Railroaders 3, Milkmen 6 – Boxscore
Milwaukee pitchers struck out 13 Railroaders over the course of the second game of Cleburne’s three-game set against the Milkmen. For the second straight night, Cleburne failed to push the necessary runs across, as Milwaukee came away with the 6-3 win on Wednesday night from Franklin Field.
Josh Lucas started on the bump for the Railroaders and ran into some trouble in the bottom of the first inning. He surrendered two runs in the frame. However, he wasn’t helped much by his defense as Cleburne faltered twice in the field that gave way to Milwaukee’s two-run inning.
Unlike yesterday, Cleburne took advantage of early scoring opportunities. They put two across in the top of the second off Myles Smith who was returning for his first start since coming off the injured list. The Railroaders loaded the bases with nobody out, which allowed Jacob Bockelie to hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Kacy Clemens to bring Cleburne within one. That tied the game up at two when the next batter, Nick Shumpert, hit another sacrifice fly to center field that brought Hill Alexander home.
Zach Nehrir made it his responsibility to put the team on his back in the top of the third when he hit a go-ahead solo home run to left field to give the Railroaders a 3-2 lead. That would be the final time Cleburne scored in the ball game.
Lucas was excellent for the Railroaders throughout his outing. He left the team in a good spot after he went five innings of just two-run ball.
Trevor Simms came out of the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth with his team leading 3-2. The first batter he faced was Dylan Kelly and he reached on a dropped third strike. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and then preceded to advance to third on Simms’ third wild pitch of the frame. Aaron Hill walked and then Logan Trowbridge hit a scorcher through the right side of the infield to drive in Kelly to tie the game back up at three. Milwaukee then regained the lead when Bryan Torres hit an RBI single that scored Hill from second base.
Milwaukee gave themselves some insurance in the bottom of the eighth off a Jeremiah Burks double that brought Hill to the plate. That brought Torres back up and he launched a double down the right-field line to score Burks and bring the total to 6-3.
Rodrigo Benoit closed the game out for the Milkmen in the ninth and Cleburne fell for the second consecutive night to Milwaukee.
Dogs 10, DockHounds 5 – Boxscore
The Chicago Dogs defeated the Lake Country DockHounds 10-5 on Wednesday evening at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park.
Chicago’s catcher, Ryan Lidge, popped off the stat sheet as the main contributor in Wednesday’s contest. He would conclude his day with four hits and six runs batted in.
Lidge opened the first inning with a nine-pitch at-bat, resulting in a two-run homer. It would drive in Michael Crouse for the Dogs.
In the top of the second inning, Lake Country pitcher Greg Loukinen would exit after the trainer met with him on the mound. Details of what happened are unknown at this time. He pitched just one and two-thirds innings before Manny Blanco replaced him.
In the next half inning, the DockHounds got in the hit column when Jake Snider lined the baseball into shallow left field. Gabriel Noriega wasted no time at the plate, smacking his own two-run home run over the batter’s eye. The score was then tied at two apiece.
Ryan Lidge kept chugging for Chicago as he advanced on a two-run double in the third. The catcher would tack on another run-producing double in the fifth to give him five RBIs halfway through the contest.
Daikan Yoh protected the plate on a 2-2 count with a round-tripper for his fifth home run in 2022. The score was then 5-3, Chicago leading.
The sixth frame brought home four runs for Chicago, but Lake Country needed to rally. Gio Brusa drove in TJ Bennett from third base with a ground out. With the bases loaded later in the inning, Tristen Carranza was hit by a pitch, driving in another for Lake Country.
The Dogs would score the last run of the ball game in the eighth frame. The final score was 10-5 in favor of Chicago.
Kyle Murphy earned his sixth win on the campaign, while Manny Blanco took the loss in relief.
Cougars 3, Monarchs 4 – Boxscore
The Kansas City Monarchs (46-22) secure game two against the Kane County Cougars (35-36) in a 4-3 game.
Monarchs starter Lewis Thorpe produced a quick 1,2,3 first inning on the way to retiring the first nine batters in a row. The Monarchs would strand five runners in the first two innings before breaking through in the third.
David Thompson started two-for-two with a stand-up triple to right-center field in the home half of the third. Matt Adams batted next and sent a ball to center for an RBI double; the Monarchs held their first lead at 1-0.
Kane County avoided another bases-loaded scenario with a 4-6-3 double play, taking out Gillaspie at second and Escarra at first.
Cougar Ernie De La Trinidad got a walk in the top of the fourth. Jimmy Kerrigan sent a base-hit single to left field, but both men were left stranded by the third out.
In his first game back with the Monarchs, Ryan Grotjohn reached base on a walk before Sweeney singled to right field, but an error by first baseman Dylan Busby sent him to second.
Santa singled to center for two RBI before Thompson singled to right. Monarchs extended the lead further as Adams sent one deep to left-center field, bringing the score to 4-0.
The Cougars put the first run on the board in the fifth as Alexis Pantoja tripled to deep right-center field and a put-out from B.J. Lopez brought him in, Kane County no longer scoreless at 4-1.
Kane County brought in another run in the seventh courtesy of a putout from Pantoja. Dylan Busby singled to left field before Sherman Johnson sent one to deep right field for a double. After a pitching change from Brian Glowicki to Jordan Martinson, Galli Cribbs Jr completed a single to center for an RBI, digging into the Monarchs lead at 4-3.
In the top of the eighth, Jeremy Rhoades took the mound for two strikeouts, one being Kerrigan, who in game one went two -or-four with three RBI courtesy of a home run, ending the night one-for-four with three strikeouts. Manager Joe Calfapietra said of Kerrigan, “We got ahead, you get ahead, you know then you get a chance, you get behind a good hitter it just makes it a little more difficult.”
In the bottom of the eighth, Cougars pitcher Koby Bishop loaded the bases. Santa and Thompson both singled to left field before Adams was walked. Monarchs finished the night at 4-3 as Santa was picked off at third by catcher B.J. Lopez, and Jameson McGrane ended the top of the ninth with two strikeouts.
It was a tense match-up on the mound with Lewis Thorpe going 6 IP for 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB and 5 strikeouts compared to Jack Fox at 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 6 BB and 4 strikeouts.
Explorers 2, RedHawks 7 – Boxscore
Peyton Wigginton tossed the first complete game of his professional career as he guided the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks to a 7-2 victory over the Sioux City Explorers.
Peyton Wigginton (6-2) went the distance for the RedHawks, collecting all 27 outs while striking out five and walking one while allowing two runs on five hits. From two outs in the sixth to two outs in the ninth he retired nine in a row.
Wigginton pitched with the lead for practically the entire game with Fargo jumping out to a quick lead in the first, after a lead off single, Peter Maris dinked a two-run homer off the right field foul pole to give the RedHawks a 2-0 lead.
After a scoreless third, the RedHawks got back to work in the third. After three walks loaded the bases with one out, Sam Dexter crushed a grand slam over the left field wall to give the RedHawks a 6-0 lead. A Manuel Boscan two out single pushed Fargo’s advantage to 7-0.
Taking the loss for the X’s was Ma’Khail Hilliard (0-2) went two and two-thirds and allowed seven runs on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
Sioux City got a run in the sixth on a Danry Vasquez RBI single and in the ninth from a two out homer off the bat of Sebastian Zawada.
Goldeyes 7, Canaries 2 – Boxscore
The Winnipeg Goldeyes (41-29) beat the Sioux Falls Canaries 7-2 at Sioux Falls Stadium on Wednesday night.
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the fifth inning, the Goldeyes rallied for four runs to take the lead. Eric Rivera drew a full-count leadoff walk and took third when Ian Sagdal lined a single to left-centre. Raul Navarro tied the game with an infield single up the middle that deflected off the glove of a diving Osvaldo Martinez at shortstop. Navarro has now hit safely in 23 consecutive games. After Max Murphy singled to centre to load the bases, David Washington lined a two-run single to left on the ninth pitch of his at bat to give Winnipeg a 3-1 lead. Reggie Pruitt Jr. made it 5-2 with an RBI fielder’s choice that scored Murphy.
In the bottom of the fifth, Goldeyes’ starter Luis Ramirez struck out Trey Michalczewski leading off. It was Ramirez’s 100th strikeout of the season, making him the 17th pitcher in franchise history to reach 100 strikeouts and marking the 25th time overall.
Navarro led off the top of the seventh with a single to right, and the Goldeyes opened a 7-2 lead when Murphy hit a two-run home run down the right field line.
Travis Seabrooke recorded two outs in relief of Ramirez in the seventh, while Erasmo Pinales and Tasker Strobel each followed with a scoreless inning to close out the game.
Ramirez (9-3) picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on 11 hits in six and one-third innings. Ramirez walked one and struck out eight.
Canaries’ starter Joey Pulido (1-6) took the loss, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits in four-plus innings. Pulido walked one and struck out six.
The Goldeyes took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Hidekel Gonzalez led off with an opposite-field home run to right-centre.
Sioux Falls (26-42) tied the game in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from Jabari Henry. Two batters later, Murphy threw out Henry at the plate trying to score the go-ahead run on an Aaron Takacs single.
Henry gave the Canaries a 2-1 lead in the home third with a two-out, RBI double.
RailCats 6, Saltdogs 2 – Boxscore
The Gary SouthShore RailCats broke through against the Lincoln Saltdogs bullpen multiple times, and it proved to be the difference in a 6-2 win that finished off a sweep.
After two scoreless frames, the RailCats drew first blood and struck for a pair in the top of the third. Tom Walraven walked, Michael Woodworth singled, and Daniel Lingua got hit by a pitch to load the bases for Jesus Marriaga, and he delivered the two-run knock that gave Gary SouthShore an early lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the Saltdogs began to chip away at the RailCats advantage. Though Lingua and Woodworth turned a nifty double play, it enabled the Saltdogs to pull within one.
The very next inning, Lincoln supplied the hit to pull them level. Josh Altmann launched a solo home run, knotting the score at two.
However, the home run helped turn the corner for John Sheaks on the mound. He went on to set down each of the next eight batters he faced to turn in a quality start, allowing just two runs on four hits, walking one while striking out six.
Before the RailCats turned to the pen, they made sure to untie the ballgame, enabling Sheaks to pick up the win. Walraven and Lingua registered base hits to place runners on first and second for Marriaga to come up clutch once again. He lifted a double down the right field line, sending both runners home and pulling Gary SouthShore back in front 4-2.
Aaron Phillips and Julio Vivas entered in relief to toss a perfect inning each, and the Gary SouthShore offense rewarded their efforts by adding another pair of runs in the ninth.
Woodworth and Lingua both singled to set Marriaga back up, and his single chased Woodworth home to register his fifth run batted in. LG Castillo reached on an error to load the bases, and Chris Burgess produced another run on his ground out, giving the ‘Cats a four-run cushion heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Yeison Medina then took over on the mound and slammed the door on the Saltdogs, carving through the heart of the order to finish off a streak of 17 straight hitters retired to conclude the contest.
