American Association Capsule – August 7: Gary Continues to Struggle, Lincoln On-Fire
After giving up seven runs in the first inning, the Lincoln Saltdogs chipped away at the lead on their way to an 8-7 win over the Sioux Falls Canaries. The victory, coupled with a Gary loss, moved Lincoln into a first-place tie in the Central Division, and increased their win streak to five games. Ian Gac hit his 18th home run of the season for Lincoln and now has 56 RBI, 7 short of his career high. Mike Gilmartin also had a big game, going 2-4 with a run and two RBI. Jhonny Montoya pitched two scoreless innings in relief to move his record to 2-1, and Marshall Schuler got the save for the fifth day in a row, his 28th on the season. A.J. Kirby-Jones hit home run No. 17 in a losing effort.
Amarillo 3, Grand Prairie 2
The Sox scored a run in the top of the first inning, and never trailed on their way to a 3-2 win over the AirHogs. Clayton Tanner came within one out of the complete game, but provided 8.2 innings of solid work, giving up eight hits, two walks and two earned runs, while striking out nine. The win moved the lefty to 2-1 on the season in seven starts. Randy Hamrick pitched the final third of an inning for his fourth save in as many chances. The righty has given up just one hit in nine innings of work, while striking out an amazing 14 batters, but his command is in need of some work as he has also walked nine. Danny Gutierrez was the hard-luck loser to drop to 2-3. Geraldo Valentin drove in two of Amarillo’s runs and scored the other. The win was Amarillo’s fifth in a row.
Fargo-Moorhead 4, Gary 1
The Gary Southshore RailCats have fallen and they can’t seem to get up. For the sixth game in a row the RailCats lost and now find themselves in a first place tie with Lincoln atop the Central Division. The game was scoreless until Fargo-Moorhead scored two in the bottom of the sixth against Gary’s Dustin Crenshaw. With no one out, C.J. Retherford hit a two-run home run, his ninth of the season, and that is all starter Taylor Stanton needed for run support. Stanton pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five hits, no runs and a walk, while he fanned five RailCats batters. Erik Castro’s two-run double in the bottom of eighth sealed the win for the RedHawks.
By Robert Pannier
Senior Baseball Editor
Member of the IBWAA
