From where the team was on Thursday night to today, it is a complete 180-degree turn, as the Hawks used a couple of big innings, capitalizing on three Yakima errors to claim a 9-5 victory over the Bears – their third win in a row.

What is amazing is the fact that if the Hawks can pick up a win tomorrow night, they would head home with a 4-4 record on the road swing – which isn’t an easy thing to do in the Northwest League.

Tonight’s heroes came in different places – at the plate it was Jose Guevara and Bobby Wagner.  Guevara, who was hitting just .088 before his call-up from Mesa, had a pair of doubles, including a two-run smash in the eighth inning to push the lead to 7-2, while Wagner had a two-run double as part of a four-run fifth, then hit his second home run of the season in the ninth for insurance.  On the mound, Trey McNutt battled some control issues – two walks and two hit by pitches, but pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, followed by Corey Martin, who pitched three scoreless innings, retiring eight-straight batters at one point.

COUNTY STADIUM: The Hawks will make a second trip here to County Stadium (here is a look at the view from the press box) to open up the 12-game swing as the Western Idaho Fair takes over Memorial Stadium.  The park has one of the more impressive grills in the league – from Philly Cheesesteaks, to chicken, to burgers – or the 16-inch hot dogs (pictured to the right) that they sell for a dollar on Friday nights.  Last season, the grill staff made a great concoction for me – 3/4 root beer, 1/4 lemonade (doesn’t sound great, until you try it…it is pretty good).

WHAT I DO BEFORE A GAME: With my family in town and an afternoon start, I had some time to kill before the game – so I decided to play with bubbles with my son, PJ, at County Stadium, which was a blast.  PJ had the play of the night, as he retrieved a foul ball off Wagner’s bat in the first inning – one more foul ball than his dad has at a game as a fan.  He then spent the rest of the night chasing around the Bears mascot, Boomer (pictured with the Safford boys).

THE BACON: Dionis Nunez allowed three runs in the ninth inning tonight, the first time in eight appearances that the right-hander had allowed a run, dating back to mid-July…Greg Rohan extended his hitting streak to a career-high six games with a single…the Iowa Cubs and Las Vegas 51s played their Road to Wrigley game at Wrigley Field today – with former Boise Hawk Blake Parker picking up the save for the I-Cubs…former Hawk, Brian Dopirak, with the 51s, went 1-for-4…the Hawks have won 7-of-8 from Yakima this season.

Some early run support, some quality defense, and outstanding pitching helped the Hawks salvage the final game of their five-game series at Everett, as Boise blanked the Aquasox, 3-0.

Robert Hernandez was the story on the mound, becoming the first Boise pitcher to toss six innings this season, allowing six hits, no walks, and four strikeouts, while Dionis Nunez slammed the door shut, retiring all six men in order to pick up his fourth save.

Greg Rohan provided all of the offense the Hawks needed in the third, launching his third home run of the season to left.  Richard Jones, who had a pair of extra base hits in the win, tripled and scored on a Runey Davis sacrifice fly later in the inning.  The duo would strike again with two outs in the ninth, rapping back to back doubles.

GLAD THEY WERE IN EVERETT: The high temperature in Everett was 66-degrees at Memorial Stadium under cloudy skies – a far cry from the weather in the Treasure Valley, which saw Boise receive nearly and inch and a half of rain over the last 36 hours – with temperatures barely reaching the 60 degree mark – the coldest August high temperature of all time.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK: Former Voice of the Hawks, Rob Simpson, who called Boise games from 1996-2000 and Idaho Steelheads games from 1996-2001, was in Everett and handled some play-by-play duties on KRKO radio with Aquasox play-by-play man, Pat Dillon.  Simpson currently works for the NHL Network and NHL.com and has league meetings over the weekend in Vancouver, B.C.

OFF TO THE PALM SPRINGS OF WASHINGTON: The Hawks will roll into Yakima midday tomorrow, and once they cross the Yakima River – they will pass the sign that reads “The Palm Springs of Washington”.  It is an oasis in the middle of a desert – with copious amounts of eating options, yet the smallest market in the Northwest League.

Today was not a banner evening for the Boise Hawks, as for the first time since the 2002 season, the Hawks were on the losing end of a complete game shutout, falling 4-0 to the Everett Aquasox.  Andres Esquibel, a 38th Round Pick last season by the Mariners, got 13 ground ball outs in the victory – allowing just one runner in scoring position, spinning the three-hitter.  It marked the first complete game shutout by a Boise opponent since Pat Misch (who has pitched for both the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets) blanked the Hawks in 2002, and was just the second complete game in the Northwest League this season.

It didn’t take long for this one, as the one hour, 58 minute contest was the shortest game in the league in 2009 – and the shortest Hawks game since a one hour, 57 minute game vs. Spokane in 2005.

Couple things from Hawks trainer, Dan Golden – the Cubs have placed pitcher Tarlandus Mitchell on the 7-Day DL, due to his injury sustained on July 30 against Vancouver…Mitchell injured a muscle in his upper body after throwing a pitch…he is headed to Mesa, Ariz., and the Cubs rehab facility…also, fall-out was swift by the Northwest League after pitching coach David Rosario’s ejection last night for arguing a balk call, as Rosario missed tonight’s game and the next two – as part of his suspension by the NWL office.

THE BACON: Justin Bour broke up Esquibel’s no-hit bid in the fifth, extending his hit streak to seven games…all 11 hits between the teams in the game were singles…Chris Rusin was sharp tonight, despite the loss, allowing just two hits, no walks, and fanning six…the Hawks have now lost five games in a row for the third time this season and fall ten games below the .500 mark for the first time this year – and are just 2-8 since Mike Sharp went on record stating that the team will win the NWL East this year (I stated that the goal should be to get to the .500 – then worry about the pennant).

The tale of the Boise-Everett series was evident again this evening – as the Hawks jumped ahead for the second straight night, leading 3-0 after three innings – including the second home run of the season by Justin Bour (pictured left).  However, the squad battled back to take a 5-3 lead into the seventh inning – only to watch the Aquasox send nine men to the plate in the bottom of the frame, with back-to-back homers by Anthony Phillips and Matt Cerione to take the lead for good in a 7-5 loss to the Frogs.

The issues for the Hawks has been hitting with runners in scoring position in the series, as Boise has gone 3-for-21 so far in the three games in such situations – including back-to-back strikeouts by Logan Watkins and Bour in the ninth with the tying runs in scoring position to close the game.  The Hawks have now lost four in a row and fall nine games below .500 for the first time since the squad was 3-12 on July 4.

THE BACON: Robert Whitenack had the longest outing by a 2009 Draft Pick, going five innings tonight, allowing three runs – and was in line to pick up his first professional win if the bullpen would have held the lead…Everett is now 17-4 at home this season – tops in the Northwest League…Jose Valdez and Hak-Ju Lee now share the league lead in stolen bases with 15 each…Hawks pitching coach David Rosario was ejected in the sixth inning arguing a balk call on Yohan Gonzalez.

THE MASCOT GAME: Unlike most teams in the NWL, the Aquasox have not one, but two mascots – Frank the Hot Dog and Webbly the Frog (hence the nickname, the Frogs)…the duo are very popular around the North Puget Sound area and frequently have their mascot friends, including the Mariner Moose join them at the park.  In fact, last year when we were in Everett – it was Frank the Hot Dog bobblehead night. 

Playing in one of the smaller ball parks in the entire Northwest League, the Boise Hawks recorded their first multi home run game of the season tonight, however, a couple of miscues led Everett to a 6-4 victory.

Hak-Ju Lee muscled up in the first, leading off the game with his first professional home run, while Bobby Wagner (pictured left) hit a long two-run shot over the manual scoreboard in right-center in the fourth to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.

Unfortunately, Boise could not hold the lead, as converted outfielder D.J. Fitzgerald made a miscue in left for the second time in three games, dropping a fly ball in the fourth that led to two unearned runs.  Then in the eighth, Ryan Sontag was called for a balk with the go-ahead run at third base for Everett – giving the Frogs the lead for good.

Tonight marked the Boise debut of Trey McNutt, who tossed two eventful innings, allowing one earned run, one walk, and striking out three.  He also had a pair of wild pitches.

EATING RIGHT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Two of my favorite restaurants in all of the Northwest League are within walking distance of the team hotel – the Holiday Inn Downtown Everett.  Across the street from the hotel is Hunan Palace, a fabulous Chinese restaurant with lunch specials that fit the players per diem budgets (for instance, sweet & sour chicken, fried rice and chow mein, soup, and appetizer for $5.25) – with huge portions.  In the past, they have had karaoke in the lounge in the evenings – where many a former Hawks trainer has joined me on the stage.  Another great restaurant is the Buzz Inn Steakhouse, located just a block from the ball park and less than a mile hike from the hotel.  The Buzz Inn has home cooked meals with great prices – like a Rib Eye with all of the fixins for $9.95.  They have a monster club sandwich, one that in my prime, I could not finish.

THE BACON: With their third-straight loss, the Hawks dropped to eight-games below the .500 mark, their lowest point since they were 4-12 early in the season…Su-Min Jung equaled his longest start of the season, going three innings, allowing just the lead-off homer in the first inning.

The Hawks have had their experiment with day baseball again in August – this time without the pomp and gala of Ryan and Dina Hembree’s wedding to attract fans.  I must say, the fans who braved the 97 degree heat were die-hards – although, in talking with the players in the clubhouse, the dugout was cool and the heat nowhere like it is in Mesa.

Robert Hernandez (pictured left) rebounded from a rough outing last Monday in Eugene with another fabulous performance, going 5.2 innings, striking out a season-high night.  If it wasn’t for a misplayed ball by converted outfielder D.J. Fitzgerald in left that led to an RBI triple, a booted ball by third-baseman Bobby Wagner, or an over-turned call by the umpire crew on a sinking liner to Jae-Hoon Ha that was originally called a catch, Hernandez would have tossed six no-hit innings.

I was very pleased to see Corey Martin rebound after a tough outing earlier in the series to toss two and a third innings of scoreless relief.  An add another left-handed batter to the list of Ryan Sontag’s casualties – lefties are now 0-for-18 against him.

The team left the BOI at 9 p.m. on Sunday night and according to skipper Casey Kopitzke, it felt like the shortest bus ride of the season – since the team had the opportunity to have a good meal after the game and arrived at the Holiday Inn Downtown Everett around 4 a.m. in the morning.

Tonight’s game was the first of ten games in 13 days against the Aquasox (or as everyone in the Puget Sound calls them, the Frogs).  A pair of home runs for Everett were the difference in the game – although the Hawks made it interesting again in the ninth – as just as they did in Eugene, three straight batters reached in the ninth with two outs and two strikes.  Unfortunately this time, Richard Jones struck out representing the tying run to end the game, with temperatures in the 70s.

Jon Nagel continued to show promise, going three strong innings tonight – getting six ground ball outs, including a double play.  Logan Watkins had a pair of hits, including one of three doubles by the Hawks.

The game also marked the debut of Everett’s newest toy from the State of Washington – what they are deeming AquaVision.  The Frogs used the state allocated funds to erect the largest video board in the Northwest League and the largest video board of the five minor league teams in the state (Tacoma, Spokane, Tri-City, Yakima, Everett).  Broadcaster Pat Dillon told me that they will have rudimentary video and graphics to start – as some of the good games (shell game, boat race, etc.) cost upwards of 5-to-10 grand to purchase).

BACON – The Hawks added a pair of players to the roster today, as Trey McNutt of Shelton State CC in Alabama, and Venezuela native Jose Guevara joined the team in Everett from the Mesa Cubs.  McNutt is a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, while Guevara will serve as the team’s third catcher.

STAFF VS. HOME PLATE: Following Sunday’s game, the Hawks Staff squared off against Home Plate Food Services in a friendly softball game (of which I wasn’t invited to play – which saddened me deeply).  No word yet of who won the game – although we’ll probably hear a lot about it when the squad returns on August 12.