Thoughts From Last Night

Even though I was not physically at last night's game in Bakersfield, I wanted to share some musings after the Mavs' 13-12 win over the Blaze.

No, it was not pretty. No, it should not have been as close as it was. But the Mavs were riding a five-game losing streak and had dropped four straight to the Blaze. They needed a win badly, and although that might not have been the way they drew it up, they got it.

The thing I liked most about the game was how the Mavs' bats woke up. The offense was lost for the previous five games, and that's a big part as to why the Mavs had their losing streak. There are three players I would like to give special notice to:

1) Andy Hargrove. Andy was mired in a 1-28 slump coming into last night, and had not recorded an RBI in 15 games as a Maverick (granted he didn't have too many chances). He picked a good night to knock in three, including his first homer with High Desert.

2) Eddy Hernandez. Eddy went 2-5 last night night with his second home run of the year. But more importantly, he didn't strike out in his five plate appearances. That's very encouraging for someone who had struck out in nearly half of his plate appearances prior to yesterday evening.

3) Travis Scott. The man just gets it done with people one base, and last night further evidenced that fact. Even though he only had one hit, it was a big bases clearing triple to regain the lead in the 7th. What's more impressive, is that was his second bases-clearing triple within one week. How many catchers can say they've done that?

Two of the players not included in my list were Mike Saunders and Johan Limonta. Why? Because neither were in the lineup (although both were inserted late in the ballgame...neither had a plate appearance). I feel since neither were in the lineup, it adds importance to the Mavs' 13-run outburst.

The final thing I like from last night was how the Mavs took advantage of Bakersfield's (read: Chris Davis') mistakes. I guess everything comes in fours for Davis. He had four hits, four RBI, and four errors. The errors directly led to two unearned runs in the second, and the Mavs scored a couple more times in innings Davis committed other errors.

That's the good...now on to the bad. Once again, we saw some more pitching troubles on the mound. For whatever reason, the Mavs just can't seem to take a lead and make it stick. They squandered an early 7-2 lead, and almost coughed up their three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth.

The bullpen tends to make things interesting, and we've seen the Mavs walk the tightrope too many times. But then again, a win is a win, and like I mentioned before, the Mavs really needed one. I don't think the coaching staff minds cracking open those bottles of Maalox as long as there's a W at the end.

After six on the road, the Mavs will come home for six. Three against a team they know very well, and three against a team they barely know at all. First up is Lake Elsinore, a team the Mavs have not lost a series to all year (one win, three splits). I have a feeling the Mavs take the series, but not without the accustomed late-inning theatrics. As for Modesto, it's hard to tell. These two teams haven't seen each other since the beginning of May, and that series was at John Thurman Field--the antithesis of Mavericks Stadium. Of course, there's also a lot of turnover on both sides since they last met, so the rosters look different. I guess you'll just have to check back here to see I feel going in against the Nuts.