Dogs Crush Cougars, Saltdogs Down Goldeyes, Bates Dominates
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 Tuesday, including Luke Roskam and Hill Alexander both homering twice, Solomon Bates dominates for the Sioux City Explorers, and the Chicago Dogs take the opener against the Kane County Cougars.
Game Recaps for Tuesday
Dogs Crush Cougars in Series Opener
The Chicago Dogs found themselves trailing by one after one, but rallied for nine unanswered runs on their way to an 11-5 victory over the Kane County Cougars. Chicago scored three in third, five in the sixth, and one in both the fourth and ninth innings. The win was the fourth in the last five for the Dogs.
T.J. Bennett gave Kane County the lead in the bottom of the first, driving a two-run homer to make it 2-1. In the third, the Dogs scored three, then added a run in the fourth, before scoring five in the sixth. Chicago sent nine men to the plate with Jesus Lujano driving home a run with a triple and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Altmann. Nick Heath drove home a run with a single, and Donivan Williams closed out the scoring in the frame with a two-run homer, his second of the season.
Matt Bottcher had four hits and scored three runs. Altmann plated three and Lujano and Ryan Lidge each scored twice. Galli Cribbs had three hits for Kane County.
Six Run Fifth Propels Saltdogs
The Lincoln Saltdogs received six outstanding innings from Tanner Brown and scored six runs in the fifth inning to down the Winnipeg Goldeyes in the series opener, 7-1. Brown allowed one run in six innings to earn his first win of the year.
Winnipeg held a one-run advantage through four behind Joey Matulovich, but things turned quickly in the fifth as Lincoln sent 10 men to the plate. Luke Roskam hit a three-run homer and Yanio Perez had a two-run double. Drew Devine plated the other run with a sacrifice fly. Roskam hit his second home run of the game in the eighth, a solo shot for his fourth of the year.
Perez and Will Kengor also had two hits. The Goldeyes produced just three total hits in the game.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Doug Greenwald
Bates Dominates in Explorers Victory
Solomon Bates stuck out a season high 15 as the Sioux City Explorers opened their three-game set with the Kansas City Monarchs with a 5-2 victory. Bates dominated, allowing one run on five hits. He struck out the first four batters of the game, and 11 of the first 13 outs came by strikeout. He struck out at least one batter in all seven innings.
The score was tied at one after two, but Sioux City took the lead in the third when John Nogowski drove home Chase Harris with a single. Two innings later, the Explorers extended the lead to four thanks to a three-run blast by Nogowski, his second of the year.
Nogowski finished with two hits and four RBI and Harris scored twice and had two hits for the Explorers. Olivier Basabe had three hits for Kansas City.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Austin Thomas
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Carter Woodiel
McGovern Muzzles RailCats
Kevin McGovern allowed one run in six innings to help lead the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks to a 10-6 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats. While McGovern was great, the RedHawks bullpen struggled, allowing five runs in three innings. Julio Vivas took the loss.
The RedHawks took command of this game early, jumping out to a six-run lead. Evan Alexander plated a run in the third with a triple and he scored on a wild pitch. Sam Dexter had an RBI double, B.J. Lopez a sacrifice fly, and Alec Olund an RBI single in the fourth. The RedHawks looked like they had put this game away in the sixth when they added three more runs to make it 9-1, but the RailCats refused to quit, scoring two in the seventh and adding three more in the eighth to make this a three-run game. However, Fargo-Moorhead added one more run in the eighth to seal the victory.
Alexander went 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored and Dillon Thomas and Lopez each drove in two for the RedHawks. Gio Diaz had three hits and two RBI and Jose Contreras had three hits and scored twice for the RailCats.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Recap by Chad Miller
Zimmerman Rolls in Milkmen Victory
Ryan Zimmerman allowed one run in five innings as the red hot Milwaukee Milkmen defeated the Sioux Falls Canaries, 4-3. Zimmerman allowed two hits and three walks in earning his third win of the year. Nate Hadley came on in the ninth to earn his 10th save of the season.
Milwaukee took the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs thanks to RBI singles by Miguel Gomez, Roy Morales, and Drew Ward. In the fourth, Hunter Clanin cut the deficit to two with an RBI single, but Gabriel Cancel hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth to restore the three-run advantage. In the sixth, Clanin came through again, hitting a single up the middle that plated two, putting Sioux Falls down by one. However, the Milwaukee bullpen dominated from there allowing just a single baserunner over the final three innings.
Clanin finished with two hits and three RBI for the Canaries, Gomez and Morales each had two hits for Milwaukee.
Late Surge Propels DockHounds
The Cleburne Railroaders held a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, but the Lake Country DockHounds responded with four unanswered runs to down the Railroaders, 7-5. The top of the order led the way for Lake Country, as the 1-4 hitters went 10-19 with seven runs scored with four RBI. Nick Banks was 3-5 with two runs scored and three RBI.
The DockHounds took the lead in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs, but Cleburne rallied for two in the second and added single runs in the fourth and fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, Lake Country tied the score and scored three more in the sixth thanks to a wild pitch and a two run single by Banks. Alex Jackson homered in the seventh, but Cleburne could get no closer.
That spoiled a big day for Hill Alexander, who homered twice for the Railroaders. Cleburne hit four homers in all. Blake Tiberi also had three hits and scored twice and Dustin Woodcock had two hits and two RBI. Conor Fisk earned the win and Keisy Portorreal tossed three solid innings to earn the save.
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Hill Alexander (Cleburne Railroaders) 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI
No. 2 – Luke Roskam (Lincoln Saltdogs) 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
No. 1 – Solomon Bates (Sioux City Explorers) 7.0 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 15 K
American Association Daily Notes
Sioux City Explorers right-hander Solomon Bates struck out an American Association season high 15 on Tuesday… Chicago Dogs outfielder Matt Bottcher recorded four hits on Tuesday. It was his second straight game with at least three hits and Bottcher is 7-12 over his last two contest… The Milwaukee Milkmen are 14-3 in June, the best record in the league.
Transactions
June 20, 2023
Cleburne: Released RHP Joe Shaw and RHP Riley Smith
Chicago: Released C Mike Falsetti
Lake Country: Released C Mike Marrele and INF Omar Meregildo
Lake Country: Signed INF Matt Rodriguez
Winnipeg: Signed RHP Brent Burgess
June 19, 2023
Chicago: Placed OF Brennan Metzger on the Injured List retroactive to June 10
Chicago: Released RHP Aiden McIntyre
Kansas City: Transferred the contracts of INF Edwin Díaz and OF Johneshwy Fargas to Saltillo (Mexican League)
Lincoln: Released OF Cam Touchette
Winnipeg: Traded RHP Cal McAninch to Quebec (Frontier League) to complete a previous transaction
Winnipeg: Released RHP James Varela
June 18, 2023
Chicago: Signed LHP Andrew Edwards
Winnipeg: Activated LHP/OF Andrew Shaps from the Injured List
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
