Sioux City 7, Kansas City 6 – Box Score
The Sioux City Explorers (5-2) overcame a 22-minute delay after the lights went out in the eighth inning and held off a late push from the Kansas City Monarchs to take game one of their series 7-6.
Sioux City’s Starting pitcher Tyler Beardsley struck out 12 batters over 6.1 innings in the winning effort and reliever Matt Pobereyko picked up a four-out save.
The Monarchs opened the scoring in the top of the first when DH Jan Hernandez singled home CF Johnny Field and then scored when 1B Casey Gillaspie (2-for-4) singled later in the inning. The Explorers took control in the second as DH Sebastian Zawada doubled to score 3B Jose Sermo (2-for-3) and scored when CF Michael Lang (3-for-4) singled three batters later. Lang scored on a wild pitch to give the Explorers the lead. RF Lane Milligan added an RBI single in the fourth and Sermo hit a lead-off homer in the fifth to push the lead to 5-2.
The Monarchs pulled two back in the top of the seventh thanks to a 2B Ryan Grotjohn RBI double and a wild pitch that allowed Grotjohn (3-for-4) to score but the Explorers added two more runs in the home half of the inning as LF Joseph Monge (2-for-4) hit an RBI single and scored on a single from Lang.
Gillaspie brought the Monarchs back within one with a two-run home run in the eighth but that proved to be the final run of the game.
Sioux Falls 8, Houston 7 – Box Score
The Sioux Falls Canaries (3-4) slid past the Houston Apollos in game one of their set 8-7 on Tuesday night at home.
The Apollos posted three runs in the top of the first inning with the help of a two-run home run from 1B Alvaro Gonzalez (2-for-4). But the Canaries answered with three runs of their own in the home half as 1B Trey Michalczewski, RF Mike Hart and LF Nick Gotta all produced RBIs. The Canaries added three more in the next inning when SS Angelo Altavilla hit a solo home run and Michalczewski (2-for-3) hit a two-run shot. Though the Apollos added two runs in the sixth and two more in the ninth – a two-run homer from DH Blake Berry (4-for-5) – the Canaries never gave up the lead.
Sioux Falls scored two pivotal runs in eighth inning as 2B Cole Pengilly scored on a wild pitch and 3B Mitch Glasser drew a bases-load walk.
Cleburne 4, Lincoln 1 – Box Score
The Cleburne Railroaders (4-3) held the Lincoln Saltdogs to just two hits on the way to a 4-1 win Tuesday night on the road.
Cleburne’s starting pitcher Michael Mariot had a no-hitter going before giving up the first hit in the bottom of the seventh – a solo home run from 2B Josh Altmann. Mariot was replaced after the seventh inning but bagged the win for the performance that included five Ks. Reliever Mason Melotakis worked the eighth and reliever Tyler Wilson earned the save by shutting things down in the ninth.
The Railroaders found the scoreboard in the top of the seventh as C John Nester (2-for-4) hit a solo shot and LF Noah Vaughan scored when SS Osvaldo Martinez (2-for-5) singled. DH Grant Buck (2-for-4) added another pair of runs in the eighth with a two-run home run that also scored 1B Ramon Hernandez.
Fargo-Moorhead 6, Chicago 1 – Box Score
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (4-3) rode a strong outing from starting pitcher Kevin McGovern – the first Pointstreak Pitcher of the Week in 2021 – to a 6-1 win against the Chicago Dogs.
McGovern improved to 2-0 on the year after working seven innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits while recording nine strikeouts. Reliever Ryan Flores struck out the side in the eighth and reliever Nathan Foriest added two more strikeouts in the ninth to give the RedHawks a total of 14 Ks on the night.
Offensively, the RedHawks struck first with a RF John Silviano solo home run in the second and then added two more in the third with a two-run shot from 1B Correlle Prime (2-for-2). Fargo-Moorhead added three more runs in the fifth thanks to a sac fly from 2B Trace Loehr (2-for-5) and a single from LF Jordan George that allowed Prime and DH Kevin Krause to score.
The Dogs’ lone run came in the fourth when RF Danny Mars singled home LF Brennan Metzger.
Winnipeg 3, Milwaukee 1 – Box Score
The Winnipeg Goldeyes (3-4) took game one of their three game set with the Milwaukee Milkmen 3-1 on Tuesday night at Franklin Field.
The Goldeyes took the lead in the top of the fourth inning when LF Logan Hill singled to center field to allow SS Raul Navarro to score. Winnipeg extended the lead in the sixth when RF Max Murphy (2-for-4) hit a two-run home run that also plated 1B Kyle Martin.
The Milkmen’s only run came in the bottom of the ninth inning when CF Brett Vertigan reached on an error and scored when 3B Logan Trowbridge (2-for-4) singled. LF Adam Brett Walker II also singled to put the tying run on base but RF Tony Rosselli (2-for-4) hit into a double play and reliever Ken Fosch struck out 1B David Washington to end the game.
Fosch needed faced just one batter and needed just three pitches to earn the save. Starting pitcher Joey Gonzalez picked up the win as he tossed six scoreless innings while allowing five hits and striking out six batters.
Kane County 5, Gary SouthShore 1 – Box Score
The Kane County Cougars (6-2) ran their winning streak up to five games with a 5-1 win against the Gary SouthShore RailCats on Tuesday.
The Cougars took the early lead in the top of the second after RF Jeffrey Baez (2-for-4) scored when LF Mark Karaviotis singled. In the fifth, SS Galli Cribbs Jr. (2-for-4) doubled to push C B.J. Lopez to third and an error on the play allowed Lopez to score. 2B Josh Allen (2-for-5) singled Cribbs Jr. home two batters later to take a 3-0 lead. The Cougars stretched that lead out to 5-0 in the seventh when CF Anfernee Seymour and Allen scored on a single from 1B Mitch Reeves.
The RailCats’ only run came in the bottom of the eighth inning as DH Nikola Vasic (2-for-5) touched home while 2B Vaibhav Desai bounced out to first.
Kane County starting pitcher Josh Tols earned the win for going six scoreless innings and giving up four hits while striking out four batters.