Dogs Walk-Off Milkmen, Monarchs Rally to Down Explorers

Robert Pannier September 15, 2023

Photo Credit: Jennifer Andreachi/Field Dreams Photography

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 the two Game 3s in the second round of the American Association playoffs, including the Chicago Dogs winning in the bottom of the 11th on a walk-off single by Ryan Lidge and the Kansas City Monarchs rally from five runs down to defeat the Sioux City Explorers. Both Chicago and Kansas City advance to the finals of the Miles Wolff Cup.

TWITA: 2023 American Association Playoffs, Round 2, Game 3

Game Recaps for Thursday

Lidge Walk-Off Single Sends Dogs to Finals

Ryan Lidge singled with two down the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Chicago Dogs to the Miles Wolff Cup Finals, defeating the Milwaukee Milkmen, 3-2. Chicago had rallied in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, then put two on with two down in the bottom of the decisive frame before Lidge delivered a single to left on an 0-2 pitch.

Milwaukee took the lead in the top of the second on a walk to Gabriel Cancel, who then stole second and scored on a single by Drew Ward. The Dogs responded in the bottom half of the inning as Matt Bottcher drew a two-out walk, stole second, and scored on a Cody Bohanek base hit. This time it was the Milkmen responding, retaking the lead in the top of the third. A single and hit by pitch put two on before a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners. Michael Crouse then popped out, but Cancel singled into right field, scoring Bryan Torres to make it 2-1.

That lead held through the next six innings, but Chicago rallied in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score. A controversial play at first allowed Bohanek to reach and Ben Livorsi then hit a ball into left field that should have been caught, but hit off of Rudy Martin and in for a single. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position before Nick Heath had a sacrifice fly that tied the score. The score remained tied through the first extra frame, sending it to the 11th. With Frankie Bartow on for Milwaukee, Bohanek led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice. An intentional walk put two on with one down, and a call to the Milwaukee bullpen. Jack Mahoney came on and struck out Heath, then quickly got ahead of Lidge. However, the veteran fought off a pitch to the outside, singling into left field to send Chicago onto the finals.

Trevor Lane earned the victory, tossing one scoreless frame. Bohanek had four hits and scored twice for Chicago. Torres had three hits for the Milkmen.

Boxscore

Monarchs Rally to Down Explorers, Advance

The Kansas City Monarchs rallied from a five run deficit, scoring nine of the final 10 runs to give the team a 9-6 over the Sioux City Explorers, sending the team to the Miles Wolff Cup Finals for the second time in the last three years. Odubel Herrera scored three times and Jan Hernandez drove in three runs for the Monarchs.

The Explorers took the lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Scott Ota and extended the lead to three in the third on an RBI single by John Nogowski and a sacrifice fly by Ota. In the fourth, Daniel Lingua singled home a run to make it a four-run lead and Wilfredo Gimenez hit a solo homer to make it 5-0.

The Monarchs looked dead, but responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. A wild pitch and two balks cut the deficit to two. Two innings later, Nogowski hit a solo home run to extend the lead to three, but it was all Monarchs from there. The team scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh on just one hit. A hit by pitch and four straight walks made it 6-5. Taylor Snyder singled to tie the score and a wild pitch made it 7-6. In the eighth, the Monarchs added two more runs thanks to a bases loaded walk to Jan Hernandez and a wild pitch.

Herrera had two hits and scored three runs for Kansas City and Hernandez drove in three. Lingua and Nogowski each had two hits and scored two runs for the Explorers and Ota had two hits and drove in two.

Boxscore

Three Stars of the Night

No. 3 – Cody Bohanek (Chicago Dogs) 4-5, 2 R, RBI, SB

No. 2 – Ryan Lidge (Chicago Dogs) 1-6 RBI, Walk-Off Winner

No. 1 – Odubel Herrera (Kansas City Monarchs) 2-3, 3 R, BB, HBP, SB

American Association Daily Notes

The Chicago Dogs will be making their first appearance in the American Association Championship Series… Sioux Falls Canaries Manager Mike Meyer was named by the American Association as the Manager of the Year… This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report will name their Manager of the Year during the championship series. Pitcher, Player, and Rookie of the Year will also be named at that time… The Kansas City Monarchs advanced to the championship series for the third time since 2018.