Kines Has Career Night, Miners Blow out Gateway
Published on August 4, 2021 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Southern Illinois Miners pitcher Gunnar Kines
(Southern Illinois Miners)
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners pounded out 12 runs on 11 hits offensively to back a dominant start from Gunnar Kines on the mound in a 12-0 rout of the Gateway Grizzlies on Wednesday night, snapping a five-game losing skid and evening the series at GCS Credit Union Ballpark in Sauget.
Nolan Earley began the scoring in the top of the first inning with two outs, hitting a solo home run to right-center field off Grizzlies starter Matt Mulhearn (1-2) to make it 1-0. Two innings later, Luke Mangieri would do the same, smashing a solo shot with two outs in the third to double the lead to 2-0. In the fourth inning, a two out rally scored three more Southern Illinois runs on RBI hits by Jared Mang and Arturo Nieto, making the score 5-0. An Ariel Sandoval sacrifice fly added another tally in the fifth inning for a 6-0 lead, and Jarrod Watkins then hit his first professional home run in the sixth inning to extend the advantage out to 8-0.
Meanwhile, Kines (2-3) enjoyed one of the best starts of his decorated Frontier League career. He worked around leadoff walks in the first and third innings while striking out 10 batters in his first five frames of work on the night. He retired 12 straight Grizzlies batters from the third inning through the sixth, and carried a no-hitter into the seventh before a leadoff single off the glove of a leaping Watkins by Abdiel Diaz broke it up.
The left-hander got a double-play ground ball on the very next pitch, however, and finished the night with seven one-hit, shutout innings, two walks, and a career-high 12 strikeouts on a night where he also passed former Miner Tyler Lavigne to move into fifth place in Frontier League history in career strikeouts. In addition, he surpassed 400 career innings pitched in the league during the game.
The Miners would complete the scoring by adding four more runs in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Mang and a three-run homer by Mangieri in the 12-0 victory. Mangieri led the charge with a pair of homers and a season-high four RBIs on the night, with Watkins finishing with two RBIs and three runs scored. Four Miners had multiple runs scored and four had multiple RBIs as Southern Illinois broke their five-game slide in emphatic fashion, out-hitting the Grizzlies 11 to two.
Southern Illinois will look to win the series in the rubber game on Thursday, August 5, at 6:45 p.m., with Trent Johnson starting on the mound against Gateway right-hander Geoff Bramblett at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the Frontier League's most-successful franchise since debuting in 2007, winning the 2012 Frontier League Championship as well as division titles in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2016. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in their inaugural season. In addition, they have sent 60 players to MLB organizations in their 14 years of operation. For ticket information, contact the box office at (618) 998-8499. For additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
Images from this story
 Southern Illinois Miners pitcher Gunnar Kines |
Frontier League Stories from August 4, 2021
- Fourth Inning Comeback Leads to Extra-Inning ValleyCats Victory - Tri-City ValleyCats
- Slammers Win Big, Tying Series - Joliet Slammers
- Kines Has Career Night, Miners Blow out Gateway - Southern Illinois Miners
- ThunderBolts Miss Chances in Loss to Evansville - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Washington Wins 6-1 for First Victory against Sussex County - Washington Wild Things
- Grizzlies Fall to Miners - Gateway Grizzlies
- Johnson Powers Florence Past Schaumburg to Even Series - Florence Y'alls
- Boomers Squander Chances in Loss at Florence - Schaumburg Boomers
- Boulders Power their Way to Fourth Straight Win - New York Boulders
- Otters' Win Streak Snapped by ThunderBolts - Evansville Otters
- Crusher Offense Continues Dominance - Lake Erie Crushers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
