Barnum Delivers Walk-off Blast, Smith Drives in 8, Railroaders Crush RailCats
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 Thursday, including the Harrison Smith driving in eight for the Chicago Dogs, the Lincoln Saltdogs take the rubber match with the Sioux City Explorers, and the Cleburne Railroaders roll over the Gary SouthShore RailCats for the second straight night. This, plus much more.
Smith, Dogs Pound Cougars
The Chicago Dogs scored seven runs in the first inning and completely dominated from there, defeating the Kane County Cougars, 19-7. Everyone in the Dog starting lineup had at least one hit and scored at least one run. Harrison Smith set a season-high with eight RBI.
Chicago jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning, sending 11 men to the plate. Grant Kay had a two run double and Smith had the big blow of the frame, a grand slam for his first homerun of the evening. Kane County battled back with four runs in the bottom of the third, but Chicago responded quickly, scoring for in the top of the fourth, thanks to a three-run homer by Michael Crouse.
Jimmy Kerrigan homered in the sixth, but Chicago scored six more in the eighth. Smith drilled his second homerun of the evening, a three-run shot, and Anfernee Grier hit his third homerun of the season to lead off the ninth.
Smith finished 3-5 with two runs and eight RBI. He homered twice in the contest and added a double. Crouse was 2-4 with three runs scored and four RBI. Kay drove in three and scored twice and Grier scored four runs. Kerrigan had two hits, scored two runs, and drove in two for the Cougars Dylan Busby also homered for Kane County.
Grauer Dominates as RedHawks Complete Sweep
Tyler Grauer allowed one run in six innings and Peter Maris and Evan Alexander each drove in three as the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks defeated the Sioux Falls Canaries, 12-3. The victory completed the sweep of the four-game series, giving the RedHawks seven straight victories.
Fargo-Moorhead scored a run in the first, two in the second, and added three in the third to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Leobaldo Pina drove home Maris in the first with an RBI double, and Maris added a two run double in the second. The RedHawks then added two more in the fifth, three in the sixth, and one in the seventh to close out the scoring.
Grauer was fantastic, allowing one run on four hits in 6.0 innings, he struck out eight. Alexander and Maris each finished with three hits, a run scored, and three RBI. Ben Livorsi was 3-5 with three runs and two RBI. Nick Gotta had two hits for Sioux Falls. Gavin LaValley hit his 17th homerun of the year.
Milkmen Rally in Ninth to Down DockHounds
For the fourth time in five nights, the Milwaukee Milkmen rallied late, this time defeating the Lake Country DockHounds, 3-2. Late Country jumped out to a one run lead in the top of the first on the eighth homerun of the season by Tristen Carranza. The DockHounds extended the lead in the fifth on the fifth homer of the season by Casey Dykstra.
That two-run lead looked insurmountable, as Nick Herold dominated for Lake Country, allowing one run on four hits and eight innings. He struck out 12, including striking out the side in the seventh. In the sixth, Milwaukee produced their only run against the DockHounds starter when Hector Sanchez led off the inning with his ninth homerun of the season.
In the ninth, Lake Country turned to Carlos Diaz, who was promptly greeted by a double by Will Kengor. Diaz then fell behind Keon Barnum 2-0 before the Milwaukee first baseman drilled his 23rd homer of the season, a walk-off blast to give the Milkmen the 3-2 victory. Peyton Gray earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief. Christian Young pitched very well for Milwaukee, allowing two runs in eight innings. He struck out eight.
Delano Shines to Lead Saltdogs
Garett Delano allowed one run in 5.2 innings to lead the Lincoln Saltdogs to a 7-2 victory in the rubber match of their contest against the Sioux City Explorers. Lincoln jumped out in front in the top of the second on an RBI triple by Matt Goodheart, who later scored on a single by Skyler Weber. The Explorers got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI double by Dylan Kelly.
However, Lincoln dominated from there. Ryan Long added a sacrifice fly in the third and Randy Norris had a two run double in the fourth. In the sixth, the Saltdogs added two more runs on an RBI single by Weber and a sacrifice fly by Justin Byrd.
Delano did the rest from there, allowing five hits and four walks before departing with two down in the sixth. The Lincoln bullpen then tossed of the remaining 3.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits. The bottom four in the Saltdogs lineup or a combined 8-14 with five runs scored and five RBI. Gabe Snyder had three hits for the Explorers.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Monarchs Complete Sweep
The Kansas City Monarchs completed their sweep of the three-game series with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, winning 7-2 on Thursday. The Goldeyes took a one run lead in the bottom of the third when Kevin Lachance led off with his fourth homerun of the season.
Kansas City dominated from there, scoring seven unanswered runs, including single runs in four straight innings starting in the fourth. Casey Gillaspie tied the score with an RBI double, and Ryan Grotjohn hit a solo blast in the fifth, his first of two homeruns on the day. Two innings later, Grotjohn hit is second homer of the day. In the ninth, Matt Adams put this game away, drilling a three-run homer, his 27th of the year.
Jordan Martinson earned the victory, tossing six outstanding innings, allowing one run on two hits. Alex Manasa took the loss. Grotjohn finished 3-4 with three runs scored and two RBI.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Adam Cook
Railroaders Roll for Second Straight Night
For the second straight night, the Cleburne Railroaders scored 13 runs, this time defeating the Gary SouthShore RailCats, 13-4. Cleburne blew open a one run game in the top of the third, scoring six runs on five hits to take a commanding lead. Edwin Arroyo hit a two-run shot in the frame and Hunter Wolfe added a three-run blast.
Jesus Sanchez, who had been signed by the club earlier in the day, dominated early, tossing four scoreless innings. The Railroaders held a 9-0 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth, but the RailCats rallied for three runs in the frame thanks to a solo homerun by LG Castillo and a two-run shot by Jackson Smith. However, that was all the runs that Gary South Shore could produce.
Sanchez left after five, earning his first victory of the season. Hill Alexander had four hits, including his 12th homerun of the season, and drove in four. Wolfe finished with four RBI. Nick Shumpert also went deep for the Railroaders. Victor Nova had three hits for Gary.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Ryan Grotjohn (Kansas City Monarchs) 3-4, 3 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB
No. 2 – Nick Herold (Lake Country DockHounds) 8.0 IP, 4 H, BB, ER, 12 K
No. 1 – Harrison Smith (Chicago Dogs) 3-5, 2 R, Double, 2 HR, 8 RBI
American Association Daily Notes
Kansas City Monarchs 1B Matt Adams hit his 27th homerun of the season on Thursday. He now leads the American Association in homeruns and RBI (85)… Milwaukee Milkmen OF Bryan Torres extended his hitting streak to 22 straight games, but saw his batting average dipped below .400 (.398)… Chicago Dogs OF Harrison Smith collected eight RBI on Thursday. That felt one short of the American Association record recorded twice, including most recently by Milwaukee Milkmen catcher Christian Correa (August 26, 2021).
Transactions
Cleburne: Signed RHP Jesus Sanchez
Lake Country: Released RHP Jeremiah Mauch; Activated RHP Cyrillo Watson from the Inactive List; Signed LHP Bryan Warzek
Milwaukee: Removed INF Mason Davis from the Injured List and placed him on the Inactive List retroactive to July 27; RHP Jake Matthys on the Injured List retroactive to August 9
By Robert Pannier
