REGINA — The Moose Jaw Miller Express just keep rolling along in Western Canadian Baseball League action.
The Miller Express fell behind the Regina Red Sox 4-2 in the first inning on Thursday night in Regina but would pitch a shutout from there, eventually getting the go-ahead run in the sixth and going on to a 5-4 victory.
The win was the eighth straight for Moose Jaw and combined with the Weyburn Beavers taking a 10-7 victory over the Saskatoon Berries, sees the Express improve to 11-4 and extend their lead atop the East Division to 1 ½ games.
Moose Jaw 5, Regina 4
Moose Jaw got off to a decent start with a pair of runs in their half of the opening inning at Currie Field, but a three-run home run from Brady Bye keyed the four-run inning and gave the Red Sox the early lead.
Miller Express starter Sean Bavis settled down from there, though and would end up pitching four straight shutout innings in the aftermath. He pitched five, allowing six hits, striking out six and walking three.
Moose Jaw’s bullpen was lights out from there, beginning with Jordan Bauer allowing a single hit in the sixth and Jacob Quiles tossing two shutout innings where he threw 13 of his 17 pitches for strikes. Nathan Pisio then finished things off in the ninth to earn the save.
The Express steadily chipped away at the plate, with Garryn Plummer scoring on a wild pitch in the third, Pacey Phillips scoring on Thomas Soto single in the fourth and Soto hitting a sac fly in the sixth to score Michael Rago with the game-winning run.
Justin Simard was the only Red Sox player with more than one hit, as he went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Caleb Orr started for Regina and took the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits over 5 ⅓ innings work.
Weyburn 10, Saskatoon 7
The Beavers put together a couple of comebacks in Saskatoon, the first of which came when the Berries opened with a five-run first inning, only for Weyburn to rally back with five of their own in the third.
Single runs in the fourth and fifth saw Saskatoon go ahead 7-5, but Weyburn came right back with a pair in the sixth and added the go-ahead and insurance runs in the eighth before finishing off with one more in the ninth.
Ryan Dauphinee had the big hit on the night for the Beavers, hitting a single into right field that plated Robert Gurney and Hugh Montogmery to give Weyburn the lead for good.
Dauphinee ended up 3-for-5 with three RBI while Trevor Dale hit a three-run home in the third and ended up 2-for-5 with a pair of runs. Joe Madill also knocked in a pair, Hugh Montgomery scored two runs.
Will Seiver had a tough start for Weyburn on the mound, with only one of his five runs allowed in the first being earned. Keaton Husband went the next four innings and allowed a pair of runs as Weyburn got back into it, Gunner Ferguson tossed a clean sixth and seventh while striking out six. Zach Raichel picked up the win after pitching a scoreless eighth, and Jackson Sheehy had a shutout ninth to land the save.
Gael Salinas and Aidan Marien each scored a pair of runs for Saskatoon, Nick Cote knocked in a pair, Ethan Murdoch was 2-for-4 with a double and run scored.
Jackson Fox started for Regina and allowed five runs on seven hits over four innings, Tanner Hosick was the losing pitcher after allowing the two runs in the eighth.
Weyburn is now 7-8 and are in third place, four games back of Moose Jaw. Regina drops to 6-9 and are in fourth, five games back of first.
Up Next
All four Saskatchewan teams are in action on Friday, with Moose Jaw at Swift Current (6:57 p.m.) and Regina at Saskatoon 7 p.m.).
