Dogs Can't Bounce Back from Milwaukee Rally, Lose in 10 Innings
July 2, 2022 - American Association (AA)
Chicago Dogs News Release
ROSEMONT, Ill. - It was a game of ups and downs for the Chicago Dogs, but they ultimately fell in extra innings to the Milwaukee Milkmen, 8-5.
The one-two punch of Bryan Torres and Mason Davis torched Chicago pitching all night. The pair combined for seven hits and were responsible for driving in five total runs and showed why they earned their spot amongst the All-Star Game starters.
An offensive headliner for the Dogs was Michael Crouse. On Canada Day, the Vancouver native went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Charlie Tilson racked up two hits, including a double, and a RBI as well.
Crouse reminded the crowd of the holiday early on. The center fielder laced a ball straight through left field and over the wall for a home run to put Chicago up 1-0. Crouse is hitting .323 since June 14 with three home runs.
The Dogs followed that up with the Tilson double that brought in Danny Mars in the second. The next inning, third baseman Stevie Wilkerson hit his third home run in eight games as a Dog to extend the lead to 3-0.
With the extra-base power and consistent baserunner presence, it appeared the Dogs did not skip a beat from their series against Lake Country and Gary SouthShore. During the road trip, Chicago put up a total of 48 runs off of 11 home runs.
The game took a nasty turn for Kyle Murphy in the fourth. Dylan Kelly led off the inning with a single, he advanced to third and Bryan Torres drove him home with a single of his own. Mason Davis stepped up next and grounded a ball softly to the third baseman Wilkerson. Charging in to beat the speedy Davis, Wilkerson missed the throw and the error brought in two more runs.
Keon Barnum capped off the five-run rally with a towering home run, his 12th of the season. The All-Star game starter and former Dog has battled injury all season, but came up huge in that spot.
That ended the night for starter Kyle Murphy, who ended with 3.2 innings pitched, five runs allowed off of eight hits and struck out two. It marked his third straight start of allowing three runs or more.
Connor Kopach clapped a home run in the bottom of the frame that brought the Dogs within one, but Chicago could not make more from the blast.
Offensive steam returned in the sixth once Milwaukee went to the bullpen for A.J. Schugel. Grant Kay led off the inning with a walk and the bases were quickly loaded from there. That brought up Crouse once again with the opportunity for more offensive production. On a 3-2 count, Schugel fired a ball inside of the zone that walked Crouse and brought in Kay as the tying run. Much of Chicago's offensive identity is in being able to take a walk and it proved beneficial once more.
Both team's respective bullpens shut down the opposing lineups to bring this game into the extra innings. It marked the first extra innings game of the season for Chicago.
Riding the momentum of two dominant innings, Paul Schwendel returned for a third on the mound for Chicago. Things did not go the same way for the flamethrower, however. The Milkmen put together a small ball rally to score three total runs on Schwendel, which ended his night.
Mars kept Chicago's hopes alive with a RBI knock to bring the score to 8-6, but the rally was halted there. The Dogs dropped the series opener to Milwaukee to snap their six game winning streak and bring their season record against the Milkmen to 2-5.
This matchup projects to be the one to watch down the stretch in the East Division and has lived up to expectations thus far. Chicago will face former Dogs pitcher A.J. Jones for the third time this season. In the 9.2 combined innings, Jones has surrendered seven runs off of 15 hits. The Dogs will send lefty James Reeves out for his first start of the season. Reeves is typically a bullpen arm, but with Chicago's six-man rotation he becomes the next man up.
American Association Stories from July 2, 2022
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- Explorers Fall in Late Back-and-Forth Battle - Sioux City Explorers
- Former Cardinals Teammates Lead Monarchs Past RailCats - Gary SouthShore Railcats
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- Worley, Offense Lead Cougars Past DockHounds on Saturday - Kane County Cougars
- Monarchs' All-Stars Shine Bright Under the Lights - Kansas City Monarchs
- Small Ball Propels Cougars to Victory - Lake Country DockHounds
- Monarchs Walk Their Way Around RailCats in Series Opener - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Dogs Can't Bounce Back from Milwaukee Rally, Lose in 10 Innings - Chicago Dogs
- Explorers Walk off on Goldeyes in 11th - Winnipeg Goldeyes
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