BY TRUMAN BARTMAN ON JUNE 5TH, 2024. THE MAVERICKS.CA

It was another tough day for the Mavericks on Monday as once again they were topped by the big bats from Fort McMurray falling 13-0.

For Fort McMurray, it was a typical day at the office as the giants flat-out hammered the Mavericks with runs. 

Jun Ho Son had another dominant day going 4 for 5 at the plate which combined with Sunday’s game made him 8 for 9 with one walk. The lefty now sits second in the WCBL in hits with 18.

On the mound, Matt Whitney continued his strong play from his first start and cemented himself as an early Most Outstanding Pitcher candidate. He held onto his 0.00 ERA and allowed a hit in the 6th inning and only allowed 1 all game. 

He was replaced in the 8th after a 6K effort as Keith Manby would come in to wrap the game up and add 3 strikeouts to the Giants team total.

All the credit in the world goes to the Fort McMurray staff, but at the same time, there is some cleanup that has to be done as far as the Maverick’s hitting approach goes.

Regardless of who has been batting the Mavs have seen a sharp decline in their production at the plate. Nick Thibodeau has still been hitting well, but outside of his success, there hasn’t been much to boast about.

The Mavericks are living and dying by the home run ball and it showed as they only hit one out against the Giants over their series. 

It’s not like the Mavericks have been careless at the plate, but they have tried to do too much and that showed against the Giants.

With how many home runs the Mavericks hit to start the year they have become accustomed to seeing every hit over the fence. This style of play is often hard to replicate game after game (unless you’re Barry Bonds of course). 

The Mavs can learn a lot from how the Giants approached them in the batter’s box and that was by jumping on first-pitch strikes, taking advantage of missed pitches and finding a way to put the ball in play. 

The Mavericks now have a 4-3 record and have started to slip in the East standings. Luckily for them, they have lots of new arms that have arrived for the considerable future. Evan Gant, Dylan Runge, Cesar Rodriguez, Jon Shields, Wyatt Thompson and Brett Getz. All which saw time over against the Giants. Once those arms get warm and the pitchers are settled in then there will be time to assess what the Mavericks have. 

The Mavericks had an off day on Tuesday and looked to regroup before they head to Lethbridge for a Wednesday match. As for the Giants, their road trip finally came to a close as they headed home after a day off to play the Sylvan Lake Gulls.

The Mavericks will return home on Thursday and play the Swift Current 57s a team they beat just a week ago.