Milkmen Complete Improbable Comeback, Hall Blanks Saltdogs, Cougars 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 the Milwaukee Milkmen making an improbable ninth inning come back to earn the victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats, Matt Hall tosses a gem for the Kansas City Monarchs, and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks sweep the Chicago Dogs. This, plus much more.
Cougars Rally to Down Railroaders in 10
Jimmy Kerrigan drove home the winning run in the top of the 10th to give the Kane County Cougars a 5-4 victory over the Cleburne Railroaders. Kane County took the lead in the top of the first on a Kerrigan sacrifice fly only to see Cleburne respond with a run in the bottom half of the inning when Zach Nehrir hit his first homerun of the day. In the third, Cleburne took a one run lead.
That lead looked like it would be enough, as Josh Lucas was pitching extremely well for Cleburne. However, he came out after six, and the Cougars rallied. Ernie De La Trinidad put the Cougars on top with a two-run single and Cornelius Randolph added a base hit the drove home a run to give Kane County a 4-2 lead. As he had in the first, Nehrir responded in the bottom half of the inning, drilling a two run over, his 16th of the season. That sent to game extra innings were Kerrigan proved to be the hero.
De La Trinidad had two hits, scored two runs, and drove in two. Randolph had three hits. Ryan Tapani earned the victory, tossing two scoreless innings of relief while striking out five. Taylor had two hits and scored two runs for Cleburne. Lucas went six innings, allowing one run on five hits.
DockHounds Rally to Down Canaries
The Lake Country DockHounds erased a three-run deficit, scoring four in the fifth and two in the sixth on their way to a 6-4 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries. Sioux Falls took the lead in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by John Nester. An inning later, Gavin LaValley drilled a two-run over, his 16th of the year.
Joey Pulido was rolling through the first four innings, but things unraveled quickly in the fifth. Casey Dykstra doubled home Lamar Briggs to put the DockHounds on the board and he scored two batters later on an RBI single by Daniel Martins-Molinari. That brought Jake Snider to the plate, who drilled a two-run homer, his eighth of the year. An inning later, Dykstra drove home Briggs with a triple and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Schaffer.
Jesse Remington earned the victory, allowing three runs in 5.2 innings. Carlos Diaz came on in the ninth and gave up a homerun to Trey Michalczewski, but was able to finish the contest off for his first save. Snider had three hits and drove in two. Dykstra was 2-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. LaValley had two hits and drove in two for the Canaries.
Nine-Run Ninth Completes Milkmen Improbable Comeback
The Milwaukee Milkmen found themselves trailing 10-3 entering the ninth inning, but scored nine runs in the final frame to come away with an improbable 12-10 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats. Gary took command of this game early, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. Victor Nova hit a two-run single and Sherman Graves drilled a grand slam, his second homerun of the season. Three batters later, Daniel Lingua hit a two-run shot, his sixth of the year to make it 8-0.
Milwaukee got one of those runs back in the top of the second when Aaron Hill hit his seventh homerun of the season, but the RailCats responded with two more in the bottom of the second to make it 10-1. A Christ Conley two run double pulled the Milkmen within seven, but Josh Vincent and Jaylen Smith combined to toss three spectacular frames denying Milwaukee any opportunity to get back in the game.
Nick Garcia came on in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single before retiring Conley. However, the next 11 batters would reach as four RailCats pitchers had no answers for how to shut down the Milkmen rally. Keon Barnum had a two-run single that pulled the Milkmen within three and a pair of bases loaded walks tied the score. Jeremiah Burks gave his team their first lead of the day with a two-run single.
Rodrigo Benoit earned the victory, tossing two scoreless innings of relief. Yeison Medina took the loss. Miguel Gomez had three hits and scored two runs and Hill scored three times. Graves had two hits and four RBI for the RailCats.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Hall Blanks Saltdogs
Matt Hall tossed seven shutout innings and the bullpen did the rest as the Kansas City Monarchs shutout the Lincoln Saltdogs, 7-0. Hall was on top of his game, allowing two hits and two walks, while striking out 10. Jacob Lindgren tossed a scoreless eighth and Jameson McGrane finished off the shutout with a scoreless ninth.
Kansas City took the lead in the bottom of the first against Saltdogs starter John Bezdicek. David Thompson drove home Darnell Sweeney with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. That lead held until the fourth when Gio Brusa extended the lead to two with an RBI single. A bases loaded walk to Casey Gillaspie in the fifth made it 3-0. R.J. Freure came on in the sixth and Monarchs pounced on him. After retiring the first batter, two singles and a walk loaded the bases before Jacob Robson drilled a grand slam for his second homer of the year.
Robson finished 2-3 with two runs scored and four RBI. Sweeney had four hits and scored two runs and Pete Kozma was 2-3 with two runs scored. Josh Altmann and Randy Norris had the only two hits for Lincoln
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Gabriel Lopez
RedHawks Complete Sweep of Dogs
John Silviano drilled a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Dogs, completing a sweep of the three-game series. The RedHawks jumped out to a one run lead in the bottom of the first as Pete Maris led off with a homerun, his 17th of the year. Connor Kopach tied the score with an RBI single in the top of the second.
Fargo-Moorhead retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an Evan Alexander sacrifice fly, however, Chicago responded right away once again, as Ryan Lidge doubled to drive home Charlie Tilson to tie the score at two. In the bottom of the fifth, the RedHawks put two runs on the board, but Chicago battled back for two more in the top of the seventh on a two run double by Grant Kay to tie the score at four. This contest looked like it may be headed for extra innings, but Silviano had other plans, drilling an 0-1 pitch to give his team the lead for good.
Tanner Riley earned the victory, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief and Luke Lind pitched the ninth for his second save of the season. Silviano was a perfect 3-3 with two runs scored, and two RBI. Leobaldo Pina had three hits. Tilson had two hits and scored two runs for Chicago. Trevor Lane took the loss.
Big First Inning Leads Explorers to Victory
The Sioux City Explorers scored three runs in the first inning, then held on for a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Chase Harris had the big blow of the frame, drilling a three-run shot, his fifth of the year. Winnipeg was held off scoreboard through the first three innings, but finally got to Zach Hedges, scoring two in the fourth. Gabe Snyder led off the sixth with his 14th homerun of the year, sealing the victory.
Hedges earned the win, allowing zero earned runs in 6.0 innings while striking out six. Max Kuhns tossed the final three innings to earn his fourth save of the season. Harris finished with two hits and three RBI for the Explorers. David Washington had three hits and Max Murphy and Raul Navarro each had two.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Jake Snider (Lake Country DockHounds) 3-4, R, 2 RBI
No. 2 – Zach Nehrir (Cleburne Railroaders) 2-3, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB
No. 1 – Matt Hall (Kansas City Monarchs) 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 10 K
American Association Daily Notes
Winnipeg Goldeyes right-hander Luis Ramirez fell short in his attempt to win his 11th game of the season. He still leads the American Association with 10 wins. Ramirez also leads the league in strikeouts (117)… The Chicago Dogs lost their ninth straight game. They are now just 3.5 games ahead of the Kane County Cougars… Cleburne Railroaders IF Edwin Arroyo saw his consecutive on-base streak end at 42 games. That is the longest streak in the league this year.
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By Robert Pannier