Canaries Take Opener in Gary 6-3
By Aaron Rosenberg
GARY, IN - In an impressive win from start to finish, the Sioux Falls Canaries took the opener from the Central Division-leading Gary Southshore RailCats 6-3 Monday night. Kyle Ruwe earned his second win of the season pitching six strong innings. The bullpen finished the job by completing the final three frames without allowing a run and the bats provided ample run support.
Chris Duffy delivered a two-run single in the 3rd inning off RailCats starter Dustin Crenshaw, scoring Brandon Jones and AJ Kirby-Jones to put the Canaries out in front 2-0. AJ Kirby-Jones smashed a solo homerun with one out in the 5th and later in the inning after Carlos Mendez singled, Duffy brought him around to score on his RBI double and the lead was extended to 4-0.
Ruwe held the RailCats scoreless through four frames, but ran into problems in the 5th. Wally Backman led off the inning with a sinlge and came around to score on Derek Smith's double. Smith would soon score on Drew Martinez's single and the Canaries lead had been cut in half to 4-2.
Craig Maddox tripled with one out in the 6th for the Railcats and Backman followed with an RBI single to make it 4-3. Ruwe finished the inning without further damage and received a handshake from his manager Steve Shirley and pitching coach Mike Meyer. Ruwe finished his day having allowed three runs on seven hits in six inning while striking out four and walking one. The righthander improved to 2-4 with the win.
Lefthander and former RailCat Joe Testa worked a scoreless 7th and 8th innings for the Canaries. Testa as picked up on waivers from the RailCats less than two weeks ago and struck out three hitters tonight.
A pair of insurance runs came across for the Canaries in the 9th off of Kagen Hopkins. Steve Tinoco led off the inning with a double and moved to third on Jone's single. Valencia's groundball scored Tinoco and Mendez followed up by singling in Jone to give the Canaries a three-run cushion. Alan DeRatt locked down the bottom half of the 9th to earn his 7th save.
Crenshaw fell to 4-2 with the loss after allowing four runs in five innings on seven hits and four walks. The righthander struck out three Canaries.
Game two of the series will be at 7:10 PM Tuesday night. Fans can listen live to the game and the pregame show starting at 6:45 on AM 1230 and FM 98.1 KWSN or stream via KWSN.com.