RailCats Win Slugfest, Canaries Edge Saltdogs, Railroaders Roll
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, Rob Pannier recaps six great games in the American Association on Friday, including Kevin Hilton returning to lead the Cleburne Railroaders to victory, the Sioux Falls Canaries edge the Lincoln Saltdogs, and Jose Contreras homers twice for the Gary SouthShore RailCats.
Game Recaps for Friday
Cougars Take Series Opener
The Kane County Cougars bullpen allowed one run in 4.2 innings, leading the team to a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Milkmen in the opener of the series. C.J. Carter earned the victory with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief and Daniel Bies got the final three outs for his fifth save of the year.
Kane County jumped out to a three-run lead, scoring two in the first in the first and adding one in the third. Josh Allen led off the game with a solo homer and Jonah Davis added an RBI double. Armond Upshaw added an RBI double in the third. Milwaukee could not generate any offense through the first four, but came up with two runs in the fifth. Each team scored a run in the seventh as Gio Brusa led off the top of the inning with a homer and Bryan Torres plated a run with a ground out. Kane County added one more run in the ninth.
The top of the order went 6-13 with three runs and two RBI for Kane County. Allen scored twice. Aaron Hill had two hits for the Milkmen.
Hilton Dominates in Return
Kevin Hilton came off the disabled list to allow one unearned run in six innings as the Cleburne Railroaders defeated the Lake Country DockHounds, 5-1. This was a great battle between Hilton and Randall Delgado that saw the contest scoreless through the first three innings.
Both teams scored a run in the fourth as Jose Sermo hit his 15th homer of the year and Thomas Jones scored on an error. The game remained tied at one until the seventh when Cleburne took the lead for good as Delino DeShields hit his fourth home run of the year. In the ninth, the Railroaders put this game to bed, scoring three runs. DeShields had an RBI single in the frame and finished with two RBI.
Three relievers each tossed a scoreless frame for Cleburne. DeShields had three hits and Hill Alexander had two hits. Brian Rey had three hits and Jones had two for Lake Country.
RailCats Hang on to Down Goldeyes
The Gary SouthShore RailCats jumped out to a seven-run lead then held on to defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes, 12-11. The teams combined for 29 hits and 11 walks led by Jose Contreras, who had four hits and drove in four for Gary. Jesus Marriaga also had four RBI.
Winnipeg took the lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer by Hidekel Gonzalez, his sixth of the year. Both teams scored a run in the second, but the RailCats began to roll starting in the third, scoring three runs. Contreras had a two-run single in the inning. In the fourth, Gary SouthShore put up three more, capped off by a two-run double by Marriaga.
The RailCats added single runs in both the sixth and seventh frames. Contreras homered in the seventh, the first of two solo homers on the evening. Winnipeg responded with two in the bottom of the seventh, but Gary put up three more in the eighth as Contreras and LG Castillo went back-to-back. The Goldeyes scored a run in the eighth, but were still down by six. In the ninth, they put together an impressive rally as Najee Gaskins hit a three-run homer and a wild pitch and single made this a one-run game with two on and two down. However, DJ Wilkinson fanned Tra Holmes to close out the contest.
Chris Erwin nearly saw his solid performance spoiled. The Gary starter earned the victory, allowing three runs in six innings. Gio Diaz had three hits and scored four runs. Dayson Croes had two hits and three RBI and Javeyan Williams scored three runs for Winnipeg.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Doug Grenwald
Dogs Take Opener in Kansas City
The Chicago Dogs scored four runs in the second, then held on for a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City Monarchs. Every player but one in the starting lineup had at least one hit for the Dogs and the top of the order went a combined 6-15 for two runs and two RBI. Trevor Lane earned the victory.
Chicago jumped on Zach Matson in the second, scoring four runs on three hits. Matt Bottcher had the big blow of the inning, drilling a two-run double to the wall. Kansas City cut that deficit in half, scoring two in the bottom of the frame and then made this a one run game in the third. However, the Monarchs were chasing the Dogs all evening. Chicago added a run in the fifth and two more in the ninth before Kansas City closed out the scoring with a run in the bottom of the ninth.
Bottcher, Jesus Lujano, and Ryan Lidge were all 2-5. Keon Broxton was 3-5 with two runs scored for Kansas City.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Nolan Brooks
Canaries Rally to Down Saltdogs
The Sioux Falls Canaries bats were kept silent through five, but scored a run in the sixth and one in the eighth to defeat the Lincoln Saltdogs 2-1. Lincoln got on the scoreboard in the fourth on an RBI single by Luke Roskam. Abdallah Arias made that lead hold until the seventh when he loaded the bases before walking Hunter Clanin to drive home the tying run. Two innings later Wyatt Ulrich doubled home the winning run.
That made a winner of Jose Cruz, who tossed a scoreless eighth. Charlie Hasty earned his eighth save of the year. There were just seven total hits produced by the teams.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Sioux Falls Canaries Recap by Tanner Hoops
Explorers-RedHawks Washed Out
The Contest between the Sioux City Explorers and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks was postponed because of rain. The contest will be made up as part of a double-header on Saturday.
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Kevin Hilton (Cleburne Railroaders) 6.o IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
No. 2 – Akeem Bostick (Sioux Falls Canaries) 6.0 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, ER, 3 K
No. 1 – Jose Contreras (Gary SouthShore RailCats) 4-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
American Association Daily Notes
Kane County Cougars infielder Josh Allen reached base in the 27th straight game, the longest streak in the American Association this season… Cleburne Railroaders 1B Jose Sermo hit his league leading 15th homer of the season on Friday.
Transactions
Cleburne: Activated RHP Kevin Hilton from the Injured List
Gary SouthShore: Activated RHP Harrison Francis from the Injured List; Signed INF Frank Podkul and INF Tyler Reis
Kane County: Released INF T.J. Bennett
Lake Country: Transferred the contract of RHP Nick Herold to the San Francisco Giants
Lincoln: Traded C Zack Miller to Fargo-Moorhead for a player to be named later
Sioux Falls: Released RHP D.J. Sharabi
American Association Stories at Minor League Sports Report
TWITA: Kane County Cougars OF Jonah Davis
Kane County Cougars OF Jonah Davis Named American Association Player of the Week
Chicago Dogs RHP Nick Green Named American Association Pitcher of the Week
By Robert Pannier
