Pheasants Clobber St. Paul
Published on June 8, 2012 under American Association (AA)
Sioux Falls Canaries News Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Sioux Falls Pheasants hit three home runs, including Cristian Guerrero's fourth in four games, and cracked 20 hits en route to a 14-5 win over the St. Paul Saints on Friday night at Midway Stadium.
The Pheasants jumped on St. Paul immediately and never trailed after Jonny Kaplan lead off with an infield single and Cory Morales followed with a two-run home run. The ball appeared to clear the left field fence, but umpires ruled it in play when it caromed back on the field off a second sign. Left fielder Willie Cabrera fell attempting to catch the ball, and Morales scored nonetheless.
"I didn't see a signal, so I was running hard just in case," Morales said of his second home run this season. "The left fielder was on the ground and nobody was around the ball, so I was going as fast as I can, trying to get around."
Cristian Guerrero left no doubt three batters later when he launched a mammoth two-run home run to left center, putting the Pheasants ahead 4-0 with his league-leading seventh long ball of the year. Guerrero homered for the fourth consecutive game, tying a team mark set by Jermaine Swinton in 2001.
St. Paul cut the lead to 4-2 on Jim Rapaport's two-run home run in the third, but Trevor Lawhorn belted a double to the right-center field gap in the fourth. Joe Anthonsen followed two batters later with an RBI single for a 7-2 advantage. Lawhorn was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and raised his season average to .388.
Mark Shorey led off the sixth with his fourth home run. He has homered in two straight games. "We have a pretty good offense," said Morales, who was 3-for-5 with three RBI. "Once we get rolling, it keeps going."
Lawhorn led a team effort that saw seven men have multi-hit nights and every starter collect at least one hit.
Alan DeRatt (1-0) earned his first victory in a Sioux Falls uniform. DeRatt went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. He walked only one and struck out three.
St. Paul starter Alberto Rolon (1-2) left in the fourth inning with a groin injury. The Pheasants touched him for five runs on four hits in three-plus inning.
Game two of the three-game series is at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, June 9 in St. Paul. The game will be broadcast on Sioux Falls Sports Radio 1230-AM KWSN and www.kwsn.com.
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