Murphy, Prime Each Homer Twice, Minier Dominates, Monarchs Dominate Dogs
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 seven games in the American Association on Friday, including Max Murphy homering twice for the Winnipeg Goldeyes, the Gary SouthShore RailCats and the Sioux City Explorers split a double-header, and the Kansas City Monarchs down the Chicago Dogs. This and much more.
Explorers-RailCats Split Double-Header
Blaine Hardy combined with two relief pitchers to lead the Sioux City Explorers to a 2-0 victory in Game 2, helping the Explorers to earn a double-header split with the Gary Southshore RailCats. In the opener, Gary Southshore scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to earn a 7-3 victory. The Explorers jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but the RailCats put three on the board in the third thanks to a two run double by Michael Cruz. Sioux City battle back to tie the score, but Gary took the lead for good in the sixth. Zach Racusin doubled home the go-ahead run as the RailCats sent nine men to the plate to earn the victory.
Josh Vincent earned the win, tossing 2.0 innings of scoreless relief. Cruz finished with two hits and two RBI. Danny Amaral, Chase Harris, and Sebastian Zawada each had two hits for the Explorers.
In the second game, Hardy allowed three hits in 4.2 innings, combining with two relievers to lead the Explorers to a 2-0 victory over the RailCats. Hardy struck out six of the contest, retiring the first 10 batters of the game. Gary starter Adam Heidenfelder was nearly as impressive, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out eight in 5.2 innings.
The Explorers scored the only two runs of the game in the top of the second inning, rallying with two down. Zawada singled and Trey Martin followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. That brought Blake Tiberi to the plate, who doubled home both runners. Zawada finished with two hits in the contest.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Gary Southshore RailCats Recap by Tony Pasquesi
Minier, Saltdogs Grounds Canaries
Greg Minier tossed seven shutout innings, leading the Lincoln to a 4-0 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries. Minier was spectacular, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out nine. Three relievers helped to complete the shutout, including Brandon Cunniff, who came on in the ninth to retire the final batter of the game with the bases loaded. That was the seventh save of the season for Cunniff.
Lincoln took the lead in the bottom of the first inning as Justin Byrd drove home Randy Norris with a sacrifice fly. Two innings later, Welington Dotel drilled his fourth homerun of the season, a two-run blast to make it 3-0. The Saltdogs added one more run in the seventh on an RBI double by Norris.
Norris finished 2-4 with a run and an RBI. Nick Gotta had two hits for the Canaries. Ty Culbreth pitched well in the loss, allowing three runs in 6.0 innings.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Hall Tames Dogs as Monarchs Cruise
Matt Hall dominated the Chicago Dogs on Friday, earning his fourth victory of the season in a 10-2 Kansas City Monarchs victory. Hall allowed three hits and a run while striking out 10, lowering his ERA to 1.29. Shane Barringer took the loss, allowing five runs in 5.1 innings.
It was a set of threes that set the tone for this game. Chicago held a 1-0 lead until the top of the fifth, when the Monarchs scored three runs, then added three more in the sixth and the eighth to blow this game open. The bottom of the order was spectacular for Kansas City, as the 7-9 hitters were a combined 6-12 with five runs scored and six RBI. Casey Gillaspie hit a three-run homer and Alexis Olmeda was 2-5 with two runs scored and three RBI.
Chicago was led by Charlie Tilson and K.C. Hobson, who each had two hits in the game.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Kaitlyn Saunders
Chicago Dogs Recap by Michael Barthelemy
Murphy Homers Twice in Goldeyes Victory
Max Murphy homered twice and drove in six runs to lead the Winnipeg Goldeyes to a decisive 13-2 victory over the Kane County Cougars. Winnipeg dominated this contest, scoring 11 unanswered runs through the first four innings, including two in the second, three in the third, and six in the fourth. Murphy hit his first homerun of the game in the top of the third, a three-run blast. David Washington added a three-run homer in the fourth and Murphy went deep for the second time in the sixth, a two-run shot.
Alex Manasa earned the victory, allowing two runs in 6.0 innings. Raul Navarro had three hits and Eric Rivera, Logan Hill, and Ian Sagdal each scored two runs for the Goldeyes. Josh Rolette and Jimmy Kerrigan each had two hits for Kane County.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Milkmen Derail Cleburne
The Milwaukee Milkmen scored runs in seven straight innings, dominating the Cleburne Railroaders, 13-1. The Milkmen scored the first 12 runs of the game as every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit and scored one run. Aaron Hill scored three times and six different players had two RBI in the game.
José Espada dominated for Milwaukee, allowing two hits and no runs in 7.0 innings to earn the victory. He struck out nine. Correlle Prime had two hits, scored two runs, and had two RBI, homering twice in the contest. He even tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
Chuck Taylor drove in the only run for Cleburne.
DockHounds Outslug RedHawks
The Lake Country DockHounds scored five runs in the fifth and added five in the eighth, outslugging the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, 16-10. Lake Country took a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Tristen Carranza hit a two-run homer, his second of the season. An inning later, the DockHounds added five more runs as Gabriel Noriega hit a two-run homer, his fourth of the year. Lake Country added three more runs in the frame, and looked like they had taken complete command of this contest, especially when they had added five more in the eighth, taking a 16-4 lead.
However, the RedHawks battled back with three in the eighth and three in the ninth to pull within six, but could get no closer. Kevin McGovern struggled for Fargo-Moorhead, allowing eight earned runs in 5.0 innings. Manuel Boscan had three hits and drove in four runs for the RedHawks. Sam Dexter was 3-4 with two runs and three RBI. Evan Alexander was 4-5 with three runs scored.
The DockHounds rapped out 20 hits, setting a franchise record for the game. T.J. Bennett had five hits and scored three runs. Noriega had three hits and drove home four and Wilfredo Gimenez had four hits and drove in three runs. Carranza finished with three hits, scored three runs, and drove in three.
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – T.J. Bennett (Lake Country DockHounds) 5-6, 3 R, 3 Doubles, RBI
No. 2 – Correlle Prime (Milwaukee Milkmen) 2-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 K
No. 1 – Max Murphy (Winnipeg Goldeyes) 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI
American Association Daily Notes
Max Murphy hit two homeruns on Friday. It was the third time this season that he has recorded the mark, tying Sioux Falls Canaries OF Jabari Henry who has also homered twice in three games this year… Lake Country DockHounds OF Aaron Takacs, Chicago Dogs OF Charlie Tilson, and Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks OF Drew Ward all reached base for the 25th consecutive game on Friday evening… The Gary SouthShore RailCats won the first game of their double-header on Friday evening, extending their winning streak to five straight games, but saw it snapped in the second game… The Kansas City Monarchs have won four straight games… Kansas City LHP Matt Hall won his fourth straight decision on Friday, the longest winning streak in the league this season.
Transactions
Lake Country: Activated OF Efrain Contreras from the Injured List; Released LHP Brady Kais
Lincoln: Released OF Andy Theiler
By Robert Pannier
