Hall Dominates Explores, Wigginton Shuts Down Saltdogs, Cougars Edge Railroaders
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 two games in the American Association on Monday, including the Winnipeg Goldeyes downing the Milwaukee Milkmen and the Sioux City Explorers continue to roll with the victory over the Kansas City Monarchs. Plus, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Peter Maris is named as the American Association Player of the Week and Sioux City Explorers right-hander Kevin McCanna is named as the American Association Pitcher of the Week. This, plus much more.
Hall Blanks Explorers
Matt Hall allowed three hits and no runs in 7.0 innings to lead the Kansas City Monarchs to a 6-0 victory over the Sioux City Explorers in the second game of their series. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak of the Monarchs while ending the four-game winning streak for Sioux City.
Kansas City staked their starter to a three-run lead in the first inning. Matt Adams drilled a two-run homer, his 23rd of the season, and Casey Gillaspie added an RBI single. In the fourth, the lead became six. An RBI double by Jacob Robson made it 4-0, and David Thompson followed with a two-run single.
That was plenty enough support for Hall, who scattered three hits in his seven innings of work, walking two while striking out eight. That lowered his ERA to a microscopic 1.09. Brian Glowicki and Brandon Koch each tossed a scoreless frame to complete the shutout. Mallex Smith went 3-4 with two runs scored. No Explorers player had more than a single hit.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Jaxson Webb
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Four-Run First Leads RailCats Past Dogs
The Gary SouthShore RailCats scored four runs in the top of the first, leading them to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Dogs. Jesus Marriaga gave his team the lead with an RBI single, and Victor Nova followed with a two-run triple to extend the lead to three. Sam Abbott drove home Nova with a ground out.
Adam Heidenfelder shut Chicago down through the first four innings, retiring the first 13 batters of the game. However, a one-out double by Stevie Wilkerson was followed by the 17th homerun of the season by Grant Kay, cutting the Dogs deficit to two. Chicago would get no closer, however, as Gary SouthShore added a run in the seventh and one more in the ninth to seal the victory.
Heidenfelder came out after 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Four relievers combined to tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. Kyle Murphy took the loss, allowing four runs in six innings. Wilkerson finished with three hits for Chicago.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Chicago Dogs Recap by Michael Barthelemy
Seven Unanswered Runs Propels Goldeyes
The Winnipeg Goldeyes found themselves trailing by three early on to the Milwaukee Milkmen, but responded with seven unanswered runs on their way to a 7-4 victory. Aaron Hill led off the contest with his sixth homerun of the season and Milwaukee added two more in the top of the second.
However, Winnipeg took over from there, scoring two in the bottom of the second to pull within one. In the fifth, Raul Navarro hit his fourth homerun of the season to put his team on top by a run and David Washington added an RBI double. An inning later, Winnipeg plated two more runs. Milwaukee got one of those runs back in the top of the ninth on the first homerun of the season by Cal Chester, but Erasmo Pinales was able to get final out to finish off the contest.
Washington finished with two hits and two RBI and Max Murphy scored two runs and reached base three times in the contest. Chester scored two runs and had two hits for the Milkmen.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Six-Run First Sinks Canaries
The Sioux Falls Canaries scored two runs in the top of the first inning, only to watch the Lake Country DockHounds respond with six in the bottom half of the frame on their way to a 10-5 victory. Back-to-back home runs by Jabari Henry and Gavin LaValley sent Sioux Falls soaring, but T.J. Bennett cut the lead in half with an RBI double in the bottom half of the frame. He scored on a double by Jake Snider and Wilfredo Gimenez gave his team the lead with the third double of the inning. That brought Casey Dykstra to the plate, who drilled a three-run blast, his third of the year.
The DockHounds added two more in the second only to see Sioux Falls respond with two in the top half of the third. Sioux Falls pulled within three, but Lake Country added a run in the sixth and one of the eighth to seal the victory.
Daikan Yoh had four hits and scored three runs and Bennett also had four hits, driving in two. Dykstra finished with two runs scored and three RBI. LaValley drove in three for Sioux Falls. He and Henry each had two hits.
Wigginton, DuBord Blank Saltdogs
Tuesday saw an exciting pitcher’s duel in Nebraska, as Peyton Wigginton tossed eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs. Wigginton allowed five hits and one walk while striking out nine. Alex DuBord came on in the ninth and tossed a scoreless frame for his 20th save of the season.
This was a scoreless tie through the first five innings, as John Bezdicek matched Wigginton pitch for pitch, keeping the game scoreless. However, in the top of the six, Fargo-Moorhead would broke through against reliever Josh Norwood. John Silviano led off the inning with his 15th homerun of the season, the only run scored in the game.
Silviano finished a perfect 3-3 with a walk. Manuel Boscan had two hits. No Lincoln player had more than one hit in the contest.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Three-Run First Helps Cougars Scratch Out Victory
The Kane County Cougars scored three runs in the first to help lead them to a 5-2 victory over the Cleburne Railroaders in the first contest of their six-game set. Cornelius Randolph gave his team the lead with an RBI double, and Jimmy Kerrigan followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to two. Dylan Busby made it a three-run lead with an RBI double.
The Railroaders got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly by Hill Alexander. From there, this was an incredible pitcher’s duel that saw Jack Fox toss six scoreless innings before his evening was over. Fox allowed one run on two hits while striking out seven. Michael Morin came on in the eighth and tossed his third scoreless inning since joining Kane County. Ryan Richardson gave up a run in the ninth, but was able to get the final out to finish off the victory.
The Cougars did add runs in the eighth and ninth innings. An RBI double by Josh Rolette made it 4-1 and Randolph added an RBI single in the ninth. Randolph finished 4-5 with a run in two RBI. Kacy Clemens had two hits for Cleburne.
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Jack Fox (Kane County Cougars) 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, ER, 8 K
No. 2 – Matt Hall (Kansas City Monarchs) 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 8 K
No. 1 – Peyton Wigginton (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks) 8.0 IP, 5 H, BB, 0 ER, 9 K
American Association Daily Notes
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are one victory away from becoming the first team to reach 50 wins this season… The Gary SouthShore RailCats pulled within 0.5 games of the Cleburne Railroaders for the final playoff spot in the East Division. The Sioux City Explorers hold a 0.5 game edge over the Lincoln Saltdogs in the West… Cleburne Railroaders IF Edwin Arroyo extended his consecutive on-base streak to 38 games. That is the longest in the American Association this season. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks closer Alex DuBord earned his 20th save of the season on Tuesday. That leads the American Association.
Transactions
Cleburne: Placed RHP Landon Holifield (Rookie) on the Inactive List retroactive to August 5
Kane County: Released INF Donivan Williams
Lake Country: Claimed Milwaukee INF Brandon Chinea off waivers
Sioux City: Traded RHP Ma’Khail Hilliard to Evansville (Frontier League) for a player to be named later
Sioux Falls: Placed OF Willie Abreu on the Inactive List retroactive to August 3
Winnipeg: Signed RHP Will McAffer
By Robert Pannier
