Baseball Game Preview: Bakersfield Drillers vs. Highland Scots

Bakersfield is preparing for their first league matchup of the season on Monday. They will take on the Highland Scots at 4:00 p.m.

Last Tuesday, Bakersfield came up short against Arvin and fell 5-1.

Bakersfield saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Wyatt Caid, who went 1-for-3 with one double. Charley Gless also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Meanwhile, Highland waltzed into their match on Monday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They were the clear victors by a 15-2 margin over the Eagles. The contest marked the Scots' most dominant win of the season so far.

Santiago Blanco made a splash no matter where he played. He struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (and not a single walk). Furthermore, he didn't allow a single walk, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.

In other pitching news, Paul Flores looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.

Highland was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .441. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Highland's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-1. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.0 runs over those games. As for Bakersfield, their loss dropped their record down to 1-7-1.

Everything went Bakersfield's way against Highland in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as Bakersfield made off with an 8-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bakersfield since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.