Baseball Game Preview: Fremont Firebirds vs. Saratoga Falcons

The Fremont Firebirds are taking a road trip to face off against the Saratoga Falcons at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Fremont's pitching crew has only allowed 3.1 runs per game this season, so Saratoga's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Fremont's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They walked away with a 4-0 win over Rancho San Juan. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Firebirds.

Meanwhile, Saratoga made easy work of MacDonald on Tuesday and carried off a 15-0 victory. The Falcons might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matchups by seven runs or more this season.

Aiden Chen made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out six batters over 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base. He has become a key player for Saratoga: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 2-10 otherwise.

In other batting news, Nathan Lee was incredible, going 2-for-3 with five RBI, one run, and one double. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. Evan Watson also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Saratoga always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .514. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Fremont pushed their record up to 13-4 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Saratoga, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-11.

Everything went Fremont's way against Saratoga when the teams last played back in April, as Fremont made off with an 11-4 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Firebirds since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.