Armada leftfielder Dan Trumble took to the plate Thursday night to lead off the game for the Long Beach Armada, already trailing the Edmonton Cracker Cats 1-0 in the bottom of the first at Blair Field.  Looking for their third win in the four game series and trying to bounce back from a loss on Wednesday, the Armada needed a boost.

Trumble did his part, sending the first pitch from Edmonton starter Carwin Malone over the leftfield fence for a tying home run blast that sent sparks through the Armada clubhouse.  Long Beach would add one more run to take a 2-1 lead into the 2nd, from which Edmonton would never recover as the Armada took the game, 5-2.

The clubhouse mobs Dan Trumble after the lead-off hitter homered the first pitch he saw.

Trumble would drive in two more on a 2nd inning double, and finished 2-4 with a team-high 3 RBIs.  When the Cracker Cats tried to claw their way back, Armada righty Rik Currier had none of it.

Currier gave up two runs in six innings, tossing ten strikeouts and striking out the side in the 4th.  All this while battling a tight groin that gets tighter in the cold ocean air.  He’ll be the first to point out the night’s flaws, though.

“Nothing was really working for me in the first couple of innings,” said the 30-year-old who also moonlights as the team’s pitching coach.  “I just tried to battle back and stay loose.”

Ten strikeouts and a perfect fourth inning—something had to be working for you, right?

“I also had six walks,” he counters.

Touche.  While we’re playing this game, Currier’s 125 pitches in six innings is far from ideal—a fact that Armada manager Steve Yeager is happy to remind everyone of.

“He’s pitched better,” says the former World Series MVP.  “But he did what he had to do—pitched a good game and gave us a chance.  That’s all we’ve ever asked our pitchers to do.”

That’s all they’ve had to do recently, as the offense has held up their end and lit up the scoreboard of late.  After taking three out of four against Edmonton, Long Beach hosts the first of another four game series tonight against Reno and will look to climb over the .500 hump.  Yeager feels good about the team’s momentum.

Cleatus Davidson scores in the 2nd inning to give the Armada a lead they wouldn’t give up.

It’s important for us to start playing well, and we have been,” he said.  “It’s been a pretty good homestand so far.  We had a weird schedule to begin the season with a road trip and then seven days off.  That’s a tough way to start the season.  But you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do, and we’ve had some guys step up and help us lately.”

The recent homestand will last until Monday the 14th, when the Armada close out their Reno series and take a three-day All-Star Break.  Then it’s back to Blair for another home series.

“We’ve really been going after it,” says Currier.  “It’s kind of contagious.  A few guys have a good night and kickstart everyone.  It helps to be at home and get into a rhythm.”

The 19-19 Armada look to continue that rhythm tonight against the Reno Silver Sox, starting at 7:00pm at Blair Field.