St. Paul 6, Sioux City 5 — Box Score
St. Paul CF Alonzo Harris belted a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Saints a 6-5 win against the Sioux City Explorers.
The Saints opened up the game with a four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a quick lead. SS Tony Thomas singled home 2B/3B Tanner Vavra – who was 3-for-4 on the day – to crack the scoreboard and in the next at-bat, LF Willie Argo hit a three-run home run. Harris lifted a sacrifice fly in the second to give the Saints a 5-0 lead. The Explorers rallied to tie the score with a two-run shot from 3B Tommy Mendonca in the fourth and RBI singles from LF Tim Colwell and DH Derrick Robinson in the sixth.
The score stayed level until the final frame when Harris turned on the first pitch he saw after 1B/3B Nate Hanson struck out to lead off the inning. The round-tripper was his fifth of the season.
Kansas City 7, Joplin 4 — Box Score
The Kansas City T-Bones never trailed on their way to a 7-4 win against the Joplin Blasters.
Kansas City took the lead in the bottom of the first inning as 1B Jake Blackwood blasted a two-run home run. The Blasters tied the score in the top of the third but the T-Bones took the lead right back in the bottom of the frame with a four-run rally. Blackwood added his third RBI of the night in the third-inning rally and then scored when 2B Brett Wiley singled to left field. DH Anthony Gallas, who reached on a play that also saw SS Vladimir Frias score, scored the final run of the inning on a single from RF Christian Torres.
LF Willie Cabrera and CF Oscar Mesa each hit solo home runs for the Blasters but the T-Bones never surrendered the lead. 2B Mitch Glasser had a game-high four hits for the Blasters. Starting pitcher Jordan Cooper picked up the win for working seven innings and allowing three runs on seven hits.
