American Association Insider: Thursday May 21 takeaways

 For a day where the main news to start the day was off the field, we still had four games to talk about.

Kane County 12 Winnipeg 5

At 2am on Thursday morning, two juveniles set fire to the Kane County team bus that was sitting outside of Blue Cross Park. A horrible incident that has cast a black eye on the city of Winnipeg. Winnipeg has developed a loyal fan base since their inception into pro baseball in 1994. It is unfortunate that it's over shadowed by an incident such as this. I know I wrote a week ago that I wrote that I was looking to make my first trip to Winnipeg this Summer. After today I severely doubt it. I talked to my wife tonight about it. She made a trip to Winnipeg for a Minnesota Wild game last season. She said it was worse than downtown Minneapolis, that is saying a lot. That is before the ill will directed at anything associated with the United States due to tariffs. Heck, Winnipeg fans turned on their own goalie just for attending a State of the Union address after winning a gold medal. A friend of mine in Winnipeg today said, "this city is a complete dump". The Goldeyes organization and fan base is not to blame for this bus incident, but I hope if nothing else, we can find a more secure spot for teams to park their bus overnight. On the field, the Cougars were able to block out the distraction, scoring five runs in the eighth inning to pull away from the Goldeyes to win the series. Westin Muir threw five innings allowing only two single runs in the first two innings. A healthy and effective Muir would be a huge plus after two seasons in which Muir battled inconsistency. 

Lake Country 3 Sioux Falls 1

After three games in which both teams battered the opposing pitching staff, the two clubs battled in a low scoring series finale. The Canaries have to be elated with the effort from Chase Gearing. Gearing, who struggled with the Milwaukee Milkmen last season, has now pitched 12.1 innings only allowing two runs, including one run in seven innings tonight. The DockHounds were able to split the series, scoring a run without a hit in the eighth, and an unearned run in the ninth inning.

Sioux City 8 Lincoln 1 (called in sixth inning)

Mother nature threw the towel in for the Saltdogs in the sixth inning with the Explorers leading 8-1. The Explorers, a work in progress with another influx of new players after a West Division championship in 2025, end a road trip spanning from Chicago to Lincoln, 4-3. I think you take that if you're the X's. The Saltdogs are already in free fall mode only winning one of six games at Haymarket Park. They don't get to shake the X's as they will follow them to Lewis and Clark Park for three games this weekend. Maybe some bonding time on the road will be the thing the Saltdogs need.

Kansas City 3 Chicago 1

Maybe all Dakota Hudson needed to do was get out of high elevation ballparks. Hudson after six seasons with St. Louis joined Colorado in 2024 and didn't have a good go of it going 2-12 with an ERA above six runs a game. Last year Hudson pitched in Salt Lake City and did not fare much better going 8-7 but with an ERA of 6.68. Tonight Hudson was on his game, giving the Monarchs six innings of one run ball in picking up the win in his second start of the season. It will be interesting if he can find his St. Louis form and land back in a MLB organization.