Canaries Let Early Lead Slip Away In 10-6 Loss To RedHawks

FARGO, ND -- In their final series of the season the Sioux Falls Canaries (32-65) came out with a sense of urgency, scoring three runs in the first inning on an AJ Kirby-Jones homerun. Unfortunately, the pitching did not do their part and the Canaries fell to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (41-55) 10-6 Friday night.

After Kirby-Jones's homer, Canaries starter Kyle Vazquez was handed a 3-0 lead, but was unable to hold it, surrendering two runs in the second and one in the third to see the game tied.

The Birds retook the lead in the fourth inning when Stephen Branca singled in Carlos Mendez, but the real damage came in the bottom of the fifth.  Fargo scored five runs on six hits before Vazquez recorded an out and he exited with an 8-4 deficit.

The Canaries cut it in half in the seventh when Kevin Dultz and Ty Forney reached on base hits to start the inning and Steve Tinoco and Brandon Jones drove them in to make it 8-6.  Fargo answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom half en route to the 10-6 win.

Taylor Stanton (6-11) earned the win for Fargo, pitching into the seventh inning.  Vazquez (5-9) took the loss and did not make it out of the fifth.

Tinoco, Mendez and Chris Valencia each had two hits for the Canaries.  C.J. Retherford had two hits and drove in three runs for Fargo, while Frank Salerno, Nic Jackson, Brandon Tripp, Travis Higgs and Zach Penprase each had multi-hit games of their own.

The teams continue the series at 7:02 PM Saturday night.

Courtesy:  Sioux Falls Canaries