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 five games in the American Association on Thursday, including Jake Dahlberg dominating for the Chicago Dogs, Luke Roskam leads the Lincoln Saltdogs in a comeback victory in Sioux Falls, and the Cleburne Railroaders dominate the Milwaukee Milkmen.

Game Recaps for Thursday

Roskam Spurs Saltdogs Comeback Victory

The Lincoln Saltdogs found themselves trailing after four, but scored two in the fifth, five in the sixth, and three in the eighth to earn a 16-12 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries, salvaging one game of the three-game set. Luke Roskam led the way, recording three hits, scoring four runs, and driving in five. The teams combined for 32 hits, 12 walks, and five home runs.

Sioux Falls jumped out on top, scoring five in the bottom of the first. Mike Hart had the big blow, delivering a three-run homer. The Saltdogs battled back, scoring three in the second and third innings. Aaron Takacs delivered a bases clearing double in the second. Roskam had an RBI single in the third and Matt Goodheart put Lincoln on top with a two-run single.

Sioux Falls responded in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six runs to retake the lead. Ozzie Martinez delivered a three-run homer and Hunter Clanin, Jordan Barth, and Darnell Sweeney all plated runs during the frame. Lincoln did a little responding of their own in the top of the fifth, scoring two on a Nick Anderson two run homer. An inning later, the Saltdogs retook the lead one Roskam hit a grand slam, making it 12-11.

Carter Hope was outstanding for Lincoln, tossing 3.2 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. Anderson and Drew Devine each had three hits and five players had at least two RBI for the Saltdogs. Martinez and Marshall Rich each went 3-5 with a run scored. Martinez and Hart both drove in three.

Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon

Sioux Falls Canaries Recap by Tanner Hoops

Boxscore

RailCats Rally to Down Monarchs

The Gary SouthShore RailCats jumped out to a five-run lead, only to see the Kansas City Monarchs rally to take a one-run advantage into the bottom of the sixth. However, the RailCats would not allow this game to get away from them, scoring three in the bottom of the frame to earn an 8-6 win.

Gary SouthShore put up five in the bottom of the second, as a single, double, and walk loaded the bases to begin the inning. Thomas Greely then delivered a two-run double. That looked like all the damage the RailCats would produce as Jeff Singer recorded two quick outs, but Jesus Marriaga brought home a run with a single and Emmanual Tapia completed the scoring with a two-run single.

Kansas City chipped away, scoring two in the third and fourth innings to pull within one. Dylan Rosa hit his first home run of the season to lead off the third and Chris Herrmann later delivered an RBI double. In the fourth, L.J. Hatch drove in two with a double. The Monarchs took the lead in the sixth, plating two more. Micker Adolfo brought home one run with a single, but Gavin Collins was thrown out at the plate. Two batters later, Hatch knocked in Adolfo to make it 6-5.

The RailCats responded right away, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Michael Woodworth singled home to tie the score at six, and Tapia drilled a two-run homer to put the RailCats on top for good. Matt Leon came on in the ninth to earn the save.

Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Carter Woodiel

Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman

Dahlberg Dominates as Dogs Blank Cougars

Jake Dahlberg was on top of his game on Thursday, tossing seven shutout innings as the Chicago Dogs blanked the Kane County Cougars, 2-0. Dahlberg allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter while striking out six to even his record at 1-1. Three relievers combined to finish off the game with Bryan Warzek recording the final out for his first save of the season.

This was a scoreless tie through the first five innings as Tyler Beardsley pitched very well for Kane County as well. However, in the sixth, Chicago finally got on the board. Nicholas Heath led off with a triple and Josh Altmann delivered his league-leading fourth home run of the season two batters later.

Heath finished with two of the four hits recorded by Chicago. Cornelius Randolph, Jimmy Kerrigan, and Galli Cribbs each had two hits for the Cougars.

Boxscore

DeShields, Mariot Lead Railroaders to Victory

Delino DeShields drove in five and Michael Mariot tossed six shutout innings as the Cleburne Railroaders dominated the Milwaukee Milkmen, 8-1. Mariot combined with Kasey Kalich to allow just three total hits and one unearned run. Kalich earned the save.

Cleburne took the lead in the top of the first when DeShields led off with a single, stole second and scored on a ground out by Zach Nehrir. In the second, Alex Jackson delivered a two run double and DeShields followed with a run-scoring single. The Railroaders held the four-run advantage until the fourth when DeShields turned on the second pitch he saw, drilling a grand slam for his first home run of the season.

That was more than enough support for Marriot, who allowed two hits and a walk while striking out six to earn his first victory of the season. DeShields finished 3-5 with three runs scored and five RBI. Ryan Hernandez scored twice.

Sanford Delivers Walk-Off Hit in 10th

Jake Sanford drove home Daniel Perez with a winning run in the bottom of the 10th to give the Sioux City Explorers a 2-1 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. This was a fantastic pitcher’s duel between Mike Shawaryn and Solomon Bates.

Shawaryn carried a perfect game into the fifth, retiring the first 13 batters he faced. That was spoiling a great evening by Bates, who gave up a two-out home run in the top of the first to Demetrius Sims, then shut down the DockHounds over the next 6.1 innings. Bates left after seven, allowing five hits and one run while striking out 11.

Shawaryn dominated into the fifth, but gave up a one-out walk to Matt Lloyd and Eury Perez delivered a two-out double to tie the score at one. The score remained tied through regulation, sending the contest to extra innings. That is where Sanford delivered a single up the middle, scoring Perez to give the Explorers the victory. Sean Rackoski earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief and Ryan Hartman took the loss.

Boxscore

Three Stars of the Night

No. 3 – Jake Dahlberg (Chicago Dogs) 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

No. 2 – Delino DeShields (Cleburne Railroaders) 3-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, HR, SB

No. 1 – Luke Roskam (Lincoln Saltdogs) 3-5, 4 R, 5 RBI, HR

American Association Daily Notes

The Sioux City Explorers earned their second extra innings victory of the year, with both coming in walk-off fashion.

Transactions

Chicago: Released INF Braxton Davidson and LHP James Reeves

Fargo-Moorhead: Released RHP Eric Ezersky

Kansas City: Placed RHP Matt Hartman on the Injured List retroactive to May 10; Activated LHP Dalton Moats from the Injured List

Sioux Falls: Signed INF Osvaldo Martínez; Released RHP Israel Cruz and INF Cole Pengilly

American Association Stories at Minor League Sports Report

Who Is the Top Leadoff Hitter in the American Association

By Robert Pannier