American Association Insider: Thursday August 27th Takeaways

 Kevin Luckow

(non member of IBWAA)

Earlier today I was alerted of a column coming out of the Observer-Reporter of Washington County, PA. The columnist said he has been told the Cleburne Railroaders and Kane County Cougars are headed to the Frontier League, soon to be named National Association, next season. For full disclosure, I was sitting on this scoop since the All Star Break. I didn't want it to distract from the season. But now the can of worms is opened. Nothing is official yet, though a Frontier League official with knowledge of the situation informed me that it is indeed a done deal. It seems like at this point we will likely not hear anything official from either side until after the Miles Wolff Cup Playoffs. 

Now onto the games Thursday night, we got the closer games all over that we did not have on Wednesday. Five games in all, let's get to them.

Lincoln 10 Milwaukee 8 (10 innings)

Give the Saltdogs credit, they have shown that they are not going to roll over and die. With today's win, they are now four games out of a playoff spot with ten games left. But they still have to climb over two teams. All you can do is win your games and let fate take it from there. The Saltdogs did just that scoring three runs in the 10th inning highlighted by a two run Paul Myro IV home run, after tying the game in the ninth with Jairo Pomares homering with two outs. Andy Blake hit his 16th home run as part of a 3-4 day with three runs driven in.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Andreachi


Winnipeg 9 Kansas City 8 (10 innings)

The Monarchs came into Thursday night's series finale with a chance to tie Milwaukee for the best overall record, plus an opportunity to temporarily put the Goldeyes in the rear view mirror. The Goldeyes proved resilient however, rallying from a 5-2 deficit and a two run deficit in the tenth inning. It was Jiandido Tromp that make Winnipeg great again with a two run walkoff single. With the win, the Goldeyes now sit 3.5 games back in the West with a Lake Country, Fargo-Moorhead, Kansas City gauntlet to end the season. Kansas City goes to Lincoln to face a Goldeyes team playing for their playoff lives this weekend.

Fargo-Moorhead 13 Sioux Falls 8

The RedHawks looked to keep pace with the Goldeyes while the Canaries are trying to stave off the Sioux City Explorers. It was the RedHawks picking up the win in what seems a usual slugfest against their Dakota rivals. The Explorers trailed 11-2 and could not make it all the way back. Now the Canaries are only a half game back of the Canaries. That half game will be taken care of on Saturday when the Explorers play a doubleheader against the Kane County Cougars. Tucupita Marcano homered and drove in five runs to pace the RedHawks. The RedHawks will try to catch the Goldeyes before their matchup next week but will be hosting the Milwaukee Milkmen for the first of seven matchups in the last 11 games starting tomorrow night. 

Sioux City 6  Gary SouthShore 4

A huge win for Sioux City as they now are right on the tails of the Canaries for the last playoff spot. Hunter Poe picked up his second win in two pro starts and Austin Davis broke the American Association stolen base record with his 72nd stolen base on his birthday. The RailCats led this one 2-1 before the X's scored five unanswered runs. The loss proved costly for the RailCats as they are now 5.5 games behind the Railroaders with 10 games remaining. Jeff Isom has to make a decision with the trade deadline looming at noon on Saturday. With the RailCats loss, the two time defending American Association Champion Kane County Cougars are now qualified for the Miles Wolff Cup Playoffs. 

Cleburne 5 Chicago 4

The Railroaders in possibly their last home stand as a member of the American Association, walked off the Chicago Dogs for the second night in a row. This time it was Cody Thomas playing hero, with a walk off single to score Frankie Tostado. Now if Jeff Isom has to make a decision as to whether he deals players, the Dogs should be in sell mode now. There are many good offensive pieces in the lineup who should be rewarded for their seasons with a chance to play playoff baseball. The Dogs do not have the pitching to do any damage for playing any sort of spoiler role. 





























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