MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- When the Moose Jaw Miller Express were going through their ups and downs through the month of June, it always stood to reason that once their hitting and pitching found the same page, things could get very interesting.
And wouldn’t you know it, that’s turned out to be exactly the case.
The Express scored three runs in the first inning against the Weyburn Beavers on Wednesday night and turned in a steady showing the rest of the game on their way to a 10-4 victory in Western Canadian Baseball League action.
The win was the fifth straight for the Miller Express and saw the team improve to 17-13, moving into sole possession of second place in the East Division, 3 ½ games back of the Regina Red Sox.
Weyburn fell to 7-22 with their 12th straight loss.
Moose Jaw built their lead to 5-1 through three innings and 8-3 through six before tagging on a pair of insurance markers over the final three innings to secure the win.
With the runs adding up, the Express pitching staff had another solid outing, beginning with starter Aaron Knuutila. He allowed three runs on six hits over four innings before giving way to a committee of five relievers, each of whom got the job done -- Bo Jacob Garza allowed one hit in the fifth, Ty Thomson tossed a scoreless sixth and Drew Sorrentino allowed a single run in the seventh before Jacob Castaneda and Jacob Quiles finished things off with a scoreless eighth and ninth.
At the plate, Robert Estrada boosted his average to .345 on the season with a 4-for-5 effort that included his third double of the campaign and a pair of runs batted in. Thomas Soto took advantage of three walks to score three runs, while Darren Hagen crossed the plate twice.
Weyburn’s offence was led by Ryan Webster, who went 3-for-4 with a double and run scored. Carter Schelllsmidt scored a pair of runs while Easton Mould was 2-for-4 and knocked in a pair.
Weyburn’s pitching staff didn’t have a lot of luck behind them, as five errors led to four of Moose Jaw’s runs being unearned. Starter Ian Heck allowed six runs, three earned on six hits over five innings while striking out six before Angel Fragozo gave up two runs, one earned, in the sixth. Mathieu Rocheleau allowed two runs on three hits over the next two innings and Brett Paterson tossed a scoreless ninth.
The Miller Express are back in action Friday night with a doubleheader against the Swift Current 57’s, with game one at 6:05 p.m. at Ross Wells Park.
