What a great game, a great crowd, and great atmosphere to end a nine-day, eight-game homestand!!!  A 1-0 victory by the Hawks, a super-sellout of nearly 3,900 fans, and a festive environment on a Wednesday night that will probably leave members of the Boise media scratching their heads as to “3,900 on a mid-week…what are they doing out there?”

It started on the mound tonight – as Robert Hernandez tossed six shutout innings for the second time in three starts, working out of a bases loaded jam in the first…and seemed to get better as the night progressed.  The best job, however, was by reliever Eduardo Figueroa (pictured left), who danced around a first-and-third, no outs situation in the seventh, coaxing a pop up and back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.  Dionis Nunez was Dionis Nunez, slamming the door in the ninth for his team-leading fifth save in five opportunities.

Offense was at a premium, with the lone run of the game coming in the sixth.  As Jose Valdez, seeing his first action in nearly a week, reaching on an infield single, moving to third on a Hak-Ju Lee single and subsequent fielding error, and scoring on a Logan Watkins fielders choice.  One run was enough tonight.

TULLIS WAS OUTSTANDING: The hype surrounding the return of Timberline star Braden Tullis lived up to the hype, as the Rangers 8th Round draft pick allowed just four hits in six innings of work, striking out five – but took the loss thanks to the unearned run.  He was in command the entire night, keeping the Hawks off-balanced with a good fastball and an even better change-up – especially to left-handed hitters.  The last time a local kid returned to Boise was Glenns Ferry native, and current Detroit Tiger farmhand (AAA Toledo) Zach Simons.

CRANK UP THE BUS, HAL: The Interwest bus will get worked overtime in the next two weeks, as we leave tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. sharp on a 12-day exodus through Eastern Washington.  First stop is Yakima, where temperatures are expected Thursday around 105 degrees…after three days in Wine Country, the Hawks head to Spokane for six days, over to Tri-City for three, returning home – in September.

THE BACON: Watkins extended his hitting streak to ten games with a first inning single…the Hawks turned four double plays in their seven-hit shutout, including three double plays started by Justin Bour…the major league record for first-baseman starting a double play in a game is three, however, no record for such a feat is in the NWL Recordbook – except for a first-baseman being involved in six double plays in one game.

COMING UP: Along with the sites and sounds of the road trip, we will be having a year in review on the road – ranking the top cities, food, mascots, etc….if there is something you would like us to rank from the road this year, feel free to leave a comment.