It would be easy to look at last night’s 9-0 score against Durham and get a little depressed. Yeah, true, the Tides managed only two hits and are one-for-four against Durham so far this year. I can’t explain that away. However, Jurrjens had a decent outing, and according to the Tides website this morning, he threw 54 of 93 pitches for strikes.

The simplistic analysis is that the Tides need to get something going on O, period. For you “Sabermetrics” fans out there who like the OPS number (not my favorite, but let’s use it here for comparison’s sake), the Tides have only four players with OPS numbers over .700 (Navarro, Robinson, Canzler, and Romero). And, only four players are batting over .250 (Navarro, Robinson, Canzler, and Valencia). The Tides have combined for 23 runs so far in 2013. Let’s compare that to our current opponent, Durham, who has combined for 52 runs so far. Only four of their players have OPS numbers UNDER .700. Some of the Bulls’ successes on offense came at the expense of Tides pitching during the Bulls’ recent 21-4 win over Petersime, granted. However, we can make similar comparisons with Gwinnett, our opponent for the six games after tonight, and with Charlotte.

The opposing pitching we’ve seen so far this season has been good, but not THAT good. There is no reason why the Tides can’t show us more on offense during the upcoming games with Gwinnett and, Heaven help us, Durham again.

The Tides are down in Durham tonight. Then we’ll get to see them play two games with Gwinnett at Harbor Park. This fan is hoping to see some needed power out of the batter’s box this weekend. – RR

My Day Job has taken precedence over my blog the last couple of days, and it was pure torture to sit inside the office yesterday on one of the most beautiful days in the history of the world and listen to the Business Special on the radio. The last two games have gone rather well for the Tides, and I wanted to see the improvements in person. Duty called, however. I was a Good Employee and multitasked by following along with Gameday and with the audio stream on the ESPN 94.1 app (which is pretty good, by the way).

One thing that has been nice to see is Canzler’s improvement over the last few games. Last Saturday night he went 0 for 4 and struck out three times. Now he’s batting well over .300 (I want to say .333, but you need to check me on that one). He has hit home runs in the last three games and is tied for first place in the International League for RBI.

Jackson also looked good in the matinee with three hits. He’s also batting over .300.

We also learned yesterday that Dickerson’s contract has been selected by Baltimore. This transaction should complete their 40-man roster. Good thing we have Robinson now in the outfield. He has been doing a good job for us – he put up a nice RBI single yesterday. After 20 at-bats, he’s batting around .450.

I was also sorry that I didn’t see Navarro’s walk-off RBI single Tuesday night. This was a nice come-from-behind win, considering that the Tides trailed 4-0 going into the eighth inning. Stinson had a decent debut. His outing was definitely an improvement over Petersime’s last Monday.

The Tides are down in Durham for a couple of games, and then head back to us for the weekend. The weather may turn tonight in Durham, but hopefully they can get the game in before the front comes through. – RR

Perhaps the best thing to say about last night’s game with Charlotte is: nothing. You can tell everything you need to know from the 21 – 4 score. Worst trouncing we’ve had since 1999.

Petersime got an emergency call-up from Frederick yesterday. He is back in Frederick today.

At least Stinson is here. The five-man rotation of Clark, Jurrjens, Britton, Garcia, and Stinson should be able to handle matters for awhile.

You should see some redemption at the game tonight. 6:35 start again. (New this year: 6:35 starts on school nights through June.) I expect that my next post will be a happier one. -RR

I just got the lineups for tonight’s game with Charlotte. (6:35 start, by the way.) Canzler, who was the DH during the Durham home stand, is going to start at second tonight. Ishikawa will be the DH, while Jackson will start at first. Tides manager Ron Johnson is continuing to develop his players at multiple positions, much like Buck Showalter does in Baltimore. I like to see this sort of thing. It creates additional bench depth, and it helps the players grow into valuable multi-talented utility players who see a lot of playing time due to their versatility. Should be a great game tonight, and the weather is perfect.

Last night, Daniel McCutchen didn’t look good at all on the mound. Just learned that he’s been suspended 50 games for violating substance abuse policy. At least he won’t be getting lit up tonight…at least not by Durham anyway.

This is my new card. Of course, if you’re reading this, you already know all of the information on it. 

i enjoyed last night at Harbor Park, as always, but the game was a bit difficult to watch. An 11 – 2 shelling of four pitchers always is. The bottom line of this game was that the Tides were out-pitched. I was seeing some control issues from our guys. They were missing some fundamentals – the usual suspects of inconsistent release points and pitch selection. You can’t throw fastballs all of the time against the Bulls. 

That said, the Tides have two chances for redemption tonight. The Opening Day rainout resulted in a double-header tonight at 6:05. Game 1 should feature our first look at Jurrjens on the mound. By the way, I neglected to mention that there is a Groupon available for the upcoming homestands with Charlotte, Gwinnett, and Toledo. I believe the tickets are $8 with the Groupon, which is a deal. Prices have gone up this year at Harbor Park. The “cheap seats” are $13. Pizza is $5/slice for cheese, and Bud Lights are $8.50 for drafts and $9 from the vendor. Parking remains $5. So, my ticket, parking, two beers, and two slices last night were over $45. 

I’ll post more after the games tonight. 

Let’s try this again. Last night didn’t turn out the way any of us planned. Instead of enjoying Opening Night at Harbor Park, I spent Almost Opening Night at my local watering hole staying out of the cold 37-degree rain. Well, I’m going to Harbor Park tonight, period. I ran down to the box office today at lunchtime and got my ticket, so I shouldn’t even have to stand in a long line for anything but food.

I’m about to revise my lineups on 6-4-3 that I entered yesterday, and then I’ll be ready. See you tonight!