in the leadoff spot tonight to get things going and he could be a real spark plug for the Oilers this year. He's got a lot of fans down in Oilerland and I have to say that I'm starting to come around on him.

Oilers starter Kolby Moore seemed like he was having trouble hitting his spots and getting his pitches to behave the way he wanted, but he managed to get a lot of Pilots out despite that fact. The Pilots' offense just has not got it going so far this season, but this might be remedied when they get the other half of their team this weekend. It wouldn't be fair to read too much into the teams right now considering nobody has their full squad on hand yet. On the other hand, the Oilers tonight played just about exactly how I thought they would. They're firing on all cylinders right now and they're effective on the mound and lethal at the plate. They're going to be a tough team to beat this year.


That's my take on last night's Oilers and Pilots match-up. My plan was to do the Panners at Oilers tonight (and do Bucs at Miners last night), which is the first Panners game of the year, but I forgot an important fact...that I'm going to be on an airplane, headed back to AK! My preliminary schedule for the first few games is to see the Fire at Pilots on the 13th, Panners at Miners on the 16th, and Heroes of the Diamond at Bucs on the 18th. But I still have to run this by the boss (AKA my wife) and make sure it's not Bunco night or something. When I know, you'll know! For those of you who are big fans of my work, and don't know how you'll ever repay me for all the information I've provided, no reward is necessary but I've never been known to turn down a free beer. Just sayin'.