American Association Baseball Insider

 I'm going to keep this relatively short, but I felt like I should blog tonight as the American Association playoff picture became clear as I was soaking at Noah's Ark in Wisconsin Dells. Tonight's recaps are brought to you by Original Wisconsin Dells Fudge.  Lake Country 2 Milwaukee 1 In a game the Milkmen needed to clinch a playoff spot, the DockHounds rained on the party squeaking out a 2-1 win. The disappointment wouldn't last for long however. Sioux City 6 Winnipeg 1 The West Division champions seem to be rounding into playoff form defeating Landen Bourassa and the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Kurtis Byrne became the last regular for the Explorers to get a stolen base. It was part of a nine stolen base day for the X's Kansas City 12 Cleburne 3 The Monarchs officially ended the Railroaders hopes of making the playoffs, and also clinched second place in the West Division and will be at Fargo for Game One on Wednesday night. Down 9-1 after six innings, Railroaders manager P...

 Since I'm on vacation in Wisconsin Dells, I'm going to go with a different format for tonight's recaps. We'll analyze what the results mean in the big picture.  Lincoln 12 Gary SouthShore 1 As far as standings go, this one meant nothing. But Lincoln may have found something in Franny Cobos who won his sixth game of the season and saw his ERA go under four run per game for the first time all season. Sioux Falls 4 Fargo Moorhead 2 With the win, Sioux Falls stayed a game behind Kansas City for second place and jumped a game ahead of the RedHawks for third place. Thomas Dorminy won his 11th game to tie Jake Dykhoff for the league lead. After his home run tonight, Jordan Barth will have two games to go for 20 for the season after never having more than 12 in a season. Milwaukee 9 Lake Country 6 The Milkmen remain the hottest team in the American Association. Their magic number for a playoff spot is now one game. Another win over the DockHounds or a Cleburne Railroaders loss...

 It has been one of the most unpredictable seasons in American Association history, and tonight just added additional proof to that statement. I don't know if I will have time to do the recaps on Saturday or Sunday as I will be on vacation, but you never know.  Milwaukee 3 Lake Country 2 (8 innings) If one were to put some coin on this doubleheader tonight, you'd have to be crazy not to put your money on the DockHounds. The East Division leaders were coming off a series sweep at home against Chicago. The Milkmen swept a series in Kansas City, and had a long drive home. But none of that ended up mattering as a Kaden Hollow single scored Chase Estep to win Game one of the doubleheader for the Milkmen and put them a game ahead of Cleburne for the final playoff spot in the East. Juan Diaz threw seven innings of two run ball to keep the Milkmen in the game.  Cleburne 9 Kansas City 4 Knowing they were now a full game out of a playoff spot, the Railroaders got to work early agai...

 It was a sleepy Thursday night weather wise and personally. After snoozing for a few hours, I woke to see that the game I began watching, Kane County vs. Gary SouthShore was still going.  Kane County 8 Gary SouthShore 7 (12 innings) A walkoff walk from Josh Allen, who ran several incredible wide receiver patterns avoiding being doused by the water jug, knocked down the magic number to one for making the playoffs. In a back and forth affair, it was a ninth inning double by Marcus Chiu that pushed the game to extra frames. Xavier Valentin had three hits for the RailCats to pace both clubs. Lincoln 9 Cleburne 3 The Saltdogs closed the home portion of their schedule giving 1582 fans at Haymarket Park one last good memory for the Summer. The loss eventually landed the Railroaders out of a playoff spot for now as they are headed to Legends Field for four games to wrap up the regular season. Kyle Martin hit his 27th for the Railroaders. Kyle Battle drove in three runs for the Saltdo...

 This will not be a meaty recap session as I didn't see any action until 9:30. I have a half season Minnesota Wild ticket package. My partner and I got together tonight to draft our games for the season.  Gary SouthShore 14 Kane County 2 The RailCats cruised in this one, leading 7-2 before putting up seven more runs in the eighth. Joe Suozzi hit a three run home run and Cooper Weiss homered for the RailCats. Suozzi had four runs driven in while Weiss and Marco Gonzalez both drove in three runs apiece. Spencer Adams went seven innings allowing a pair of runs to pick up his sixth win. Blake Rutherford homered for the Cougars. Lake Country 6 Chicago 5 (10 innings) A Freddie Rojas Jr. two run home run capped a comeback from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game. In the 10th the DockHounds won without putting a ball in play as a ball and a wild pitch plated the winning run. With the win, the DockHounds are now two games ahead of the Dogs in the East Division. Luke Roskam homered for the Do...

 Call it laziness, burn out, whatever you want. I could have done a Sunday Insider where I name my post season All Star team and regurgitate a bunch of stats that would make for fly by reading. I opt for this instead. Sweet and simple. Keep in mind my votes count as much in the league balloting as a parking attendant at Franklin Field. C- Chance Sisco- Chicago 1B- Kyle Martin- Cleburne 2B- Dustin Peterson- Cleburne 3B- Calvin Estrada- Sioux Falls SS- Jordan Barth- Sioux Falls OF- Josh Rehwaldt- Sioux Falls OF- Dillon Thomas- Fargo-Moorhead OF- Max Murphy- Winnipeg DH- Todd Lott- Kane County SP- Konnor Ash- Kane County RP- Miguel Cepeda-Sioux City Rookie Batter- Zac Vooletich- Sioux City Rookie Pitcher- Lucas Hansel- Lake Country Tuesday night recaps:  Gary SouthShore Railcats 2 Kane County 1 Kane County still has a playoff spot to clinch. It should not be a problem, but they are just kind of there in the East. Likely to miss the playoffs, not likely to catch Chicago for second...

 This will be a tough blog to write because for the most part I will be relying on Pointstreak to tell me what to write, and we know how dangerous that can be. Six pack of gamers on a Sunday, let's do this. Kane County 2 Lake Country 1 A few questions coming out of this one. With nine losses in a row, can the DockHounds hold off the surging Chicago Dogs and more importantly, can they find their game with only seven left to play. Also, where did the Cougars go for ice cream after the road sweep. Considering where they are, my bet is on Culver's. The Cougars led 2-0 after two, highlighted by a Trendon Craig home run. It stayed that way till the ninth when the DockHounds scored their only run of the game, but could not scrape up a tying run. Chris Mazza went 7.1 shutout innings, his high water mark for the season. Mazza only allowed four hits and picked up his fourth win.  Winnipeg 9 Lincoln 0 After five scoreless innings, the Goldeyes pounced on the Lincoln bullpen for nine runs...

All six games on the penultimate Saturday of the American Association season. The rich got richer today as Chicago dealt Brantley Bell to Kansas City and Jairus Richards gets dealt from Gary SouthShore to manager Jeff Isom's buddy Chris Coste and Fargo-Moorhead. Milwaukee 6 Gary SouthShore 5 Chase Estep drove in three runs and Kaden Hollow had a home run and three runs driven in to lead the Milkmen to a come from behind win over Gary SouthShore at U.S. Steel Yard. Cooper Weiss and L.J. Castillo both homered for the RailCats. Kane County 6 Lake Country 3 The Cougars jumped out to a 6-0 and held off the first place DockHounds, handing them their eighth straight loss. Marcus Chiu had three hits including a solo home run, and Oscar Santos homered for the Cougars. Jake Stevenson picked up the win with 5.2 innings of one hit, no run ball. Ray Zuberer III and Chavez Young homered late in the game for the DockHounds. Sioux Falls 5 Sioux City 3 Tanner Brown held the Explorers to two runs in...

 Before we get to the recaps for Friday night, I have some exciting news to share. Piggybacking on recent news that it doesn't matter how iconic of a logo you may have, it's 2025 and things change. Not that I had a logo before but after hearing how much of a smashing success Cracker Barrel has had since their new woke logo appeared. So much success you can now get real good deals on Cracker Barrel stock to celebrate. I present to you the first ever logo for the American Association Insider. Chicago 8 Fargo-Moorhead 4 The RedHawks utilized recently returned closer Alex DuBord as an opener tonight at Impact Field. It didn't go as well as hoped other than DuBord getting his work in. The Dogs jumped on DuBord for three runs in his inning worked on a three run home run by T.J. Hopkins. It sure seems like I've typed Hopkins name a lot lately. Henry Kusiak led the Dogs with three hits. Jose Sermo and Dillon Thomas homered for the RedHawks with Sermo's home run tying the ga...

 In Minnesota, it's State Fair time, which is where I was today. Yet there I was at the Fair keeping tabs on the day's action. Five game including two matinees were featured on Thursday. Sioux Falls 9 Cleburne 3 The Canaries built an 8-0 lead after three innings and cruised to an easy victory in an early start in Texas. Jordan Barth doubled two runs and scored a run in the first inning. Rookies struck in the third as Drey Dirksen had an RBI single followed by a two run ground rule double to put the game out of reach. Dirksen added a home run in fifth. The lone highlight of the day for the Railroaders was a two run Aaron Altherr home run. Cole LaLonde picked up the win allowing one run in five innings.  Fargo-Moorhead 6 Gary SouthShore 0 Jake Dykhoff was not getting paid by the pitch today as it only took him 86 pitches to throw a shutout for his 10th win of the season. Jose Sermo had a three run home run in the third inning that provided ample run support of Dykhoff.   Mi...

 Six games in the circuit on Hump Day featuring two more extra inning games.  Chicago 12 Lake Country 5 Last night I wrote that the Dogs were going to have to sweep the series this week to send the message that they could overtake the DockHounds. They followed the script sans the late inning dramatics of the evening before in a win at Impact Field. Down 1-0 after two innings, the Dogs outscored the DockHounds 9-3 over the next three innings and rode it to a victory. The Dogs homered four times with Henry Kusiak connecting for a three run shot. Jacob Teter, Chance Sisco and Tripp Clark also homered for the Dogs. Clark on his third team of the season is now hitting .313 in 150 at bats. A stunning stat for a guy on his third club. Clark drove in three runs while Kusiak drove in four runs, Sisco had four hits on the night. Brian Rey and Luke Roskam homered for the DockHounds. Kane County 4 Milwaukee 3 (10 innings) It looked good for the Milkmen to creep within yet another game of ...

 Five series began tonight with another playing the middle game. The field is set in the West Division with seeding and overall top record still up for grabs. Sioux Falls clinched tonight with a win in Cleburne. Chicago 7 Lake Country 6 (10 innings) If the Dogs want to catch the DockHounds, they have to focus on sweeping them at Impact Field. They did so on Tuesday, even if it took a wild finish to do it. Starting in the ninth, down by a run, Dusty Stroup homered to tie the game for the Dogs. In the 10th Demetrius Sims had a bases loaded double to give the DockHounds a three run lead. But the Dogs sent the fans home happy. A three run home run from Brantley Bell tied the game at six and Stroup came through again three batters later with a walk off single.  Milwaukee 2 Kane County 1 (10 innings) Don't look now but the Milkmen are on a heater. Four wins in a row, two more and they would only be 2.5 games behind the Cougars with plenty of time to catch them. Joe Gray's single, th...

 Full slate of games around the league on Sunday afternoon. Congratulations to Sioux Falls manager Mike Meyer who is now the leader in Sioux Falls Canaries managerial history with win #379. And congratulations to Austin Davis of Sioux City who swiped his 50th base of the season breaking Daniel Lingua's record from last season.  Kane County 8 Kansas CIty 1 The Cougars restored their Northwestern Medicine Field dominance over the Monarchs with a series winning victory behind seven shutout innings from Konnor Ash who picked up his ninth win. The Cougars led this all the way scoring five runs in the first three innings. Armand Upshaw led the attack for the Cougars with three runs batted in.  Milwaukee 7 Lake Country 1 Who had a Milkmen sweep of the DockHounds on their parlay card this weekend? Two runs in the fifth through seventh innings broke a one all deadlock. Walks haunted the DockHounds as the Milkmen received nine free passes. Juan Diaz picked up the win for the Milkme...

 I was scrapping for a subject for this week's Insider. I was going to go team by team and address whether teams were buyers, sellers, and what they're looking for as the trade deadline approaches. Then all of the sudden, all it took was a Dan Vaughan line on his broadcast on Thursday night, talking about how he didn't know much about Baseball in Minnesota and a comment via text later that we only have baseball weather for a month and I was off to the races.  So I took it back all the way to the beginning of the Northern League in 1993. Half of the teams were based in Minnesota (St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth-Superior). If you go back and look at the rosters that season for the six teams, you'll see that only six Minnesotans saw action in the Northern League's six teams that season. Of those six, only two saw any decent amount of playing time. Bill Cutshell of the Rochester Aces and Jim Manfred of the St. Paul Saints.  Cutshall signed with the Montreal Expos after bein...

 We got all six games in tonight, but the Chicagoland area games became what Chris Berman used to refer to as the Hotel California games as they were completed late in the night.  Sioux City 6 Winnipeg 5 An Abdiel Layer single capped off a two run rally in the eighth inning to propel the Explorers ahead for good. D'Shawn Knowles homered to get the Explorers within a run in the sixth. Torin Montgomery's three run home run had given the Explorers the lead in the fourth inning before Winnipeg responded with three in the fifth. Four X's relievers combined to throw five shutout innings, with Chase Jessee getting the win and Felix Cepeda notching his league leading 22nd save. Photo courtesy of Xsbaseball.com Lincoln 7 Sioux Falls 2 It looked good for the Canaries for a while. Matt Solter made his return to the American Association, making his debut for the Canaries and allowing only a run in five innings. But, the ball was handed over to Cade Torgerson, the man Solter replaced in...

 I know last night I said there'd be no recaps tonight, but plans change. We were going to see The Offspring in Minneapolis tonight. We both had bad vibes about going. An 8pm start with two opening acts was going to mean a late night. And in the eyes of my wife and I, a late night in Downtown Minneapolis was not going to be a good proposition. The  parking ramps for Target Center are tough to get out of. The skyway due to crime tends to close early, and I feared not being able to take the skyway back to a downtown parking ramp and not knowing how to get to it from street level. Plus the ever present carjackings, car theft, and the fact we have a brand new vehicle. It's a shame how much Minneapolis has declined since I went to Twins games and never worried about my safety. We sold the tickets and stayed home to the delight of our four dogs.  Kane County 2 Kansas City 1 These two clubs in a scheduling oddity only meet twice in Geneva. Thus far it has not been kind to the Mo...

First of all, a head's up, there will not be recaps for tomorrow night as I will be attending a concert and will not be home till late at night and will have to turn it around to work the paying job on Saturday morning. Pray for me. Kansas City 2 Milwaukee 0 You know you're living right when you only muster up three hits and find a way to win a game. The Monarchs two runs were scored on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly. Ashton Goudeau earned his third win and first since June 3rd throwing six shutout innings allowing three hits. Jhordany Mezquita was the hard luck loser allowing the two runs one three hits in seven innings. Winnipeg 7 Cleburne 6 The Goldeyes held off a ninth inning rally to take the rubber game of their series against the Railroaders. The Goldeyes put up six runs in the second inning and never looked back, highlighted by a solo home run by Rob Emery and a three run shot by Max Murphy. Ray-Patrick Didder also homered for the Goldeyes while Shed Long and Dustin ...

 Wild Wednesday night in the Association as two games were decided by home runs in the ninth inning, one in walkoff fashion. Chicago 5 Gary SouthShore 0 (Game 1) Jacob Teter and Chance Sisco both drove in runs in the first inning. That was all that Bryce Schaum would need as the Dogs hurler went all seven innings in the first game of the double header, only allowing two hits. Sisco topped of the scoring in the fifth inning with a two run home run. Gary SouthShore 7 Chicago 1 (Game 2) The RailCats turned the tables in Game two scoring seven runs in the first three innings to put the Dogs away. Jake Guenther hit a two run homer and drove in three runs and Olivier Basabe had three hits for the RailCats. Peyton Long went the distance for the RailCats allowing one run on six hits to pick up his second straight win and sixth for the season. Long's ERA is now under four runs at 3.98. Could he be a trade chip? Lake Country 2 Kane County 1 A Freddie Rojas Jr. bases loaded walk in the sixth ...

 After a well earned league wide day off for the American Association and yours truly, it was back to action on Tuesday night. One game did not get going as Gary was clobbered with rain and could not get their game versus Chicago going. They'll try to play two tomorrow.  Kane County 7 Lake Country 6 (7 innings) After the teams completed a suspended game from July 10, won by the Cougars 10-2 with Konnor Ash finishing a two hitter he had started a month ago, the Cougars got the sweep on a Claudio Finol walk off two run single. The Cougars had jumped out to an early 3-0 before the DockHounds had a five run fifth that put them up 6-3. But after cutting the lead to 6-4 in the sixth, the stage was set for Finol's dramatics. Finol went 3-4 with five runs batted in. Ryan Hernandez had a home run for the DockHounds.  Winnipeg 2 Cleburne 0 Landen Bourassa threw four shutout innings and four relievers combined to throw five innings of one hit shutout ball as the Goldeyes beat the Ra...

 It was an odd day on Sunday. There was only one 1 pm game due to delays in Oconomowoc and Franklin. My prayers and best wishes to any fans out there that was affected by the flooding in the Milwaukee area. Winnipeg 7 Lincoln 2 In the one early game that got started on time, behind 7.2 innings of one unearned run pitching from Mitchell Lambson, the Goldeyes took the series from Lincoln. Lambson only allowed four hits and struck out ten Saltdogs. Max Murphy and Tripp Clark both collected three hits. Matthew Warkentin and Keyshawn Lynch both homered in the winning effort.  Kane County 9 Milwaukee 7 The Cougars scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to break a 7-7 tie and avoid being swept at Franklin Field by the Milkmen. Armand Upshaw went 3-5 and Josh Allen drove in three runs to help lead the Cougars to victory. Out of the 12 combined pitchers from both clubs, Zach Veen threw the most innings and was the most succesful throwing three shutout innings out of the Co...

 Last week we took an in depth look at how the East Division is shaping up down the stretch. Much like the East, we know who will likely be the four teams that will make the playoffs, but in what order is anyone's guess. For a while it was resigned to be Sioux City, Kansas City and Sioux Falls in the top three, but Fargo-Moorhead has been on a roll, and the race for the top four should be quite delicious. Sioux City Explorers On a visit to the a St. Paul Saints game, I was asked by Sean Aronson about the Sioux City Explorers. The best way I could describe them was a modern day 1985 St. Louis Cardinals. Five Cardinals that season wound up with 30 or more stolen bases with Vince Coleman leading the way with 110. Seven Cardinals reached double digits. Led by Austin Davis (43), D'Shawn Knowles (38), Zac Vooletich (35), and Henry George (35), the Explorers have stolen 211 bases. The hitting stats don't look flashy but when the Explorers get on base, it's likely they will be ...