Tornadoes Game Notes July 27th: Tornadoes And Boulders Begin Three-Game Set

By Seth Orensky

After a disappointing road trip to the Tri-State Area the Tornadoes return home to the HIP for Fireworks Friday trying to create some theatrics for the home crowd. Worcester has struggled mightily to being their second half of the season but they hope that the recent hot streaks from a couple of players are a sign of good things to come.

1. Johnny Welch, the Tornadoes cleanup hitter and third baseman, is going through another one of his power surges. Welch has a team-best five-game RBI streak coming in to Friday’s game and also carries a five-game hitting streak as well. Over the past five games, Johnny has hit .421 (8-for-19) with four extra-base hits, including three of of his 13 doubles. His 15 home runs put him in third place in the CanAm League and he’s second on the Tornadoes with 42 RBI.

2. Fans at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field will get to see their fifth former major leaguer of the season (Jose Canseco, Daryle Ward, Brian Myrow and Angel Berroa) when former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Gustavo Chacin takes the mound for Rockland. Chacin spent parts of five seasons in the majors with the Blue Jays and the Astros and accrued a record of 27-17 with a 4.23 ERA. He last pitched in the major leagues in 2010 as a reliever, before being released by the organization in 2011. Chacin still has connections to the majors, as his second cousin once removed is Colorado Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin.

3. Last but not least the Tornadoes made one more roster move since we last posted, when the team signed former University of Michigan (’10) pitcher Erik Katzman. The left-handed reliever pitched a handful of games with Pittsfield last season and threw a dozen games the London Rippers in the Frontier League. He made his Tornadoes debut Wednesday when he threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in Worcester’s 5-2 loss to the Jackals.

July 27th Game Notes

Tornadoes Game Notes July 19, 2012: Tornadoes Start 4-Game Set With Boulders

Worcester will take to the road looking for some better results after a tough homestand that resulted in a 1-6 record with six straight losses. The Tornadoes will be playing in Rockland for the third and final time this season after taking two of the first six games, Worcester and the Boulders will begin a four-game set Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Here are some Tornadoes updates:

1. Brandon Pinckney and Ryan Brockett two of the smallest players in stature on the Tornadoes roster both had huge home-stands. Pinckney hit .414 on the homstand (12-for-29) and extended his on-base streak to 27 games and his hitting streak to 11 games. The Tornadoes second baseman is second in the league in batting average by three points at .348 (Nick Giarraputo .351) and is second in on-base percentage by just two percentage points at .409 (Qualon Millender .411).

Brockett started in all seven games of the homestand in left field and extended his hitting streak to 9 games, while boosting his batting average by almost 50 points to .245. The rookie infielder also made a series of running catches in left field and recorded his first multi-RBI and multi-hit game as a Tornado with a 2 hit, 2-RBI contest Wednesday.

2. Brendon Kelliher and Phil Negus are both out of action right now due to injury. Kelliher suffered a right shoulder injury in the final game of the El Paso series on a diving catch. The Tornadoes left fielder is day-to-day and is hoping to be back within a week or two. Negus is dealing with an arm injury and his recovery timetable is still uncertain.

3. The Tornadoes 3-game sweep at the hands of the Jackals marked the first time this season that the Tornadoes have been swept at home this season. Worcester has only been swept three times this season (Amarillo and Laredo on the Texas trip) with all three series sweeps occurring in month of July.

July 19th Game Notes vs. Rockland Boulders