Kerrigan Homers Twice, Explorers Edge Monarchs, Milkmen Roll
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 Tuesday, including the Jimmy Kerrigan homering twice in the Kane County Cougars victory, the Sioux City Explorers Edge the Kansas City Monarchs, and the Milwaukee Milkmen dominated the Chicago Dogs. This and much more.
Keenan Solid in Pro Debut
Zach Keenan made his professional debut a good one, allowing three runs in six innings to lead the Lincoln Saltdogs to a 6-4 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. Keenan allowed eight hits and no walks while striking out five to earn the victory. Steffon Moore recorded the final two outs of the game for his first save of the season.
Lake Country got off to a good start, scoring runs in each of the first two innings. However, the Saltdogs scored three in the second and in the third innings to take command of this game. Justin Byrd led off the bottom of the second with his fifth homerun of the season, and J.R. DiSarcina gave Lincoln the lead with a two-run blast, his first of the year.
Aaron Takacs cut the deficit to three with an RBI double in the sixth and the DockHounds pulled within two when Jake Snider drove home a run of the top of the ninth, but the DockHounds could get no closer. Byrd finished 2-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Gio Brusa, Takacs, and Lamar Briggs each had two hits and an RBI.
Lake Country DockHounds Recap by Sam Matheny
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
RailCats Rally to Down Canaries
The Sioux Falls Canaries scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 5-1 lead over the Gary Southshore RailCats on Tuesday, but Gary Southshore rallied with eight unanswered runs, including seven over the final three frames to earn a 9-5 victory. Trey Michalczewski drilled a three-run homer in the bottom of the first, and it look like the Canaries were going to run away with this contest.
However, the RailCats began to chip away in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs thanks to a home run by Daniel Lingua and an RBI double by Zach Racusin. Alec Olund tied the score with a single. In the eighth, Gary took the lead when Michael Woodworth turned on a 1-2 pitch, drilling a three-run homer, his second of the year.
That made a winner of Josh Vincent, who tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Woodworth finished 2-4 with two runs and three RBI and Michael Cruz had three hits and two runs scored. Michalczewski had two hits and drove in three for Sioux Falls.
Gary Southshore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Anthon Homers Powers Explorers
John Anthon drilled a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to help lead the Sioux City Explorers to a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Monarchs. The Explorers scored a run in the first, three in the second, and a run in the third to jump out to a 5-1 lead. Kevin McCanna cruised for Sioux City, allowing a run in the second and six innings to earn his fifth win of the season. McCanna allowed five hits and two walks while striking out seven.
However, the Monarchs were able to pull within two when J.C. Escarra connected for his third homerun of the year. That made it 6-4, but the Sioux City bullpen was able to close the door, as Brandon Brosher and Thomas McIlraith each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the contest. McIlraith earned his eighth save of the season.
Nick Franklin had three hits for Sioux City and Nate Samson and Gabe Snyder both had two hits. Jan Hernandez and Gabriel Guerrero had two hits for Kansas City.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Caleb Grizzle
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Will Glocker
Liriano Delivers Walk-Off Sac Fly for RedHawks
Rymer Liriano drove home the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks a 3-2 victory over the Cleburne Railroaders. Cleburne took the lead in the top of the fifth on back-to-back hits by Nick Shumpert and Zach Nehrir.
That looked to be all the support that Railroaders starter Kevin Hilton needed, as the right-hander allowed just one run through seven innings. That came on a Leobaldo Pina homerun in the bottom of the sixth. However, Fargo-Moorhead tied the score in the bottom of the eighth on a single by Liriano and he drove home Pina with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
Jon Jones earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief. Liriano finished with two hits and two RBI. Nehrir had three hits for Cleburne.
Torres Helps Milkmen Sour Day for Dogs
Bryan Torres had three hits and drove in four runs as the Milwaukee Milkmen dominated the Chicago Dogs on Tuesday, 11-3. Chicago took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth when Connor Kopach connected for his third homerun of the year. However, it was all Milkmen from there.
In the bottom half of the frame, Milwaukee scored five runs, sending nine men to the plate. Torres gave his team the lead with a bases clearing double, the first of two doubles on the day for Torres. The Milkmen then added a run of the fifth, and two in the seventh and eighth innings to close out the victory.
Jake Matthys was solid for Milwaukee allowing three runs on six hits in 6.0 innings to earn the win. Dylan Kelly had four hits and scored four runs for the Milkmen, and Christ Conley also had four hits. Trent Bauer had two hits and drove in a run for Chicago.
Cougars Snap Goldeyes Win Streak
The Kane County Cougars erased a one run deficit, scoring three in the fifth and four in the sixth to defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes, 10-3. That snapped a five-game winning streak for Winnipeg. Kane County had a 2-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to a Jimmy Kerrigan homerun. However, Winnipeg battled back with three runs in the bottom of the third as Ian Sagdal delivered a two run double and Max Murphy followed with a double to give the Goldeyes a 3-2 lead.
From there it was all Cougars. In the top of the fifth, the club put up three runs and added four more in the sixth. Kerrigan delivered his second homerun of the contest to close out the scoring in the sixth, a three-run blast.
Ryan Tapani earned the victory, allowing three runs in 7.0 innings. Kerrigan finished 2-4 with two runs scored, two home runs, and four RBI. Ernie De La Trinidad had three hits and scored two runs and Cornelius Randolph had three hits and scored a run. Winnipeg was led by Sagdal, who had two hits and two RBI.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Dylan Kelly (Milwaukee Milkmen) 4-5, 4 R, Double, RBI
No. 2 – Kevin McCanna (Sioux City Explorers) 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 7 K
No. 1 – Jimmy Kerrigan (Kane County Cougars) 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB
American Association Daily Notes
The Kansas City Monarchs have 23 home runs through their first 10 games in June… Lake Country DockHounds OF Aaron Takacs and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks IF Drew Ward extended their consecutive on-base streak to 28 straight games… Sioux City Explorers right-hander Kevin McCanna earned his league-leading fifth victory of the season on Tuesday… Kane County Cougars right-hander Ryan Tapani struck out eight on Tuesday, and now leads the American Association with 53 strikeouts.
Transactions
Cleburne: Released RHP Ryan Moseley
Gary SouthShore: Released OF M.J. Rookard
Lincoln: Released RHP Sam Bragg
Milwaukee: Traded RHP Danny Zardon to Cleburne for a player to be named later; Activated RHP A.J. Schugel from the Injured List
Sioux City: Placed INF L.T. Tolbert on the Inactive List retroactive to June 4
Sioux Falls: Released RHP Mike Peterson
Winnipeg: Acquired INF Brandon Bohning from Missoula (Pioneer League) for future considerations; Signed INF Brandon Bohning
By Robert Pannier
