RedHawks' season slipping away

By Matt Patterson

Published: September 6, 2008

How much longer Oklahoma plays baseball this season depends heavily on what starting pitcher Michael Ballard can give the team — not that he minds being in this position.

Iowa leads the best-of-5 Pacific Coast League series with two wins after it beat the RedHawks 2-1 on Friday night at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Ballard will make his ninth start for Oklahoma at 7:05 tonight.

Ballard began his stint with Oklahoma on July 20 and struggled, giving up 16 earned runs in his first three outings. But the 24-year-old left-hander has settled down lately. In his last two starts, he's pitched a combined 10 innings and allowed just one earned run.

Ballard doesn't mind the pressure, though he admits there's plenty of it.

"I want to say you look at it like it's just another game, but there's a little more on the line this time,” Ballard said. "I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to the excitement. It's fun knowing that every pitch, every at bat is something important.”

Oklahoma has had some success against the Cubs with lefties, including a start by Derek Lee on Thursday night. Lee allowed six hits over 6 1/3 innings in the RedHawks' win. Ballard is hoping to match that effort. Iowa hits .287 against lefties and .297 against right-handed pitchers.

Both are impressive numbers.

"I definitely watched closely when (Derek) Lee threw the other night,” Ballard said. "He threw the ball great for us, and I'm just going to try and go out and duplicate what he did.”

For Ballard, it's been about calming down and following through in his delivery. He had been inconsistent in that area earlier in his stint with Oklahoma. His worst start was July 25, when he gave up nine earned runs. His best start to date was a five-inning shutout on Aug. 27.

Great pitching efforts alone don't win games. Oklahoma manager Bobby Jones knows Ballard is capable of keeping the RedHawks' season alive, but he's going to need help. Brian Gordon pitched well in Friday night's loss but didn't get much in the way of run support.

"Lee pitched well the other day, and they're similar,” Jones said. "Hopefully, he can go out and do the same thing, but we have to score runs. If we don't score, it's not going to matter.”

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