American Association Insider: Sunday July 5th Takeaways

 Sorry about the lateness of this one. I just rolled in home after a one day trip to Duluth to see Northwoods League baseball in the former home of the Northern League's Duluth Superior Dukes. Wade Stadium is showing its years, especially after not being in it in 23 years. But it was nice to get back. I took in the game with Jon Winter who is a walking encyclopedia for Dukes history. I thank him for his hospitality and for sharing stories of years gone by.

We had a cancellation today as Impact Field was not ready for play forcing the Dogs to have to make up their game in Winnipeg in August.

Milwaukee 4 Kane County 0, Milwaukee 2 Kane County 0                                                                                                                      

Kane County Manager George Tsamis was helping the Northwest Medicine Field grounds crew get the field ready for play. If he knew the upcoming results, he may have sabotaged their efforts instead. In Game One, Solomon Bates outdueled Konnor Ash, with both pitchers going the distance. Milwaukee scored three runs, two earned in the fifth inning to pull away. Bates only allowed four hits and struck out seven. If Bates finds his 2023 form and it looks like he has, the Milkmen have another piece to an already strong rotation. 

In Game Two, Jhordany Mezquita threw six scoreless innings, and the only run allowed by Westin Muir in five innings was all Milwaukee needed to pick up the sweep. Art Warren pitched the eighth and had the statistical oddity of allowing an earned run without allowing a hit or a walk. Andy Blake reached on a hit by pitch, Delvin Perez reached on a wild pitch on strike three. Blake later scored on a sacrifice fly. 

Lincoln 3 Gary SouthShore 2 OT, Lincoln 7 Gary SouthShore 2

In a game that began Saturday, the Saltdogs scored their automatic runner in the 10th inning and held the RailCats to nothing in the bottom of the frame. The game featured only nine hits combined with the RailCats holding the 5-4 edge.

In the regularly scheduled game, the Saltdogs were lead by Cael Chatham going 3-4 with a double, triple and three runs batted in. Jairo Pomares and Jake Hjelle drove in two runs apiece. Chris Jacobs homered for the RailCats, his first American Association home run since 2019.

Cleburne 16 Lake Country 4

In the Texas heat, the Railroaders built a snowman on the scoreboard in the sixth inning to pull away from the DockHounds. The win was the fifth in six games this week for the Roaders against the Hounds. Joshua Mears hit home run #15 to tie Jose Sermo for the league lead but that was the only highlight for the Hounds. Delino DeShields Jr. and Frankie Tostado each had three hits and two runs batted in to lead the attack which surprisingly did not include a home run. 

Picture courtesy of Jennifer Andreachi



Kansas City 9 Fargo-Moorhead 2

The Monarchs were going to make sure they didn't leave North Dakota without a win as they jumped out to a 7-0 and cruised to victory at Newman Outdoor Field. Trevor Boone, Ryan Leitch and Luken Baker all homered for the Monarchs. Baker had three hits and two runs batted in. Baker now has five home runs in his six games with the Monarchs. It looks like the Monarchs have found yet another veteran slugger, as long as he doesn't get noticed by Mexico or MiLB. What is it with Garcias and the Monarchs. Julian was the talk of the league last season and is now in the major leagues with the Reds. And Ryan although he doesn't have the gaudy strikeout totals, has won seven games and sports a 2.08 ERA and has pitched seven innings in each of his last three starts

Sioux Falls 16 Sioux City 15

I saved the game that defied any logic for last. It was a game where the Canaries led 8-0 before the Explorers batted in the second inning. But the Explorers climbed all the way back to tie the game at 11 after seven innings. Both teams landed haymakers in the eighth with the Canaries scoring five and the X's countering with four of their own. But the X's could not complete the comeback the second time and the Canaries gain the road sweep. The Canaries tampered with tying the league record for doubles in a game (11) with eight doubles. Mike Hart had a pair while driving in four runs to lead the Canaries attack. Henry George had four runs driven in and D'Shawn Knowles had three hits, driving in three runs for the X's. Grady Mee, fresh out of college collected his first two professional hits and RBI's for the Birds. 

10th Inning Stretch American Association Power Rankings.

1. Cleburne Railroaders 34

2. Milwaukee Milkmen 34

3. Lake Country DockHounds 31

4. Kansas City Monarchs 29

5. Sioux Falls Canaries 29

6. Kane County Cougars 29

7. Lincoln Saltdogs 28

8. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 27

9. Winnipeg Goldeyes 25

10. Gary SouthShore RailCats 24

11. Sioux City Explorers 24

12. Chicago Dogs 17

















 

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