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.

The Spokane Indians and the Boise Hawks will either become really good friends or bitter enemies over the next three weeks, as the clubs meet 12 times in an 18 day stretch.  If the first two games of the season series are any indication, it should be some interesting baseball.

Last night, the Hawks worked around 13 hits by the Tribe – stranding 11 runners, in a 5-1 win.  Boise took advantage of four Spokane errors to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth, then added three runs in the seven to put the game away.  Josh Whitlock (pictured left) was solid in relief, tossing four shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out a season-high five.

Tonight, the tables were turned, as the Indians got a pair of clutch hits in the fifth inning and got a solid performance by Matt Thompson in a 6-1 win.  The Hawks had only one runner past second base – that coming on D.J. Fitzgerald’s second home run of the season.

THE BACON: Logan Watkins, who was named Northwest League Player of the Week on Monday, had a pair of hits last night and added a bloop single tonight, extending his hitting streak to nine games and currently is second in the league in batting average…Hak-Ju Lee had two stolen bases on Monday, adding another last night – becoming the first NWL player to the 20 stolen base mark…Ryan Sontag retired the lone left-handed batter he faced in relief – with lefties now 0-for-25 against him this season.

IMPRESSIVE: I have been really impressed by Spokane third-baseman Tommy Mendonca (pictured right) out of Fresno State…the Rangers second-round pick this year was the 2008 College World Series MVP and the 2009 WAC Player of the Year…it isn’t his bat (he hit 27 HR in college this spring and has seven with the Indians this summer) that has been most impressive, it has been his defense – he has made two or three big-league plays and has a cannon for an arm.

DINGED UP: Outfielder Jose Valdez has been out of the line-up for nearly a week after injuring his hand sliding into second base during the Everett series…he did take infield-outfield practice yesterday…Josh Lansford was knocked out of yesterday’s game by a line-drive in the eighth inning, which struck his left foot…he is day-to-day.

LOCAL KID TOMORROW: Spokane will send former Timberline High pitcher, Braden Tullis to the mound tomorrow night in the rubber game of the series…a large THS contingent is expected at the park.

An outstanding performance by Su-Min Jung and Trey McNutt on the mound was quickly forgotten by the sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium after the benches cleared in the 8th inning of an 8-2 Boise Hawks win over the Everett Aquasox.

Jung allowed just one hit in four innings of work, helped by a trio of double plays behind him, with McNutt not allowing a hit in his three innings of shutout relief.

The Hawks broke open a 1-0 game in the fourth with a bases-loaded walk by Hak-Ju Lee and a two-run infield single from Logan Watkins.  However, after a Lee bunt-base hit in the eighth that resulted in a throwing error and two runs to score to push the Boise lead to 7-0, Frogs reliever Kyle Brown buzzed Watkins with a pair of pitches – with plate umpire Javier Cantu ejecting the lefty.  Following an exchange with Cantu, Everett skipper John Tamargo got into a war of words with Hawks manager Casey Kopitzke near the third-base bag – with the benches and bullpens quickly emptying.  Although there was some short-range shouting, nothing more than a war of words were exchanged.

In talking with multiple sources, Tamargo was still upset of the rash of hit by pitches in the series – starting with his slugger Gerardo Avila, who was injured Tuesday by a 90-mile per hour fastball in the batting helmet from Jon Nagel.  Two Everett and two Boise batters were also plunked tonight.  He was also displeased with the bunt by Lee, especially since it was a 5-0 game in the eighth inning.

Longtime Voice of the Hawks called it in our recent Hawk Talk interview, “Memorial Stadium Magic” – all of the wild, come-from-behind victories that the Hawks have been able to muster on their home field over the years.

Chalk up the fourth version of MSM this season – thanks to Texan Runey Davis (pictured left).  First this season it was Greg Rohan singling home the winning run in the ninth against Yakima on June 29, George Matheus doing the same in the 10th against Eugene on July 5, and Justin Bour singling home the game-winner in the 11th against Salem-Keizer on July 18.

Last night, the game started with a bang, as shortstop Hak-Ju Lee muscled up for a three-run home run in the second (listen to the radio call
LeeHR.wma) to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead.  Unfortunately, the club could not hold the lead, trailing 7-5 in the eighth with two outs.  However a walk and single put the tying runs on, with Bour deadlocking the game at seven with a two-run double (listen to the radio call
Bour2Ba.wma).  In the ninth, Bobby Wagner led off with a bad-hop single into right, and was sacrificed to second.  With two outs, Davis took a 2-2 pitch and drove it up the middle for the walk-off winner (listen to the radio call
DavisGW.wma).

GORGEOUS NIGHT AT THE PARK: Typically at this time of the year, the temperatures are in the mid-90s at Memorial Stadium, making the first-base bleachers a tough place to sit.  However, game-time temperature at the park tonight was 79-degrees, helping a nice walk-up crowd watch the victory over Everett.  It is supposed to be even cooler tomorrow for Fireworks Friday, mid-70s, which should transfer into a crowd of well-over 3,000.

THE BACON: Davis had a pair of hits tonight, extending his hitting streak to a season-high six games…Richard Jones also added a pair of hits and has hit safely in six of his last seven games, raising his batting average from .159 to .265…the Hawks have hit 14 home runs this year, seventh-best in the league – one ahead of Vancouver, with six of the long balls against Everett…

HELP OUT THE COMMUNITY: The Hawks will be trying to help the less-fortunate this weekend, collecting food items Friday night for the Idaho Food Bank, and collecting school supplies on Saturday night. 

Dan Taylor did not give the Boise Hawks much of a chance at a three-game sweep and a .500 road trip, as the Central Michigan product scattered just two hits in seven innings, striking out ten, as Yakima rolled to a 5-0 victory in the series finale tonight.

The Hawks managed singles from D.J. Fitzgerald and Logan Watkins – but looked like a team ready to get home after being gone for eight days, as the final 15 men were set down in order – six on first-pitch swings.

Boise did see a pair of good outings on the mound by Josh Lansford and Danny Keefe, who combined to throw 4.1 innings of scoreless relief – as Keefe retired seven of the eight men he faced.

THANK YOU’S TO THE BEARS STAFF: Lotsa thank you’s go out to K.L., Mike, and the Yakima staff for a great weekend for me and my family.  Especially to Boomer (pictured right), who befriended little P.J. – who when he woke up this morning at home (we made the trip in just under five hours – don’t tell the WSP, OSP, or ISP – but am exhausted right now), he wanted his Boo-Boo. The staff at the Best Western Ahtanum Inn was awesome too – and yes, I found my missing key – which I will return to them next week when we return to the Yakima Valley.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Hawks open up a nine-day, eight-game homestand starting with the Everett Aquasox – a team that had to endure a rain delay, then rain-shortened game against Eugene tonight.  Andres Esquibel, who blanked Boise on three hits last Thursday, will face the Hawks in the series opener.  Saturday will be a fun night, as it is 2009 Baseball Card give-away night – who knows which player may be the next big thing.