Miller Express take pair from Division leaders
Moose Jaw downs Regina 6-2 one night after defeating Weyburn 12-3
Darrel Doll homered against the Regina Red Sox on Thursday night.
All season long, the Moose Jaw Miller Express have found a way to break mini losing skids with impressive victories against tough opponents.
Their two most recent Western Major Baseball League contests were no exception, as the Express rolled to a 12-3 win over the season-long Eastern Division-leading Weyburn Beavers on Tuesday before rolling to a 6-2 win over current leaders the Regina Red Sox on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for the local squad, it’ll likely take winning out the last 10 games of the regular season and a whole lot of help to move up the standings – the Express sit with a 22-21 record, five games back of third-place Weyburn and eight back of Regina while also 6 ½ games up on Melville for the final playoff spot.
Miller Express 12, Weyburn 3
Nico Portillo held the high-power Beavers offence to only three runs on four hits through five innings of work. He let his bullpen take over from there, as Michael Ross held the Beavers to two hits over two innings before Jaden Hofmann and Jack Gamba each tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
Things were just as effective on offence, led by Michael Borst and his 4-for-4 night that saw him double and score a pair of runs while knocking in two. Blake Gallagher and Andres Garza also crossed the plate twice each and had a pair of RBI while Chris Warken continued to swing a hot bat, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
The Express trailed 3-1 after the first but scored five runs in the third and tacked on another four in the fifth to take control of the contest.
Miller Express 6, Regina 2
It was Matt Jackson’s turn to shut down a hard-hitting team the next night, as he tossed his third quality start in his last four outings, giving up two runs on six hits over eight innings to pick up the win.
Just as important, and as was the case against Weyburn, Jackson limited the number of free passes Regina had in the contest, giving up a single walk – a far cry from the regular double-digit totals seen in the Express’ three losses late last week.
Gallagher tossed a scoreless final inning to close out the contest.
Darrell Doll hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to score Moose Jaw’s sixth run, while Alex Orenczuk laced a two-run double in the sixth to break open a 2-2 tie. Tucker Zdunich crossed the plate twice for the Express.
Moose Jaw returns to action Thursday night when they travel to Regina for a re-match with the Red Sox. Next home action is Friday when they host the Swift Current 57’s. Game time is 7 p.m. at Ross Wells Park.
