Marshall Dean gave up 10 runs in the Millers 13-10 loss to Yorkton last night.

This week’s three road games haven’t been kind to the Moose Jaw Miller Express, as they’ve suffered three straight losses to see their record drop to 5-8 on the year.

 

Friday night’s was the tale of two games for the Millers as they led early, struggled through the middle innings and then mounted a comeback that came up just short in a 13-10 loss in Yorkton.

 

The Millers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, but surrendered that lead in the bottom half when Yorkton put up a four-spot to go in front 4-3.

 

Yorkton would score the next 12 runs to take control of the game.  They drove in three in the fourth inning and then five in the seventh to take a commanding 12-3 lead at that point.

 

The Millers mounted their comeback in the top half of the eighth when they sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs on five hits.  Three of those runs came on a three-run home run by Kevin Gratza to right field.

 

That would be as close as Moose Jaw would get however,  Yorkton scored on in the bottom of the eighth and Kody Rock came on to close things out, pitching 1.2 innings for the save.

 

He didn’t make things easy on himself as he loaded the bases by walking Hank Stewart and giving up back-to-back singles to Gratza and Hunter Johnson.  Stewart came in to score on a passed ball, but Rock got Matt Benn and Miles Hunter to strikeout, and then Frank Pluskota grounded into a game-ending 5-3 putout.

 

Stewart had a stellar night at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk; Gratza picked up two hits, including his second home run of the year, and four RBIs; while Johnson pushed his average up to .392 with a 3-for-5 night.

 

Marshall Dean took his first loss of the season, giving up ten runs on 13 hits over six innings of work.  He struck out three and walked one as his record fell to 2-1 on the year. 

 

Anthony Martinez allowed just two earned runs in six innings to pick up the win for the Cardinals.

 

Moose Jaw will get to return to the friendly confines of Ross Wells Park on Saturday night as they host the Weyburn Beavers.  Logan Carter gets the start for Moose Jaw.  First pitch is at 7:05pm.

 

Johnson Named POW

 

Millers’ infielder Hunter Johnson had his hot start to the season rewarded as he was named the Western Major Baseball League’s player of the week for the opening week of the season.

 

Johnson finished the week with a .462 batting average, two home runs and 11 RBIs.  He also pitched four scoreless innings in three appearances with six strikeouts.

 

The first-year Miller was rewarded with an engraved Rawlings bat for his performance.