Sanchez Homers Twice, Franklin Hits Walk-Off Grand Slam, RedHawks Down Monarchs
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 Friday, including the Nick Franklin hitting a walkoff grand slam in the 11th inning to give the Kane County Cougars a victory over the Chicago Dogs, Hector Sanchez homers twice for the Milwaukee Milkmen, and the Sioux City Explorers pulled one game away from clinching a playoff spot with their victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs. This, plus much more.
Game Recaps for Friday
Pobereyko, Kuhns Tame Saltdogs
Matt Pobereyko and Max Kuhns combined to allow one run on seven hits as the Sioux City Explorers defeated the Lincoln Saltdogs, 3-1. Pobereyko allowed one run over five innings, striking out eight, but it was Kuhns who was absolutely spectacular, tossing four shutout innings, fanning eight.
Sioux City took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Ademar Rifaela singled home Gabe Snyder to put his team on top by a run. Pobereyko shutout Lincoln through the first five innings, but a leadoff walk in the sixth and a double ended the evening for the right-hander. Kuhns came on and gave up a ground out to Luke Roskam the tied the score. In the seventh, the Explorers took the lead for good when an error allowed Dylan Kelly to score. Sioux City added one more run in the eighth on an RBI single by Kelly.
Kuhns earned the victory. Rifaela had three hits and Kelly had two. Jason Rogers and Justin Byrd each had two hits for Lincoln. Saltdogs starter Greg Minier pitched very well, allowing zero earned runs in six innings, striking out nine.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Lucas Silences DockHounds
Josh Lucas allowed one unearned run in six innings as the Cleburne Railroaders defeated the Lake Country DockHounds, 5-1. Lucas allowed eight hits and three walks while striking out six. The only run of the game against him came in the fifth with his team leading 4-0.
Cleburne jumped out to a three-run lead in the third. Edwin Arroyo drove home Eddie Hernandez with an RBI single and Hunter Wolfe followed with an RBI ground out. A base hit by Chase Simpson drove home Arroyo to extend the lead to three. An inning later, Mitch Ghelfi extended the lead to four with an RBI single.
Arroyo finished with two hits and two runs scored. Wolfe had two hits and drove in two. Daikan Yoh, Gabriel Noriega, and Lamar Briggs each had two hits for Lake Country.
McGovern Leads RedHawks Past Monarchs
Kevin McGovern allowed two earned runs in 5.2 innings as the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks defeated the Kansas City Monarchs, 7-2. Fargo-Moorhead took the lead in the top of the first when Manuel Boscan hit his 16th homerun of the season, a solo shot. The lead became three in the third on a two-run single by Leobaldo Piña.
Kansas City cut the deficit to three in the fourth when Pete Kozma hit his second homerun of the season, but Fargo-Moorhead responded with single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Nick Novak hit a solo homerun in the sixth, his second homerun of the year, and Peter Maris added his 20th of the year in the seventh.
That was more than enough support for McGovern, who allowed four hits and four walks while striking out nine to earn his 10th victory of the year. Three relievers combined to toss 3.1 shutout innings. Marist finished with two hits and scored three runs and piña drove in three. Kozma had three hits for the Monarchs.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Dan Vaughan, Jr.
Franklin Walk-Off Grand Slam Powers Cougars in 11
Nick Franklin drilled a grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Kane County Cougars a 13-9 walk-off victory over the Chicago Dogs on Friday. Chicago had held a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third, but Kane County scored five runs. Cornelius Randolph hit a two-run double that put the Cougars on top by a run and Josh Rolette and Alexis Pantoja each drove home a run to extend the lead to three.
Grant Kay pulled the Dogs within two when he let off the fourth with a solo homer and K. C. Hobson added a two-run blast in the fifth, tying the score at five. Chicago retook the lead in the top of the sixth on Connor Kopach’s 14th homerun of the season. Kane County retook the lead in the seventh on a two-run shot by Rolette, his eighth of the year, but Chicago responded in the top of the eighth, retaking the lead on a two-run single by Ryan Lidge. Not to be outdone, the Cougars tied the score in the bottom of the ninth when Rolette drove home his fourth run of the game.
That sent the contest extra innings. Both clubs scored a run in the 1oth, setting up the dramatic 11th. With one down and the bases loaded, Franklin turned on a Shane Barringer offering, drilling his 13th homerun of the season to give Kane County the victory.
Franklin finished 3-4 with three runs scored, a home run, and four RBI. Rolette had four hits and drove in four. Lidge drove in three for Chicago and Kopach scored three runs.
Milkmen Down RailCats in Opener
The Milwaukee Milkmen jumped out to a 6-2 lead through the first four innings, then held on for a 9-6 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats. Milwaukee took the lead in the top of the second on a two-run homer by Hector Sanchez, his first of the night. Jesus Marriaga homered to lead off the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to one, but the Milkmen responded with three runs in the top of the third as Keon Barnum drove home a run with a single and Miguel Gomez followed with a two-run shot, his sixth of the year. Gary put up one more run in the third, but Milwaukee got that run right back when Jeremiah Burke stole home on a double steal.
Milwaukee was in the driver’s seat, but the RailCats cut away at the deficit, scoring two in the fifth. Jackson Smith the drove home Lester Madden with a triple and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Woodworth. Gomez extended the Milkmen lead to three with an RBI single in the sixth and the Milkmen looked like they put this game away when Hector Sanchez and Christ Conley hit back-to-back homers in the top of the ninth inning. However, Thomas Walraven delivered a two-run shot in the bottom half of the frame, pulling Gary SouthShore within three. They would get no closer, however, as Kyle Huckaby recorded the final out.
Gomez and Sanchez each had two hits and three RBI for Milwaukee. Conley reached three times for the Milkmen. Marriaga and Smith each had two hits and scored two runs for the RailCats.
Gary Southshore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Goldeyes Rally to Down Canaries
The Winnipeg Goldeyes scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn a 7-5 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries. Winnipeg took the lead in the bottom of the first, but Sioux Falls scored a run in the second and two in the third to take the lead. Connor Blair hit a solo shot in the second, his first of the season, and Jabari Henry added a two-run blast in the third, his 28th of the year.
The Goldeyes rallied for three in the sixth to retake the lead. David Washington led off the inning with his 30th homerun of the year and an RBI ground out by Kevin Lachance and an RBI double by Hidekel Gonzalez put the Goldeyes back on top. The lead did not last long however, as Sioux Falls scored two runs in the top of the seventh retake the lead. However, Winnipeg was not letting this game get away from them. Ian Sagdal tied the score in the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice fly and Max Murphy and David Washington followed with back-to-back RBI singles.
Erasmo Pinales earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief and Tasker Strobel closed the door for his 21st save of the season. Murphy and Washington each had three hits for the Goldeyes and Raul Navarro had two hits and scored two runs. Henry, Angelo Altavilla, and Blair each had two hits for Sioux Falls.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Hector Sanchez Milwaukee Milkmen) 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB
No. 2 – Max Kuhns (Sioux City Explorers) 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 8 K
No. 1 – Nick Franklin (Kane County Cougars) 3-4, 3 R, HR, 2 BB, 4 RBI, Walk-Off Grand Slam
American Association Daily Notes
The Sioux City Explorers need one more victory to clinch the final playoff spot in the West Division. The Lincoln Saltdogs must sweep the final three games with Sioux City to clinch the final spot… The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks need one more victory to clinch the best record in the American Association… The Milwaukee Milkmen and Kane County Cougars each earned victories on Friday, pulling them within 1.0 games of the Chicago Dogs for the top record in the East Division… The Sioux Falls Canaries lost their 10th straight game on Friday, tying the team for the longest losing streak in the American Association this year… With his victory on Friday, Kevin McGovern is tied with four others for the league lead in victories with 10.
Transactions
Fargo-Moorhead: Activated OF Rymer Liriano from the Injured List.
By Robert Pannier
