Crossing Enemy Lines: Nathan Baliva

With back-to-back tough losses to the Peoria Chiefs the last two days, I figured it was time to revisit our “Crossing Enemy Lines” feature.  Today, I catch up with the broadcaster for the Chiefs, Nathan Baliva. 

The longtime voice of Chiefs baseball talks about a few painful, yet relevant topics (Nick Struck’s no-hitter, last night’s 3-2 Peoria win), Peoria’s 11-game home winning streak, the bunt-and-run “Peoria Kernels”, international prospects like Hak-Ju Lee and Su-Min Jung and gives us a scouting report on today’s starter Trey McNutt. 

Listen Here: 
Nathan Baliva (PEO Broadcaster) Interview 5.2.10.mp3

That was fun.  Now, let’s end with three positive things for the LumberKings…

1. Mario Martinez hit his first home run of the season last night.  He’s batting .313 (5-for-16) over his last five games after hitting just .164 over the first 16 games.  Listen to the HR here: 
   Martinez solo HR (1) 5.1.10.mp3
    
2. Daniel Carroll went 3-for-4 atop the order to raise his average to .258.  Carroll has four multi-hit games in his last six starts.  One of his hits was a game-tying single in the eighth…listen here: 
   Carroll game-tying 8th inning single 5.1.10.mp3
3. Left-hander Anthony Vasquez, despite getting a no-decision, lowered his ERA from 1.25 to 0.94 and is now third in the Midwest League in ERA.  Read more about Vasquez in today’s Game Notes: 
   5.2.10 kingsnotes.pdf

Right-hander Tyler Blandford (0-2, 4.11) makes his fifth start of the year today in Peoria.  Game time is scheduled for 1:00 PM.  You can listen on line at 1390kcln.com.  Now, let’s end this three-game losing streak!

-DL