Despite only arriving in Sydney earlier in the day, the Auckland Tuatara have shut out the Blue Sox to extend their lead in the Australian Baseball League's Northeast Division.
Starter Kyohei Muranaka and slugger Josh Morgan helped lead the Tuatara to a terrific all-round performance and a 7-0 win over their division rivals in game one of the round 8 series.
Muranaka fired 5.1 innings of two hit baseball in a superb start. The lefty struck out a couple and issued three walks to take the win.
Texas Rangers prospect Morgan powered the Tuatara offence with a four-hit night, driving in a pair of runs and scoring three times.
Fellow "Bash Brother" Jared Walker drove in a pair while left fielder Kim Won-seok had three RBIs on a two-hit night as well.
Max Brown broke out of his hitting slump with a pair of hits.
The Tuatara defense was superb as they record five double plays on the evening to thwart any threats the home side could muster.
Manager Stephen Mintz said those double plays were crucial to securing the shut out result, "when you get 8-10 outs like that it can have a massive impact on a lot of things like keeping pitch counts down.
"It was a big travel day for us and I am very happy we got the win tonight."
The win lifts the Tuatara to a 17-12 record, and now command a four-game lead in the division, with three full rounds to play after this weekend, all against divisional rivals.
They play the Blue Sox three more times this weekend.