Garispe leads Millers back to win column

It was an effortless performance for Mason Garispe on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Ross Wells Park.

The Moose Jaw Miller Express' starting pitcher needed just 80 pitches to strikeout 11 batters over six shutout innings. That lights out performance helped the Millers climb back into the win column with a 6-1 victory over the Melville Millionaires.

The win snapped a two-game skid for the Millers and improved their record to 7-2 on the year.

"It was good, especially after we had a rough (start to the) weekend, so it was good to bounce back and put some zeros up," said Garispe after the win.

"I felt like I had all three of my pitches and I was locating them where I wanted to, so it was nice."

This was Garispe's second start of the summer for the Millers and he was able to keep the Millionaires off balance throughout the game.

Garispe struck out the side in the second inning, while Melville picked up one hit in the third and fourth innings and then added two in the fifth. Whenever the Millionaires looked like they were going to start putting pressure on him, Garispe leaned back and got a groundout or a strikeout with only two outs coming in the air.

"He threw a heck of a game, he was out there throwing strikes and got a lot of punch outs and that was huge, especially after the rough weekend that we had," said infielder Blake Gallagher.

The Millers offence gave Garispe plenty of support as well, starting with two runs in the first inning.

Gallagher led off the fourth inning with his first home run of the season and the Millers would tack on one more run in the frame on an RBI-groundout by catcher Ty Barclay to make it 4-0 after four.

"I just jumped on a fastball and it happened to go, so it's always good," said Gallagher after the game.

Melville got on the board with a solo home run from catcher Justin Braziel in the seventh inning, but Moose Jaw responded with run-scoring singles from Barclay and first baseman Adam Cook.

Barclay was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in the win, while centerfielder Yonelle Firebrace went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a bunt single and two stole bases.

Cook also stole two bags as Moose Jaw finished with six stole bases in total during an aggressive game on the base paths.

Despite going 1-2 on the weekend, the Millers are still hot to start the year and Gallagher said the team is feeling good after Sunday's win.

"It was really good to bounce back, the guys knew that we needed to and it was great to come back home and keep the win streak alive at home," he said.

"The team chemistry that we have going so far is pretty good, it's special to meet a whole bunch of new guys and just mess like we have so far, that's what I think is working for us."

The Millers will get Monday off before opening a stretch of six straight games on Tuesday in Regina. Moose Jaw plays five straight home games after that, starting with a rematch against the Red Sox on Wednesday, 7 p.m, at Ross Wells Park.