Henry Homers Twice, Saltdogs Sweep Double-Header, Sweeney Ties League Mark
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 seven games in the American Association on Thursday, including the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks completing their sweep of the Milwaukee Milkmen, the Sioux Falls Canaries rallying to down the Winnipeg Goldeyes again, and the Lincoln Saltdogs sweeping a double-header with the Sioux City Explorers. This and much more.
Cougars Down DockHounds in 10
The Kane County Sougars scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning then held on for a 5-4 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. This was a gutsy performance by the DockHounds who trailed four times in this contest, tying the score three times but could not get the equalizer at the end.
The teams exchanged single runs in the first inning, but Kane County jumped out to a 2-1 lead with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Lake Country tied the score in the bottom of the seventh when Gio Brusa hit his fifth homerun of the season and third of the series. The Cougars responded with a run in the top of the eighth, but the DockHounds tied the score once again in the bottom half the frame, forcing extra innings. That is where Josh Rolette gave him team the lead once again and Nick Anderson followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to two. Lake Country got one run in the bottom half of the inning, but Logan Nissen was able to finish off the contest for his first victory of the season.
Steve Lombardozzi finished with three hits for the second straight night. Jimmy Kerrigan scored two runs and Rolette drove home two. Gabriel Noriega had three hits for Lake Country and Aaron Takacs, T.J. Bennett and Brusa each had a pair of hits.
Lake Country DockHounds Recap by Sam Matheny
Canaries Rally Late to Down Goldeyes
A night after scoring 13 runs over the final four frames to rally to defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes, the Sioux Falls Canaries put up three in the seventh and four in the eighth to earn an 8-4 victory on Thursday. The Canaries were trailing by a run entering the bottom of the seventh, but Andres Noriega hit a three-run homer to put his team on top, his second of the year. Winnipeg responded with a run in the top half of the eighth, but Kona Quiggle drove home a run with a single and Jabari Henry followed with his second homerun of the game, a three-run blast.
Ty Culbreth was dominating for Sioux Falls, allowing two runs on four hits in 7.0 innings. The left-hander struck out nine in earning his second victory of the season. Henry finished 2-3 with three runs scored and four RBI. Noriega also had two hits and drove in three runs and Quiggle had two hits and scored twice. The Goldeyes were led by Hidekel Gonzalez, who went 1-4 with a homerun, two runs scored, and two RBI.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Jason Young
Saltdogs Sweep Explorers
The early-season woes for the Sioux City Explorers continued on Thursday, as the team was swept in a double-header by the Lincoln Saltdogs, losing the first game, 4-3, and the second, 9-2.
Sioux City scored single runs through each of the first three innings in the opening contest, taking a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning. However, the Saltdogs responded with two runs to take the lead to take the lead. Welington Dotel hit the decisive blow, a two-run blast that gave Lincoln the victory. Brandon Cunniff came on in the seventh to close out the contest for his third save of the season.
The loss spoiled the big night for Nick Franklin, who homered twice in the contest as part of the three hit performance. Gabe Snyder also went deep for the Explorers.
In the second game, Sioux City jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to back-to-back home runs from Sebastian Zawada and Snyder. However, the Saltdogs responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead. Matt Goodheart doubled home two runs and Garett Delano followed with an RBI single. In the fourth, Lincoln blew this game open thanks to a pair of two-run homers. Delano hit his second of the season and Josh Altmann added his first homerun of the year.
That was more than enough run support for Kyle Kinman, who allowed two runs in 5.0 innings to earn the victory. Goodheart finished 3-3 with two runs and two RBI. Delano was 2-3 with a run and three RBI.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
RedHawks Complete Sweep of Milkmen
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to earn a 7-5 victory over the Milwaukee Milkmen. The victory gave Fargo-Moorhead a sweep of their three-game series with Milwaukee, giving the team an American Association best 9-3 record.
Fargo took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but Milwaukee came back to take the lead with four runs in the top of the third. Keon Barnum had the big blow of the frame, hitting his sixth homer of the year, a three-run blast. However, the RedHawks responded with four of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Leobaldo Pina hit a two-run single and John Silviano followed with a fielder’s choice where an error allowed two more runners to score, putting the RedHawks back on top. Milwaukee tied the score in the sixth, but Christian Correa gave his team the lead for good with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.
Davis Feldman earned the victory, tossing 2.0 innings of scoreless relief. Alex DuBord came on in the night to close out the game for his fifth save of the season. Manuel Boscan had two hits and scored two runs and Correa drove in a pair of runs for Fargo-Moorhead. Barnum finished with two hits and three RBI for the Milkmen.
Lingua Hit Propels RailCats over Monarchs
Daniel Lingua drove home the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Gary SouthShore RailCats a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Monarchs. Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to an error and a triple by David Thompson. However, Gary SouthShore tied the score in the bottom of the second when Sam Abbott hit his first homerun of the season, a two-run blast. The RailCats took the lead in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Alec Olund, but Kansas City knotted the score once again when fielder’s choice by Gabriel Guerrero scored Willie Abreu. One inning later, Lingua doubled home Thomas Walraven to give the RailCats the lead for good.
Jack Eisenbarger earned the victory, and Robbie Coursel came on to retire the final batter of the game to earn his first save of the season. Jackson Smith finished with three hits for Gary SouthShore.
Monarchs infielder Darnell Sweeney tied in American Association record, stealing five bases in the game. Brandon Koch took the loss.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Gabriel Lopez
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Dogs Holdoff Railroaders
The Chicago Dogs scored two runs in the eighth and one of the ninth, then held off a feverish rally to defeat the Cleburne Railroaders, 7-6, sweeping their three-game series. Chicago opened the game with three runs in the top of the first inning thanks to a two run double off the bat of Anfernee Greir. Cleburne scored single runs in four straight innings to tie the score at four, but Chicago retook the lead in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Ryan Lidge and a wild pitch. In the ninth, another wild pitch gave the Dogs what looked like a commanding 7-4 lead. However, an error allowed the Railroaders to pull within two and Zach Nehrir followed with a fielder’s choice to make this a one run game. With two on and two down, Jeff Kinley was able to retire Matt Morgan for his first save of the season.
Charlie Tilson scored two runs for Chicago. Cesar Trejo had three hits for the Railroaders. Morgan homered earlier in the game, his first homerun of the season.
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Nick Franklin (Sioux City Explorers) 3-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, BB
No. 2 – Darnell Sweeney (Kansas City Monarchs) 0-2, R, 2 BB, 5 SB
No. 1 – Jabari Henry (Sioux Falls Canaries) 2-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB
American Association Daily Notes
The Kansas City Monarchs Darnell Sweeney tied an American Association record with five stolen bases in Thursday’s game. The Monarchs told seven bases in all… The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks have now won six straight games, the longest streak in the American Association the season… The Cleburne Railroaders lost their eighth straight on Thursday. That is the longest losing streak in the American Association this year…The hitting streaks of Kane County Cougars outfielder Ernie De La Trinidad, Sioux Falls Canaries outfielder Wyatt Ulrich, and Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks outfielder Drew Ward continued on Thursday. All three players have reached base in 12 straight games… Winnipeg Goldeyes outfielder Eric Rivera extended his consecutive on-base streak to 13 straight games.
Transactions
Cleburne: Placed RHP Landon Holifield on the Injured List retroactive to May 23; Signed INF Edwin Arroyo and RHP Kevin McCarthy; Released INF Vaibhav Desai
Gary SouthShore: Placed OF K.V. Edwards on the Injured List retroactive to May 24; Signed INF Sam Abbott and INF Zach Racusin
Kane County: Released OF Tra Holmes
Lake Country: Signed RHP Francisco Jimenez
Lincoln: Acquired OF Welington Dotel from Wild Health (Atlantic League) for a player to be named later; Signed OF Welington Dotel
Sioux Falls: Signed LHP Neil Lang
Winnipeg: Released RHP Brendan Smith
By Robert Pannier
