The Boomers wrap a stretch of 24 straight against the West Division tonight with the rubber match against Normal at 6:30 p.m. at The Corn Crib in Central Illinois.

Heat may have affected Normal starter Tyler Lavigne in the first last night, but it sure didn’t affect the Scahumburg bats as the Boomers sent 10 men to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring six runs on five hits in the second start by an opponent to last shorter than an inning this week. Lavigne recorded only two outs. Rockford’s Jordan Liette lasted just .1 innings on Sunday. All six runs scored with two outs as Chad Mozingo opened the scoring with his second triple in as many nights to score two runs. The Boomers lead the league with 13 triples this season. Mozingo owns three along with Sean Mahley, both of whom are tied for the league lead. Mike Valadez added a two-run single and Jereme Milons posted a two-run double off the wall.

Normal’s Chico Gomez homered in the second inning, his second homer in as many games, but the two-run blast were the only runs scored by the hosts as Robby Donovan overcame the heat and control issues to toss six innings and improve to 5-1 on the year. Donovan walked six but also struck out six. Seven different individuals recorded hits in the game and six different hitters drew a walk as Schaumburg walked nine times. Karexon Sanchez reached base in all six plate appearances with three walks, two hits, and a hit by pitch.

Schaumburg owns a 3-1 mark in rubber games this season, falling for the first time in the last road series at Joliet by a single run, 5-4. RHP Tyler Watkins (1-4, 4.29) takes the mound looking to stop a string of having lost four consecutive decisions. Watkins was very strong in his first two outings but has allowed a total of 22 runs over his last five starts. The Boomers have scored only 23 runs in his seven starts.

Normal counters with a left-handed converted reliever in Jacob Liedka (1-2, 3.67). Schaumburg is 4-2 against lefties this season and secured an 8-5 win over Rockford against a lefty in the series opener last Saturday.

The Boomers return home on Saturday to begin a string of 12 straight against the East, opening with the leaders of the East, the Traverse City Beach Bums, in a 6:00 p.m. affair at Boomers Stadium. Following the 12 straight games, the first half of the season comes to a close.