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Galena, IL-- After getting off to a spectacular 12-4 start, the Galena Hamsters have lost six straight games. With their 12-10 current record, their losing streak has cost them the lead in the Spock Division to the Cockeysvillle Crazies, who have a 1.5 game lead.
When asked about the losing streak, owner/general manager Matthew Peck had few answers. "At the beginning of the streak, we just weren't hitting. We'd lose 2-1, 4-1 type games. Now, we're still not hitting, but the pitching has gone south as well! I mean look, we lost 8-0 to Detroit last night. We're better than that."
Indeed, of the Hamsters few weaknesses, relief pitching is the team's greatest liability. After Chuck McElroy and Paul Assemacher, the Hamster's relief corp is strikingly thin. "We need guys like Charlie Pate, Paul Kilgus, and Jack Armstrong to give us some solid consistency in the 6th through 9th innings. We've been getting erratic piching from those guys, and it has cost us some games we should have won."
Armstrong had this to add about the relief pitching woes of the Hamsters, "I'm a starting pitcher. I should be in the rotation, but I'll do whatever the boss tells me to. But you have to realize working out of the pen is tough when you're not used to it."
Peck said that even though the Hamsters are losing, there aren't any roster shakeups planned in the near future. "We just recalled Glanville from AAA three days ago. He'll get alot of playing time while Kenny Lofton recovers from his finger injury. We're content with our second base players for now, and hoping that Terry Pendleton can return to his form of a few years ago. He can be the leader we need."
Written by Matthew Peck