Baseball Game Preview: Mission Bears vs. Lowell Cardinals

For the second straight game, Mission will face off against Lowell. The Bears will venture away from home to face off against the Cardinals at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Mission has given up an average of 9 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Lowell hit Mission with a seven-run third inning on Wednesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Bears lost 13-3 to the Cardinals. The defeat continues a trend for the Bears in their meetings with the Cardinals: they've now lost eight in a row.

For Lowell's part, the team relied heavily on Reggie Fong, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Jhomar Ronquillo was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs.

Lowell always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .641. The last time their OBP was this high was back in March.

Lowell is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.9 runs over those games. As for Mission, their loss dropped their record down to 5-15.