Kansas City 2, Sioux City 0 – Box
A two-run home run by 2B Jairo Perez (pictured) was all Kansas City needed, as the T-Bones beat Sioux City in a close contest, 2-0. Perez’s home run, his fourth of the season and first since May 22, broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the sixth. The long ball provided the T-Bones’ staff with enough run support, as five Kansas City pitchers combined to nail down the win. In his first outing with the T-Bones, starter Eric Gonzalez pitched a scoreless 5.2 innings to pick up the win. He gave up three hits and struck out a pair. On the back end, Jhonny Montoya converted his third straight save with a perfect ninth inning. Montoya now has six saves on the season.
Rockland 11, St. Paul 8 – Box
The Saints gave Rockland quite a scare in the ninth inning, hitting four solo home runs to cut a seven-run deficit down to three, but the Boulders held off St. Paul for an 11-8 victory. Rockland built up a substantial lead early in the ball game. The Boulders opened the scoring in the first inning with back-to-back RBI doubles by LF Chris Edmonson and 3B Stephen Cardullo. They came out of the first inning with four runs and added five more over the next two innings to lead 9-1 after three innings of play.
Another RBI double by Edmonson and a run-scoring single by Cardullo plated two more runs for Rockland in the fifth, and the Boulders entered the ninth with a seemingly safe 11-4 advantage. But, the Saints did not go quietly. St. Paul CF Jordan Tripp and C Dwight Childs led off the ninth with back-to-back home runs. Two batters later 1B Dan Kaczrowski hit one out and DH Craig Brazell followed up with his second homer of the game two batters after Kaczrowski. The four home runs in the ninth gave St. Paul six long balls in the game. Unfortunately for the Saints, all of their home runs were solo shots and the power display was not enough to overcome Rockland’s early offensive surge. After Brazell’s home run trimmed the Boulders’ lead to three runs, RHP Kevin Fuqua came in and induced a game-ending ground out to put the Saints away.
