Baseball Game Preview: Manual Thunderbolts vs. Jefferson Saints

The Manual Thunderbolts will take on the Jefferson Saints at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Manual is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 19 runs on Saturday, they were much more limited against Lincoln on Tuesday. They lost 10-1 to the Lancers. The defeat continues a trend for the Thunderbolts in their meetings with the Lancers: they've now lost five in a row.

Manual saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Josue Salas, who went 1-for-2 with one run.

Meanwhile, Saturday just wasn't the day for Jefferson's offense. They came up short against Lyons on Saturday, falling 16-0. The Saints have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Manual's loss dropped their record down to 9-7. As for Jefferson, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-10.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Manual has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Jefferson struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.1 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.

Everything went Manual's way against Jefferson in their previous matchup back in April of 2022, as Manual made off with a 15-2 win. Will the Thunderbolts repeat their success, or do the Saints have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.