Kansas City 9 Cleburne 6
A four-run seventh inning turned around a deficit and the Monarchs (47-24) extended their division lead over the Railroaders (39-31) with a 9-6 win in a see-saw affair on Thursday night. Kansas City got off to a 4-0 start thanks to a four-run second inning, highlighted by Ibandel Isbel’s two-run homer. But Cleburne came back with four in the fourth, including Hunter Clanin’s game-tying two-run shot, and went ahead in the sixth on a two-run Chase Simpson homer. But in the seventh, the Monarchs got four runs, including the eventual game-winning three-run homer from Alexis Olmeda to make it 8-6 before adding another run in the eighth.
Winnipeg 5 Sioux City 0
Jorge Gonzalez tossed six shutout frames, Max Murphy had two doubles and knocked in three, and the Goldeyes (35-35) beat the Explorers (39-32) 5-0 on Thursday at Shaw Park. Dakota Conners scored on a wild pitch in the third and Kevin Lachance added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give Winnipeg a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Gonzalez allowed only four hits while striking out eight to pick up the win. Jordan Garr had a double and a stolen base for Sioux City.
Gary SouthShore 2 Sioux Falls 1 F/11
Jose Mercado’s eleventh-inning single scored Raymond Jones as the Railcats (29-43) walked off the Canaries (27-44) in eleven innings 2-1 on Thursday afternoon. Sioux Falls took a second-inning lead on a Daryl Myers single which scored Mike Hart, but Gary tied it in the seventh on Jacob Talamante’s sacrifice fly. Tasker Strobel threw three shutout innings of relief to pick up the win. Gary’s Jack Eisenbarger (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and Sioux Falls Angel Ventura (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 K) each pitched well in no-decisions.
Houston 9 Lincoln 5 F/10
Dom DeRenzo broke a tie with a three-run double in the tenth inning and the Apollos (10-60) beat the Saltdogs (37-33) 9-5 on Thursday evening. Lincoln took an early lead helped by a Forrestt Allday solo homer for a 3-0 second-inning advantage, but Brian Dansereau made it 3-2 in the third with a two-run shot of his own. Hudson Bilodeau’s sacrifice fly tied the game for Houston in the fifth, and after both teams scored a run in the ninth, DeRenzo broke the game open in the top of the tenth with his double.
