Lidge Drives in Six, Marriaga Plates Five, Thorpe Sharp for Monarchs
American Association Daily provides insights, features, and recaps of the action from around the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions. In today’s edition, Robert Pannier recaps the six games in the American Association on Wednesday, including Ryan Lidge driving in six for the Chicago Dogs, Jesus Marriaga plating five in a Gary SouthShore RailCats victory, and Lewis Thorpe tosses a gem for the Kansas City Monarchs. This, plus much more.
Milkmen Bullpen Shuts Down Railroaders
The Cleburne Railroaders jumped out to a 3-2 lead on Wednesday, only to see the Milwaukee Milkmen bullpen respond with five shutout innings as the Milkmen defeated the Railroaders, 6-3. Milwaukee took a two-run lead in the bottom of the first, but the Railroaders responded with back-to-back sacrifice flies in the top of the second tie the score. In the third, Zach Nehrir drilled his 14th homerun of the year, a solo shot to make it 3-2.
Milwaukee starter Myles Smith came off the disabled list, pitching four innings, then turned the game over the bullpen who were spectacular. Jake Matthys tossed two shutout innings to earn the victory, allowing one hit while striking out three. Peyton Gray and Frankie Bartow each tossed a scoreless frame and Rodrigo Benoit came on in the ninth to close the game out for his fifth save of the season. In all, the Milwaukee bullpen allowed two hits and two walks while striking out nine in five frames.
The spectacular bullpen performance gave the club the opportunity to rally. In the sixth, the Milkmen retook the lead when Logan Trowbridge singled home Dylan Kelly to tie the score and Bryan Torres plated Aaron Hill with the go-ahead run. Milwaukee added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Jeremiah Burks and Torres. Torres finished 4-5 with a run in two RBI. Josh Lucas pitched well for Cleburne, allowing two runs in 5.0 innings.
Lidge Drives in Six to Lead Dogs
Ryan Lidge was a perfect 4-4 with six runs driven in to lead the Chicago Dogs to a 10-5 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. Lidge doubled twice and homered in the contest. The Chicago catcher set the tone early, hitting a two-run homer in the first, his ninth of the year.
Lake Country responded with two runs in the bottom of the second on a two-run shot by Gabriel Noriega. However, it was all Dogs from there. Lidge put his team back on top with a two run double in the top of the third. The teams exchanged single runs in the fifth, and Chicago blew this game open with four runs in the sixth. Lidge had a sacrifice fly in the frame.
Kyle Murphy earned the victory, allowing three runs in 5.0 innings. Connor Kopach also hit his ninth homerun of the season for Chicago. Daikon Yoh homered for the DockHounds. Noriega had two hits, scored two runs, and drove in two.
RedHawks Pounce Early to Down Explorers
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks scored two in the first and five in third on their way to a 7-1 victory over the Sioux City Explorers. Fargo-Moorhead took the lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run shot by Pete Maris, his 12th of the year. Two innings later, Sam Dexter hit a grand slam, his seventh of the year, and Manuel Boscan added an RBI single.
That was more than enough support for Peyton Wigginton, who went the distance in this contest, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five. Wigginton kept the Explorers off the board until the sixth and allowed a solo homerun to Sebastian Zawada in the ninth in earning his sixth victory of the season.
Maris finished with two hits and two RBI. Evan Alexander scored twice for the RedHawks. Danry Vasquez had two hits and drove in a run for Sioux City.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Marriaga Leads RailCats Rally
Jesus Marriaga had three hits and drove in five to lead the Gary SouthShore RailCats to a 6-2 victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs. This was a great pitcher’s duel early between RailCats starter John Sheaks and Saltdogs left-hander Greg Minier. The game was scoreless through the first two innings, but Gary broke the tie in the top of the third thanks to a two run single by Marriaga.
Lincoln responded with a run in the bottom of the third as Randy Norris scored on a double playground grounder. Josh Altmann then homered with one down in the bottom of the fourth, his 12th of the year. That tied the score at two.
Minier came out after six, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out nine. Jonathan Cheshire took over and the RailCats pounced, retaking the lead on a two run double by Marriaga. In the ninth, Gary SouthShore added two more runs. Marriaga singled to drive home Michael Woodworth and Daniel Lingua came home on a Chris Burgess ground out.
Sheaks earned the victory, allowing two runs in six innings. Thomas Walraven, Woodworth, and Lingua each scored two runs.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Thorpe Reigns to Lead Monarchs to Victory
Lewis Thorpe allowed one run in 6.0 innings to help lead the Kansas City Monarchs to a 4-3 victory over the Kane County Cougars. The game was scoreless through the first two innings as Thorpe and Cougars starter Jack Fox were on top of their games early. However, Kansas City jumped out to a one run lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by Matt Adams. An inning later, Kansas City added three more runs. Kevin Santa plated two with a single and Adams drove home Santa with an RBI double, his second of the game.
Thorpe shutdown Kane County through the first four innings, but the Cougars finally got on the board in the top of the fifth when Alexis Pantoja tripled with one down and scored on a ground out by B.J. Lopez. Thorpe came out after six, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five.
In the seventh, Brian Glowicki came on and the Cougars rallied for two runs behind an RBI ground out by Pantoja and a run scoring single by Galli Cribbs. However, the Monarchs bullpen shut down Kane County from there. Jameson McGrane came on in the ninth to close the contest out for his 15th save of the season. Thompson had four hits for Kansas City while Darnell Sweeney was 2-2 with a run scored and three walks. Fox allowed four runs in 5.0 innings.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Kaitlyn Saunders
Murphy Powers Goldeyes to Victory
Max Murphy homered and drove in three to help lead the Winnipeg Goldeyes to a 7-2 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries. Sioux Falls took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Winnipeg responded with four runs in the top of the fifth to take charge of this contest. Raul Navarro tied the score with an RBI single, and David Washington put his team on top when he plated two runs with a single. In the seventh, Murphy put this contest away, drilling a two-run homer, his 25th of the season.
Luis Ramirez earned the victory, allowing two runs on 11 hits and a walk in 6.1 innings. He struck out eight. Three Goldeyes relievers came on to toss 2.2 scoreless innings of relief. Murphy finished 3-5 with two runs scored and three RBI. Ian Sagdal and Hidekel Gonzalez were each 3-4 with a run scored.
Jabari Henry had three hits and drove in both runs for Sioux City. Ozzie Martinez and Zane Gurwitz each had two hits.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Lewis Thorpe (Kansas City Monarchs) 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, ER, 5 K
No. 2 – Jesus Marriaga (Gary SouthShore RailCats) 3-5, Double, 5 RBI
No. 1 – Ryan Lidge (Chicago Dogs) 4-4, R, 2 Doubles, HR, 6 RBI
American Association Daily Notes
Winnipeg Goldeyes OF Max Murphy hit his 25th homer of the season on Wednesday. That is tied with Kane County Cougars OF Jimmy Kerrigan for the American Association lead… Winnipeg Goldeyes RHP Luis Ramirez won his eighth game of the season on Thursday. That is tops in the league… Winnipeg Goldeyes IF Raul Navarro extended his hitting streak to 23 straight games. That is the longest streak in the American Association this season. The infielder is hitting .417 during the streak… Cleburne Railroaders IF Edwin Arroyo has reached base in 33 straight games. That is the second longest streak in the American Association this season… Milwaukee Milkmen OF Bryan Torres had four hits on Wednesday. That raised his batting average .393.
Transactions
Milwaukee: Activated RHP Myles Smith from the Injured List; Placed INF Mason Davis on the Injured List retroactive to July 27
By Robert Pannier
