Photos by Matt Filar/Humboldt Crabs Baseball

About the only thing that can stop the Crabs bats these days is a rain out.

On Wednesday night, the Crabs kicked off a busy July with a 17-2 win over the Bay Area Force at the Arcata Ball Park, following a 13-5 win over them on Tuesday night.

The two wins stretched the Crabs’ winning streak to nine straight, including six straight games in which they have scored in double digits.

The only time they have been stopped over the last 11 days was in Friday night’s rain out.

In their two games against the Force, the Crabs racked up 28 hits, although the visitors out-hit them 15-12 on Tuesday night.

The hosts, however, never really appeared in danger of losing that game.

They opened up a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and led 12-2 after five.

Six different players combined for the 12 team hits, including five with multiple hits.

Alex Harrington led the way and finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs, while Tyler Howard and Everet Johnson each hit a home run.

Jack Novak got the start on the mound and pitched four innings for the win, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out two.

The Crabs started fast again on Wednesday night, putting up six runs over the first two innings to take an early five-run lead.

Cody Collins got the start on the hill and threw five strong innings for the win.

The Fortuna High graduate gave up two earned runs on five hits and two walks and struck out seven.

The team bats continued to hit the ball effectively, with the top seven batters in the lineup all hitting successfully.

Photos by Matt Filar/Humboldt Crabs Baseball

Jaden Shabby had a huge night in the win, finishing 4-for-6 with a triple, a double, an RBI and two runs scored.

Eight of the 16 Crabs hits went for extra bases, including seven doubles.

Another Fortuna graduate, Daniel Osborne, had a good night at the plate and finished 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, two runs and a walk.

The hard-hitting Ryan VandenBrink had two doubles in the win.

With the midweek sweep, the Crabs improved to 23-3 on the season.

The Crabs return to league play with a five-game series against the Solano Mudcats at the Arcata Ball Park, beginning on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

The two clubs also play a doubleheader on Friday night (5:30) and a Holiday afternoon showdown on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The Mudcats are 10-7 on the season and 5-6 in the Pacific Empire League.

They sit sixth out of seven teams in the league standings, but remarkably just three wins separate the top six teams in the standings in what is shaping up to be a very competitive race for this year’s championship.

The Crabs are 7-2 in league play and sit second in the standings, trailing only the Healdsburg Prune Packers (8-2).