Millers Clipped 5-2 By Mavericks

It was a much cleaner game for the Moose Jaw Miller Express on Sunday night, but they still couldn't find their way into the win column.

Moose Jaw lost their fourth straight, falling for the second night in a row on their home turf to the Medicine Hat Mavericks, dropping a 5-2 game on Sunday.

The loss drops the Millers’ record to 3-5 on the year after they got off to a 3-1 start to the opening week.

“We gave ourselves a chance, we didn't have any more toes to shoot off on our feet after (Saturday night), so it was nice to see a clean game, focused game and it wasn't because anybody did anything silly, it was, we got beat,” said head coach Michael Hunt.

“It's early season baseball, these guys have played all spring, but it's a new season, a new team, so we've got some team building stuff that we'll do (Monday) and we expect better things to happen.”

Tanner Spencer took the loss on the mound despite a strong performance that saw him go six innings, giving up three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Moose Jaw just couldn't find the offence to back out their pitcher.

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Medicine Hat struck for three runs, thanks to RBI doubles from Aaron Green and Ryan Helgren. Jake Benolken also drove in a run with an RBI single.

The Millers didn't answer until the sixth when Derek Cornell – who's starting to get hot at the plate – singled and then scored on a RBI groundout by shortstop Andrew Wilson.

The score stayed that way until the Millers pulled within one in the eighth inning on an RBI single from Ben Douglas, however Moose Jaw stranded the tying run on third in the frame and then allowed the Mavericks to tack on two more in the ninth to seal the win.

Moose Jaw went down in order in the ninth to end the game.

Despite losing four straight, Hunt said he's seeing positive signs in the team's offence as they look to find a groove at the plate.

“Some guys that were ice cold are starting to get warm,” Hunt said. “We're starting to see a lot better swings, a lot better approaches at the plate and guys are getting more comfortable. The dam is building and building and that dam is going to burst pretty soon.”

Cornell finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored to bump his average up to .167 on the year. He's 4-for-8 over the past two games after starting the season 0-for-16.

He was the only Miller to pick up multiple hits in the loss.

Moose Jaw will get a much needed day off from game action on Monday. Next action for the Millers is on Tuesday when they head into Regina for the first of two games against the Red Sox at Currie Field.