Lincoln 1, St. Paul 0 – Box
Lincoln 1B Ian Gac (pictured) hit a walk-off home run to break a scoreless tie and beat St. Paul, 1-0. The home run, Gac’s 23rd of the season, set a new club record for home runs in a single season. He is second in the league, behind Laredo’s Travis Denker with 24, in home runs this season.
Quality pitching was on display for both teams, who put up zero after zero on the scoreboard for eight innings.
Saltdogs right-hander Marquis Fleming struck out eight in seven innings, allowing just four hits and two walks. Relievers Jhonny Montoya and Marshall Schuler picked up right where Fleming left off, keeping the Saints without a run in the eighth and ninth.
St. Paul right-hander Nick Barnese allowed five hits and two walks in eight innings, striking out six in a tough-luck no decision.
Sioux Falls 5, Winnipeg 3 – Box
After trailing 3-0, the Canaries stormed back late to steal a game from Winnipeg, 5-3.
In the top of the 7th, 1B A.J. Kirby-Jones led off with a double and scored on an RBI groundout by 3B Carlos Mendez. CF Chris Valencia followed with a solo homer to cut the Goldeyes’ lead to 3-2. In the eighth, the Canaries took care of the rest, tying the game on an RBI double from Kirby-Jones and taking a 5-3 lead on atwo-run homer by Mendez.
Sioux Falls lefty starter Joe Bircher got the win, allowing three runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out six. Closer Alan DeRatt earned his 13th save with a scoreless ninth.
For Winnipeg, SS Tyler Kuhn had a game-high three hits and an RBI in the loss.
Sioux City 10, Fargo-Moorhead 5 – Box
Sioux City LF Oscar Mesa and 1B Rene Tosoni led the Explorers to a 10-5 win against Fargo-Moorhead.
Mesa and Tosoni each had three hits and three RBIs. Tosoni hit a two-RBI single in the second inning to make it 4-0, and Mesa hit a two-RBI single to make it 9-3 in the X’s five-run fifth inning.
Mesa stole two bases in the game and Tosoni stole one. SS Tommy Mendonca added two RBIs for Sioux City.
Explorers reliever Geoff Broussard got the win after pitching a scoreless fifth. RedHawks 2B C.J. Retherford went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
Gary SouthShore 18, Kansas City 3 – Box
DH Henry Wrigley hit two home runs, and Gary SouthShore walloped Kansas City, 18-3. The RailCats maintained a one-game lead ahead of Lincoln in the Central Division with the win. The team scored at least one run in all eight of the innings it came to bat.
Wrigley hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 6th and a two-run homer in the 8th, driving in five runs. Gary SouthShore 2B Zac Mitchell batted 3-for-6 with four RBIs, and SS Daniel Pulfer went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in win. 1B Craig Maddox reached base five times — two hits and three walks — and scored three times.
On the mound, RailCats starter Stephen Hiscock, the American Association leader in strikeouts with 102, pitched seven innings of three-run ball, striking out three.
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