Regulators Shutout Freebirds for Eighth Series Sweep

LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach Regulators (43-11) swept the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds (15-38)  for the third time in 2026 on a 4-0 shutout Sunday afternoon.

Long Beach southpaw Matthew O’Brien made his first start at Blair Field, making quick work of the first five innings. The UC Riverside product retired the first 13 batters in a row and allowed only one Freebird aboard. O’Brien faced the minimum in all five frames, needing only 51 pitches to do so.

The Long Beach offense took an early 1-0 lead on three consecutive one-out hits, ending on an RBI double from Emilio Corona. This marked the first time Long Beach scored in the first inning since the last time O’Brien was on the mound in the first half finale against Modesto a week prior.

The Regulators scored two more runs in the bottom of the third, the final one on a Cuba Bess RBI double that took Freebirds starter Mark Lopez out of the game before the end of the third inning.

O’Brien and Yuba-Sutter reliever Sean Wiese kept both offenses silent through the fourth and fifth innings. Wiese was the first to break that trend in the bottom of the sixth, allowing the final run of the game off of Jacob Jablonski’s 15th home run of the season. The Long Beach middle infielder hit a four-bagger in back-to-back games to finish the series.

O’Brien left the game with one out in the eighth, leaving with 86 pitches in his longest professional outing. Sidearm reliever Steven Ordorica recorded the final five outs of the game, with only one Freebirds baserunner reaching on an error by Easton Jones, making his professional debut on Sunday.

O’Brien (2-1) took his second consecutive win, while Ordorica recorded his second save. Lopez (0-1) recorded his first loss of the season in his second appearance for the Marysville-based franchise. 

Long Beach locked down their second double-digit win streak of their inaugural campaign. Long Beach has also won seven in a row at Blair Field, with now their eighth series sweep of the season.

The 4-0 shutout was the fourth of the season for Long Beach, their last of which was exactly a month ago from Sunday on June 19 at Blair Field against the very same Yuba-Sutter Freebirds.

The Long Beach Coast will return for six games next week to conclude their final homestand of July. A three-game series against the Oakland Ballers will begin on Tuesday night at 6:35 PM PDT, with the Beach Ball Pregame Show starting at 6:15 PM on HomeTeam Network and Long Beach Coast on YouTube.

Joey Miller