Holmberg Dazzles, Milkmen Rally, Monarchs Crush Goldeyes

Robert Pannier August 4, 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 six games in the American Association on Thursday, including the Gary SouthShore RailCats rallying late to win for the second straight night, David Holmberg dominates for the Lincoln Saltdogs, and the Milwaukee Milkmen Rally to defeat the Lake Country DockHounds.

Game Recaps for Thursday

Holmberg Dominates for Saltdogs

David Holmberg tossed seven shutout innings to lead the Lincoln Saltdogs to a 5-4 victory. Lincoln held the five-run advantage, but the bullpen gave up two runs in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the win. Holmberg allowed four hits and no walks while striking out five to earn his fifth victory in six starts since joining the Saltdogs.

Lincoln jumped on top in the bottom of the first when Yanio Perez drove home Drew Devine with a single. That one run advantage held until the sixth as Tyler Palm was pitching very well for Chicago as well. However, Lincoln rallied for three runs in the sixth as Nate Samson delivered a two run double and he scored on an error. The Saltdogs extended the lead to five on an RBI triple by Will Kengor an inning later.

Chicago had done nothing against Holmberg, but he came out in the eighth in the team rallied immediately against Matt Cronin. Jesus Lujano put his team on the board with an RBI single and Payton Eeles followed with a sacrifice fly. In the ninth, a sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Lujano cut the deficit to one, but R.J. Freure was able to get the final out for his first save of the season.

Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon

Boxscore

Fernandez Leads Explorers

Vince Fernandez homered and drove in three as the Sioux City Explorers defeated the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, 5-4. The RedHawks took the lead in the top of the third when Peter Brookshaw hit a grand slam, his first homer of the year. The Explorers responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning with Matt Lloyd putting his team on the board with an RBI ground out and Tyler Rando following with a single that plated Chase Harris. That brought Fernandez to the plate, who drilled his 14th homerun of the year, knotting the game at four. Two innings later, Sioux City took the lead when Fernandez drove in his third run of the game.

That made a winner of Heitor Tokar, who gave up four unearned runs in six innings. Carlos Diaz cost two scoreless frames and Sean Rackoski came on in the ninth to record his 13th save of the season. Tasker Strobel took the loss in his debut with the RedHawks.

Sioux City Explorers Recap by Austin Thomas

Boxscore

Monarchs Crush Goldeyes

The Kansas City Monarchs scored 10 unanswered runs to help them to a 13-4 victory over the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Justin Wylie led the way, hitting his 10th homer of the year as part of a four hit, three RBI performance. Aaron Whitefield also had three hits, scored three runs, and drove in three. Jordan Martinson earned the victory, tossing 2.1 perfect innings in relief.

Kansas City took a two-run lead in the bottom of the third when Wylie hit a two-run homer. The teams exchanged runs in the fourth and Winnipeg tied the score in the top of the fifth. However, it was all Kansas City from there, as the team scored three in the sixth, three in the seventh, and four in the eighth.

Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Doug Greenwald

Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Nolan Brooks

Boxscore

RailCats Rally to Down Canaries

For the second straight night, the Gary SouthShore RailCats rallied to defeat the Sioux Falls Canaries, this time winning 4-3. Four different players had two hits for the RailCats and Jacob Bockelie drove in two. Oddy Nunez earned the win and Joan Valdez got the final three outs for his first save of the season.

The Canaries took the lead, scoring a run in the fourth and fifth innings. The RailCats tied the score in the bottom of the sixth, but Sioux Falls jumped out in front to get in the seventh, scoring a run. Gary SouthShore put up two in the bottom of the eighth to earn the victory.

Harrison Francis and Ty Culbreth both pitched well but earned no decisions. Trevor Achenbach hit his 10th homer of the season for the Canaries.

Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Zach Letson

Boxscore

Milkmen Rally to Down DockHounds

The Milwaukee Milkmen found themselves trailing by two after six, but scored single runs in each of the final three innings to earn a 5-4 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. Roy Morales and Aaron Hill each hit their sixth homer of the season for the Milkmen and Nate Hadley earned the victory in relief. Peyton Gray gave up two hits in the ninth, but closed the contest out for his fourth save of the year.

Lake Country jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a two run double by Demetrius Sims. The Milkmen tied the score in the top of the fourth but the DockHounds regained the advantage in the fifth when Marcus Chiu drilled his 15th home run of the season, putting Lake Country back on top by two for the second time in the contest. Hill cut the deficit to one in the top of the seventh with a solo homer, and Morales tied the score in the top of the eighth with a homer of his own. In the ninth, Morales was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, driving in the go-ahead run.

Boxscore

Railroaders Hold Off Cougars

The Cleburne Railroaders jumped out to a five-run lead, then held on for a 6-5 victory over the Kane County Cougars. Travis Perry earned the victory for Cleburne, tossing six solid innings, allowing two runs. Nick Gardewine tossed a scoreless ninth for his fifth save of the season.

Cleburne took command of this game early, scoring five in the top of the first. Hill Alexander had the big blow of the inning, hitting a two-run double, and he scored on a triple by JJ Figueroa. The Railroaders loaded the bases and looked like they would blow this game open, but Figueroa was thrown out at the plate on an attempted steal. Kane County cut the deficit to four, but a double by Ryan Hernandez put Cleburne back on top by five.

Kane County began to chip away at the lead, cutting the deficit to four when Hector Sanchez singled home a run in the fourth. The lead became two in the seventh as Armond Upshaw delivered an RBI single and Galli Cribbs scored on a wild pitch. Kane County loaded the bases with no one out in the eighth before Upshaw was hit by a pitch, pulling the Cougars within one. However, Michael Krauza pulled out his best Houdini impersonation, getting out of the inning without allowing another run.

Boxscore

Three Stars of the Night

No. 3 – Vince Fernandez (Sioux City Explorers) 2-3, R, HR, 3 RBI, SF, SB

No. 2 – Justin Wylie (Kansas City Monarchs) 4-6, 2 R, 3 RBI, Double, HR

No. 1 – David Holmberg (Lincoln Saltdogs) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 5 K

American Association Daily Notes

Lincoln Saltdogs catcher Luke Roskam extended his consecutive on-base streak to 37 straight games when he went 1-4 on Thursday. The streak is to away from the longest streak recorded this season.