Hernandez Delivers Walk-Off Slam, Explorers Walk-Off Goldeyes, Canaries Win in 10
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 Sunday, including Jan Hernandez hitting a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th to win it for the Kansas City Monarchs, Zack Kone hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth for Sioux City, and the Sioux Falls Canaries defeated the Cleburne Railroaders in 10. This and much more.
Grauer Dominates in RedHawks Victory
Tyler Grauer tossed six outstanding innings to lead the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks to a 3-1 victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs on Sunday. Grauer opened the contest with three shutout innings before Lincoln was finally able to get on the board in the top of the fourth. With two down, Hunter Clanin singled and he came around the score on a Ryan Long single.
Fargo-Moorhead responded right away in the bottom half of the frame as John Silviano singled home a run to tie the score and another scored on a wild pitch. An inning later, the RedHawks extended their lead to two thanks to a Nick Novak single.
That would be all the support that Grauer needed, allowing one run on six hits in 6.0 innings. Luke Lind came on to toss two scoreless frames and Alex DeBord loaded the bases in the ninth, but was able to close out the contest for his 13th save of the year. Elijah Johnson pitched well for the Saltdogs, allowing three runs in five innings.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Hernandez Walk-Off Grand Slam Gives Monarchs Victory in 10
Jan Hernandez drilled a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Kansas City Monarchs an 8-4 walkoff victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats on Sunday. Kansas City took the lead in the bottom of the first inning, but saw the RailCats battle back with single runs in the second and third. The Monarchs tied the score in the bottom half of the third, however, Gary put up two in the fifth to retake the lead.
Kansas City was able to battle back, putting up a run in the fifth and then tying the score in the ninth on two hit by pitches and an error. That set up the dramatic 10th where Jack Eisenbarger loaded the bases before Aaron Phillips came on, giving up the homerun ball to Hernandez to win the game for Kansas City.
Darnell Sweeney had a great day for the Monarchs, going 3-5 with four runs scored and a homerun. Jameson McGrane earned the victory, tossing 2.0 innings of scoreless relief, striking out three. Thomas Walraven had two hits, including his fourth homerun of the season for the RailCats.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Adam Cook
Dogs Overcome Big Milkmen Frame
The Milwaukee Milkmen scored seven runs in the top of the sixth inning, but that was not enough to overcome an early nine run deficit as the Chicago Dogs defeated Milwaukee, 9-7. Chicago jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a three-run homer off the bat of K.C. Hobson. The Dogs added an additional run of the fourth, then put up for more in the bottom of the fifth as an error allowed two runs to score to close out the frame.
Chicago looked like they would breeze through this contest, especially with Shane Barringer holding Milwaukee to just two hits through the first five frames. However, things unraveled quickly in the top of the sixth, as the Milkmen sent 12 men to the plate. Chad Sedio put his team on the board with a two-run single and Logan Trowbridge drove home two more with the single. Mason Davis finished off the scoring in the inning with another two-run single, pulling the Milkmen within two.
However, they would get no closer. Ryan Clark was able to finish off the sixth with no further damage, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Brian Schlitter came on in the ninth to retire the side in order to earn his third save of the season. Michael Crouse finished 4-4 with two runs in an RBI for the Dogs. Trowbridge and Davis both had two hits and two RBI for Milwaukee.
Canaries Down Railroaders in 10
The Sioux Falls Canaries rallied late, then scored four runs in the 10th inning to defeat the Cleburne Railroaders, 9-6. The Railroaders took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth and were up 5-2 heading into the seventh. However, Sioux Falls battled back with a run in the seventh and two in the eighth to force extra innings.
That is where Trey Michalczewski gave his team the lead for good, drilling a grand slam for his fifth homerun of the season. Jabari Henry also went deep for Sioux Falls as part of a two-hit performance, hitting his 18th homerun of the year. Charlie Hasty earned the victory, tossing a scoreless inning of relief.
Zach Nehrir with 2-5 with a run and three RBI for the Railroaders. That included hitting his sixth homerun of the year. Edwin Arroyo and Kacy Clemens also went deep for Cleburne.
Fuentes Tosses Gem to Lead Cougars
Jose Fuentes allowed one run in six innings to lead the Kane County Cougars to a 5-1 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. Fuentes start of the contest with six scoreless innings, allowing four hits. In the seventh, Lake Country finally got on the board when Tristen Carranza singled home Gio Brusa. Jack Anderson came on in tossed two scoreless innings of relief and Logan Nissen finished the game off with a scoreless frame.
The Cougars offense staked of their starter to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI double by Steve Lombardozzi and an RBI single by Cornelius Randolph. Two innings later, Jimmy Kerrigan drilled his 16th homerun of the year, a two-run shot to extend the lead to four. Dylan Busby drove home the final run of the game when he drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh.
Jake Snider had three hits for the DockHounds. Brusa and Carranza each had two hits.
Lake Country DockHounds Recap by Sam Matheny
Kone Walk-Off Homer Completes Explorers Victory
Zack Kone drilled a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Sioux City Explorers a 10-7 walk-off victory over the Winnipeg Goldeyes. This was an exciting contest that saw the lead changed hands six times in the contest.
The teams exchanged a pair of runs in the first and Sioux City took the lead in the bottom of the second with a single run. The Goldeyes responded with solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings before Sioux City took the lead with three in the bottom of the seventh. Once again, Winnipeg battled back with a run in the top of the eighth and scored two more in the ninth to take the lead. However, after Nate Samson tied the score with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, Kone turned on a 1-1 pitch, blasting it for his first home run of the season to give Sioux City the victory.
Blake Tiberi also went deep for the Explorers, going 2-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Trey Martin reached based four times and scored three times. Ian Sagdal had three hits and scored two runs for Winnipeg. Max Murphy, David Washington, and Hidekel Gonzalez all homered for the Goldeyes.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Michael Crouse (Chicago Dogs) 4-4, 2 R, Double, RBI
No. 2 – Jose Fuentes (Kane County Cougars) 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, ER, 2 K
No. 1 – Tyler Grauer (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks) 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, ER, 4 K
American Association Daily Notes
Kansas City Monarchs OF Jan Hernandez hit his 19th homerun of the season on Sunday. That ties Hernandez with teammate Matt Adams for the American Association homerun lead. Hernandez is now second in the league in RBI (50), trailing Adams who has 52… Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks IF Leobaldo Pina saw his hitting streak end at 19 straight games, the longest in the American Association this season. Pina went 0-3 on Sunday.
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By Robert Pannier
