American Association Insider: Sunday May 24 Takeaways

 Full slate of games throughout the league on Sunday afternoon. Let's take a quick look.

Cleburne 9 Gary SouthShore 4

The Railroaders didn't leave anything to chance as they take the final game of the series, after winning a 1-0 cliffhanger on Saturday. The nine runs tonight blew away the single run they had scored combined in the first two games of the series. Elvis (Peralta) left the building twice accounting for the RailCats offense. Peralta has a .417 batting average to go with four home runs and 15 runs batted in to start the season. Peralta had three home runs and 33 runs batted in for the SEASON in 2025. Will a MLB team take notice if the trend continues? 

Lincoln 11 Sioux City 10

The old baseball adage is that pitching and defense win baseball games. The Explorers had neither today as the Saltdogs parlayed five Explorers errors into 11 runs although only four were earned. This is such a tricky stat, the earned run. The four earned runs in nine innings of pitching doesn't look too bad in the overall stats. But the 11 runs total is quite ugly. No, it's not fair for the pitchers to have to get extra outs, but at some point you have to execute the right pitches to get out of the jam. If there is a combo that can right a pitching staff, it's Steve Montgomery and Bobby Post, but right now they have their work cut out for them. 

Sioux Falls 5 Chicago 4

Garrett Martin was going to cruise to a complete game victory this afternoon until he was hit with the malady known as the Luckow Jinx. After eight innings, I sent a text to Tanner Hoops saying, "Martin better be careful or he's going to get signed". Martin allowed two batters to reach in the ninth and was removed from the game. The bullpen was not able to hold the lead and we were headed to extras. With the Canaries down by a run in the 10th and a runner on third, Jabari Henry who did an inning on TV/Radio in the second inning, got an infield single to tie the game. That may be a first. The Canaries scored the winning run an inning later on a single by Michael Curialle who played the whole game on the field.

Lake Country 4 Kansas City 3

The DockHounds were able to head back home to Oconomowoc on a winning note, scoring the lead run in the seventh inning and holding on to defeat the Monarchs at Legends Field. The Monarchs, known for a solid hitting lineup had only one batter in the lineup today that is hitting above .280. It's only a nine game sample size so this take might look really asinine in a few weeks. 

Winnipeg 9 Milwaukee 2

Was it me that was just writing about Max Murphy's slow start? Though I did preface it by saying he should shake out of it soon. Murphy had a home run today with three runs batted in and is now hitting .314 for the early season. The Goldeyes swept the Milkmen, cashing in a receipt from an opening weekend sweep in Franklin. Looks like the jury is still out on the Goldeyes as they head back out east to face the RailCats in Gary. But the Milwaukee angle is the start of Bryan Torres with the St. Louis Cardinals. Torres got his call up with the Cards after two seasons in the minors after he was discovered with the Milkmen. Torres is in his 11th year of baseball although he's only 28 years old. Torres has become the new poster child in what the American Association can do for getting players a chance to leave out their dreams.

Fargo-Moorhead 12 Kane County 7

The RedHawks salvaged the final game of the series scoring ten runs in the first four innings to keep the Cougars at bay. Though the story of the weekend is the Baltimore Orioles signing Jake Dykhoff. Dykhoff who signed with the RedHawks in 2023 out of Minnesota-Crookston has had a dominant 2024-2026 with the RedHawks. I can remember after Dykhoff was released by the RedHawks in 2023 after an injury resurfacing with his hometown Bluffton Braves to pitch in the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament. Brothers Justin and Josh are both currently listed on the Bluffton roster. Could we see another Dykhoff surface with the RedHawks at some point?

Speaking of brothers. With Derek and Jacob Maiben both playing with Chicago, it got me to thinking about brother combos that have played together throughout American Association modern history. With the help of Executive Director Josh Buchholz, we came up with a bunch of Northern League brother combos but didn't come up with any modern Assoociation players. Help anyone?

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