Gary SouthShore 6, St. Paul 3
Thanks in part to a three-run home run from RF Cristian Guerrero (pictured), visiting Gary maintained its lead in the wild-card race with a 6-3 win over St. Paul, completing the series sweep.
The Saints got on the board first via 1B Brian Burgamy’s RBI single, and kept the lead until the fourth, when Gary tied the game on Guerrero’s run-scoring groundout. The RailCats took the lead for good the next inning, when Guerrero blasted his fourth dinger of the season to make it a 4-1 game.
Gary tallied single insurance runs in the sixth and seventh; St. Paul scored a pair in its half of the seventh on 2B Adam Frost’s 2-run home run, but could come no closer.
Alain Quijano (11-7) picked up his league-leading 11th win, giving up a run on five hits in five and two-thirds innings, striking out six. Billy Soule (3-2) was the afternoon’s losing pitcher, allowing four runs and seven hits in five innings of work.
Kansas City 7, Fargo-Moorhead 5
The middle of Kansas City’s batting order had a big day at the plate, helping to propel the T-Bones to a 7-5 win over host Fargo-Moorhead.
Fargo-Moorhead drew first blood with a first-inning solo blast by CF Nic Jackson, but Kansas City quickly responded with a three-run second, courtesy of a two-run double by Luis Rivera and an RBI groundout from Justin Bass. From there, both teams tacked on runs here and there, but the T-Bones never relinquished the lead; it was enough for starter Dustin Loggins (7-5), who allowed four runs on three hits in six innings of work, striking out five. Taylor Stanton (8-4) was tagged with the loss for the RedHawks, giving up five runs in seven innings pitched, fanning seven.
Kansas City three through six hitters DH Jairo Perez, 1B Trevor Coleman, 3B Brandon Jones and C Petey Paramore combined to go 9-for-17 on the afternoon. DH Jeremiah Piepkorn and 1B Keith Brachold also had home runs for Fargo-Moorhead.
Winnipeg 8, Sioux Falls 5
Surging Winnipeg kept pace with Gary in the wild-card race by winning its sixth straight game, 8-5, over host Sioux Falls.
With the game tied 2-2, Winnipeg took the lead in the fifth inning on 2B Kevin Moesquit’s two-run home run, and then added four more in the sixth on LF Ray Sadler’s two-run blast, Moesquit’s RBI single, and DH Casey Haerther scoring on a wild pitch, making the score 8-2.
The Canaries made some noise in the eighth, as CF Reggie Abercrombie knocked a three-run homer, but Goldeyes closer Patrick Keating came in to shut the door for his 17th save of the season.
Matt Rusch (7-4) pitched seven innings and got the win, allowing two runs on five hits, striking out 7. Sioux Falls ace Kyle Ruwe (10-7) had a rough afternoon, giving up eight runs on 12 hits in six frames.
Moesquit, Sadler, Haerther, 1B Ryan Scoma and CF Tyler Graham each had two hits for the Goldeyes, while 1B Marcos Rodriguez led the way for the Canaries with a 3-for-5 day.
Grand Prairie 8, Winnipeg 3
Down 3-0, visiting Grand Prairie scored eight unanswered runs to upend Wichita, 8-3, and snap its three-game losing streak.
The Wingnuts scored a pair of runs in the first on back-to-back RBI doubles from 1B C.J. Ziegler and CF Brent Clevlen, and tallied another in the third on Ziegler’s solo shot.
The AirHogs started their comeback in the fourth on C Angel Flores’ two-run home run, and tied the game at 3 in the seventh on RF Kenny Held’s RBI single. Grand Prairie then took the lead in the eighth, when 1B Andres Rodriguez blasted a home run, Flores drove in a run with a triple, and CF Chad Mozingo stroked an RBI double. One inning later, the AirHogs made it an 8-3 game on DH Palmer Karr’s two-run home run.
Boomer Potts (5-1) picked up the win in relief, throwing a perfect inning and two-thirds. Lincoln Holdzkom (1-4) was saddled with the loss, having given up the three eighth-inning runs.
