Erwin Dominates Milkmen, Washington Homers Twice, DockHounds Rally
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 Saturday, including Chris Erwin tossing seven shutout innings for the Gary SouthShore RailCats, David Washington homers twice to lead the Winnipeg Goldeyes to victory, and the Lake Country DockHounds Rally to Down the Sioux Falls Canaries late. This, plus much more.
Mathisen Leads Railroaders to Late Victory
Wyatt Mathisen homered and drove in four to lead the Cleburne Railroaders to a 6-4 comeback victory over the Kane County Cougars. Kane County took a 4-0 lead early, scoring a run in the first, two in the second, and a run in the fourth. However, Cleburne responded with six unanswered runs, starting in the bottom of the fourth when Kacy Clemens hit a two-run homer, his sixth of the year.
From there, it was all Mathisen. In the sixth, first two batters of the inning reached before the third baseman hit a three-run blast, his second of the year. An inning later, he drove home Chase Simpson with an RBI single to make it 6-4.
Brendan Bell earned the victory, tossing a scoreless inning of relief, and Nick Gardewine came on in the ninth to record his 11th save of the season. Mathisen finished with two hits and four RBI. Clemens had two hits, scored two runs, and drove into, and Hill Alexander had three hits and scored twice. Ernie De La Trinidad had two hits and scored twice for the Cougars.
DockHounds Down Canaries
The Lake Country DockHounds scored two runs in the seventh inning to earn a 4-2 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries. Lake Country took the lead in the top of the first on a two-run blast by T.J. Bennett, his 17th of the season.
Sioux Falls had been shut down for the first four innings by Nick Herold, but put up single runs in the fifth and sixth to tie the score. Gavin LaValley had an RBI single in the fifth and Nick Gotta drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth. However, Sioux Falls could not take further advantage of the bases loaded, no one out situation. That proved to be costly, as Brandon Chinea drove home Casey Dykstra in the seventh and Gabriel Noriega added an RBI single of his own.
Tyler Schimpf earned the victory and Shea Murray tossed three scoreless innings to earn the save, his second of the season, Efrain Contreras had three hits and scored two runs. Aaron Takacs had two hits for Sioux Falls.
Maris Homer Sends RedHawks Soaring
Peter Maris homered with two on and one down in the fifth inning, putting the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on top for good as they defeated the Chicago Dogs, 4-2. Chicago took the lead in the top of the first on a two-run blast by Grant Kay. Fargo-Moorhead got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning an RBI single by Leobaldo Pina.
Chicago remained on top through the next three frames, but Johnathon Tripp got into trouble in the fifth. An error allowed the opening better of the frame to reach, but he was thrown out trying to steal. Nick Novak and Christian Correa followed with back-to-back singles. That brought a call to the bullpen, as Tanner Lawson came on. He got ahead, 1-2, then served up the homerun ball, the 16th of the year for Maris.
Tyler Grauer pitched very well for the RedHawks, allowing two earned runs in 7.0 innings. Alex DuBord came on in the ninth to record his 22nd save of the season. Maris finished with two hits and three RBI. Drew Ward, Pina, and Correa each had two hits. Charlie Tilson had three hits for Chicago and Kay had two hits and drove in two.
Washington Homers Twice in Goldeyes Comeback Win
David Washington homered twice and drove in three as the Winnipeg Goldeyes rallied from an early three-run deficit, defeating the Sioux City Explorers, 5-4. Sioux City jumped out in front in the top of the second. Ademar Rifaela hit a solo blast, his seventh of the year, and Jack Kelly added a two-run shot, his second, to make it 3-0.
Winnipeg pulled within one, scoring single runs in the third and fourth frames. Ian Sagdal had an RBI single in the third and Washington hit his first homerun of the contest to lead off the fourth. The Explorers got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth when an error allowed Blake Tiberi to score. Winnipeg pulled back within one when Max Murphy drove home Raul Navarro in the bottom of the sixth and Washington completed the comeback, blasting a two-run shot with one down in the eighth, his 26th homerun of the season.
Will McAffer earned the victory, tossing a scoreless eighth inning, and Tasker Strobel came on for his 20th save of the year. Washington finished 3-4 with two runs and three RBI. Chase Harris had two hits for Sioux City.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Erwin Dominates Milkmen
Chris Erwin tossed seven scoreless innings and two relievers completed the shutout as the Gary SouthShore RailCats defeated the Milwaukee Milkmen, 6-0. This was a great pitcher’s duel between Erwin and Milkmen starter A.J. Schugel through four. Neither team was able to find the remedy for the opposing starter, but the RailCats finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an error that brought home Jesus Marriaga.
In the sixth, Gary SouthShore extended their lead to two on an RBI double by Marriaga. An inning later, the RailCats put this contest away. A one-out triple and a hit by pitch put runners at the corners for Nick Scantlin, who delivered an RBI single to make it 3-0. Thomas Walraven followed with a three-run shot, his 11th of the season to make it 6-0.
That was more than enough support for Erwin, who allowed five hits and no walks while striking out seven in seven innings. Julio Vivas tossed a scoreless eighth and Yeison Medina finished off the shutout with a scoreless ninth. Walraven finished with two hits and three RBI. Bryan Torres had two hits as did Logan Trowbridge.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Monarchs Outslug Way Past Saltdogs
The Kansas City Monarchs scored runs in every inning but the second, out slugging their way past the Lincoln Saltdogs, 14-10. Kansas City took the lead in the bottom the first on a two-run blast by David Thompson, his 19th of the year. Lincoln responded with two runs in the top of the second, then took the lead with a run in the third. However, Matt Adams blasted a two run homer in the bottom of the third, putting the Monarchs back on top by a run.
This was an incredible back and forth contest, that saw the Saltdogs respond with four runs in the top of the fourth to retake the lead by three. Rayder Ascanio hit a two-run shot, and Jason Rogers added a two-run blast of his own, his third homerun in the last two games. The Monarchs got two of those runs back in the bottom half of the frame. Lincoln extended their lead to two on an RBI double by Skyler Weber in the top of the fifth, but the Monarchs took the lead for good in the bottom half the fifth, as Ryan Grotjohn delivered a two run double and Kevin Santa followed with a two-run single. That made it 10-8. Kansas City added single runs in the sixth and eighth innings, and two more in the seventh. Saltdogs rallied for two in the ninth, but could not get any closer.
Thompson finished 3-5 with two runs scored and four RBI. Grotjohn had four hits, scored three runs, and drove in three. Casey Gillaspie was 2-3, with four RBI and a run scored. Hunter Clanin and Ascanio each had two hits, scored two runs, and had two RBI. Clanin hit his 10th homerun of the season.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Kaitlyn Saunders
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Ryan Grotjohn (Kansas City Monarchs) 4-5, 3 R, Double, 3 RBI
No. 2 – David Washington (Winnipeg Goldeyes) 3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
No. 1 – Chris Erwin (Gary SouthShore RailCats) 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 7 K
American Association Daily Notes
With two hits on Saturday, Milwaukee Milkmen OF Bryan Torres raised his average to .404… The two homeruns on Saturday tied Winnipeg Goldeyes 1B David Washington for the league lead in homeruns with 26. Teammate Max Murphy also has 26… Cleburne Railroaders IF Edwin Arroyo extended his consecutive on-base streak to 42 games. Arroyo is hitting .380 during the streak with a .485 OBP… The Chicago Dogs lost their eighth straight game on Saturday… The Gary SouthShore RailCats have now won six straight contests.
Transactions
Cleburne: Placed RHP Zac Reininger on the Inactive List; Signed RHP Bryon Brickhouse
Fargo-Moorhead: Released LHP Sebastian Kessay; Claimed RHP Ben Allison off waivers from Kane County
Kansas City: Released OF Caeden Harris; Activated OF Jan Hernandez from the Inactive List; Activated INF Pete Kozma from the Injured List
Milwaukee: Released INF Jordan Garr; Traded C Dylan Kelly to Sioux City for a player to be named later
Sioux City: Signed RHP Solomon Bates
By Robert Pannier
