MOOSE JAW -- The Regina Red Sox suddenly find themselves on a bit of a roll in Western Canadian Baseball League action.
The Red Sox picked up their third straight win on Wednesday night, prevailing 7-4 over the Moose Jaw Miller Express in a contest that turned into a battle of the bullpens at Ross Wells Park. The Weyburn Beavers also found themselves in the hunt on the road against the Medicine Hat Mavericks, but a late-game outburst would give the home team an 11-8 win.
Regina 7, Moose Jaw 4
Fans of low scoring games had a treat in the early going of the latest meeting of the Trans Canada Clash, as neither Miller Express starter Westin Walls nor Regina Red Sox starter Ayden Page were giving up much until the midpoint of the game.
Both pitchers lasted until the fifth inning, with Page having the slightly better outing: three runs on three hits over 5 ⅓ while striking out five and walking two.
Walls allowed three runs on seven hits over the same span, walking four and striking out seven, giving him a league-leading 54 strikeouts on the campaign.
Regina’s bullpen proved to be the difference, though, as David Hankins would allow a single run through the eighth inning and Jory Graves would toss a scoreless ninth to earn the save.
Kaden Noble allowed four runs over 1 ⅓ innings of relief for Moose Jaw, Landen Zehr finished things off and allowed three hits the rest of the way.
Ian Montz had his best game of the season at the plate for Regina, going 3-for-6 with a two-run triple in the sixth and finishing with four runs batted in. Rafeal Jackson was 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Robert Estrada had an impact in his first game since rejoining the Express earlier in the week, hitting a solo home run to lead off the sixth. Eduardo Saenz ended up 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
Regina improves to 18-15 and remain third in the East Division, Moose Jaw falls to 14-20 and are fourth.
Medicine Hat 11, Weyburn 8
The Beavers threw a scare into the Mavericks through the first seven innings, consistently putting up runs and building an 8-7 lead heading into the eighth.
That would be the end of the good news for Weyburn on the night, though, as a two-run home run from Blake Dale would give Medicine Hat the lead for good, and they’d tack on another two insurance runs in the frame for good measure.
Chett McDaniel was 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs and two RBI for the Beavers, while Ian Heck was 3-for-5 with a double, run and two RBI.
Jeremy Freeman Jr. was 3-for-5 with his 12th double of the season, three runs scored and three RBI to pace the Mavericks offence.
Isaiah Granado got the start for Weyburn and allowed two runs on three hits over three innings, Logan Kinter took the loss after giving up the four runs in the eighth.
Danny Retzlaff allowed six runs on nine hits in 3 ⅓ as the Mavs starter, with Ryan Harney tossing a scoreless seventh and eighth before Luke Barrientos earned the save.
Medicine Hat is now 23-12 and second in the East, Weyburn falls to 8-24 and are fifth in the East.
League action continues Thursday night with Swift Current at Regina (7 p.m.), Moose Jaw at Medicine Hat for a doubleheader (Game 1 at 7:05 p.m.) and Saskatoon at Weyburn (7:05 p.m.).
