Monarchs Complete Sweep, RedHawks Rally to Down Explorers, Railroaders Clinch
Featured Image Courtesy of 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, Robert Pannier recaps the six games in the American Association on Wednesday, including the Cleburne Railroaders clinching the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks rally to down the Sioux City Explorers, and the Kansas City Monarchs sweep the Winnipeg Goldeyes. This, plus much more.
Game Recaps for Wednesday
Milkmen Edge Dogs Late
Logan Trowbridge drove home the winning run with one down in the eighth inning to give the Milwaukee Milkmen a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Dogs. This was a fantastic pitching battle between Ryan Zimmerman and A. J. Kullman. Neither team scored through the first four innings, but the Milkmen finally got on the board in the fifth on an RBI single by Carl Chester.
Zimmerman was spectacular for Milwaukee, holding a no-hitter into the fifth before Harrison Smith finally singled to break the no-hit bid. Zimmerman left after six, allowing one hit and no runs. However, his team could not hold the lead, as Connor Kopach drove home Grant Kay with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at one in the top of the seventh. In the eighth, Bryan Torres singled with one down and moved to second on an error. Trowbridge followed with a base hit to center, driving home the winning run.
Frankie Bartow earned the victory while Rodrigo Benoit came on to earn his eighth save of the season. Joe Cavallaro took the loss. Torres and Chester each had two hits for the Milkmen. Anfernee Grier had two hits for Chicago.
Railroaders Clinch Playoff Berth
Kody Bullard allowed one run in seven innings to lead the Cleburne Railroaders to a 5-1 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. The victory clinched the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division for Cleburne.
The Railroaders took the lead in the bottom of the second on an error that allowed both runs to score. An inning later, Zach Nehrir hit a sacrifice fly that drove home Chase Simpson to extend the lead to three. Bullard shut down Lake Country to the first five innings, but the DockHounds finally got on the board in the sixth on a single by Tristen Carranza. The Railroaders put this game away in the eighth, adding two more runs.
Chuck Taylor, Kacy Clemens, and Nick Shumpert each had two hits for the Railroaders. Nehrir drove in two runs. The DockHounds recorded just two hits in the game.
Cougars Down RailCats in Gary
The Kane County Cougars erased a two-run deficit, scoring six unanswered runs to earn a 6-3 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats. The RailCats scored single runs in the second and third innings, but Kane County responded with one of the fourth then put up three in the fifth to take the lead. The Cougars scored two more in the sixth then held on for the three-run victory.
Jack Fox earned the win, allowing two runs in six innings. Cornelius Randolph had two hits, including his 14th homer of the season, and drove in three. Sherman Johnson added his 12th homerun of the season. Victor Nova and Sam Abbott each went deep for the RailCats.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
RedHawks Rally to Down Explorers
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks erased a two-run deficit, scoring three in the top of the ninth to earn an 11-10 victory over the Sioux City Explorers. Fargo-Moorhead took a four-run lead in the top of the third but the Explorers responded with five in the bottom half of the frame, capped off by a three-run homer by Gabe Snyder.
The RedHawks retook the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth thanks to a two-run shot by John Silviano, his 22nd of the season. Once again, the Explorers responded to retake the lead, scoring two in the sixth and seventh innings and adding a run in the eighth to hold a 10-8 advantage heading into the ninth. Thomas McIlraith came on looking to close out the game, but gave up a three-run homer to Peter Maris, his 19th of the season.
Alex DuBord came on in the bottom half of the inning to earn his 23rd save of the season. Leobaldo Pina and Maris each finished with two hits and three RBI. Drew Ward was 2-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Snyder scored two runs and drove in three for Sioux City and Miguel Sierra had three hits.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Six-Run First Propels Saltdogs to Victory
The Lincoln Saltdogs scored six runs in the first inning on their way to a 10-4 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries. It took just nine men to put Lincoln in front by six in the first, as Ryan Long it a two-run triple and Luke Roskam added an RBI single. With one down, Hunter Clanin drilled a three-run homer to make it 6-0.
The Saltdogs extended the lead to nine in the top of the third, adding three more run on RBI doubles by Clanin and Skyler Weber and a sacrifice fly by Justin Byrd. The Canaries responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame and added two more in the eighth, but the Saltdogs bullpen was able to record final out to end the game.
Zach St. Pierre earned the victory, allowing two runs in five innings. Clanin had two hits, scored two runs, and drove in four. Roskam scored two runs. Jabari Henry, Angelo Altavilla, and Trey Michalczewski each had two hits for the Canaries.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Monarchs Complete Sweep
The Kansas City Monarchs scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to complete their sweep of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, 8-5. The teams exchanged runs in the first as Ryan Grotjohn singled home a run to put Kansas City on top by one in the top half of the frame, but Max Murphy drilled his 31st homerun of the season in the bottom half to tie the score.
Winnipeg took the lead in the bottom of the third and extended it to three in the fourth. Jacob Rhinesmith hit his second homerun of the season in the fourth. The Monarchs cut the deficit to two in the fifth, but took command of this contest in the sixth. A fielder’s choice by Darnell Sweeney tied the score and Grotjohn followed with a two-run single to put his team on top for good.
Nick Belzer earned the victory and Alex Valdez came on to earn his first save of the season. Grotjohn finished with three hits and three RBI and Kevin Santa had three hits and scored two runs. Murphy finished with two hits for Winnipeg.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Dan Vaughan, Jr.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Ryan Grotjohn (Kansas City Monarchs) 3-5, Double, 3 RBI
No. 2 – Kody Bullard (Cleburne Railroaders) 7.0 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 7 K
No. 1 – Ryan Zimmerman (Milwaukee Milkmen) 6.0 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 6 K
American Association Daily Notes
The Cleburne Railroaders clinched the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division. It is the second time in franchise history (2021) the club has made the playoffs… Sioux City Explorers outfielder Danny Amaral set a franchise record for stolen bases in a season with his 46th on Wednesday. That broke a record set by Michael Lang in 2015… Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks closer Alex DuBord earned his league-leading 23rd save of the season… The Sioux Falls Canaries lost their eight straight game… Winnipeg Goldeyes OF Max Murphy hit his league-leading 31st home run of the season. He is two short of tying the American Association record for homeruns set last season.
Transactions
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By Robert Pannier
