The Moose Jaw Miller Express’s bats came alive in a 14-6 win over the Regina Red Sox on Tuesday night at Ross Wells Park to clinch of playoff spot in the WCBL.
Regina opened the scoring in the top of the first. However, Thomas Soto scored on a sacrifice grounder by Eduardo Saenz to tie the game 1-1.
Moose Jaw took the lead in the bottom of the second. Evan Deringer doubled to drive home Tanner DeGrazia, and Jackson Martin scored on a wild pitch.
The Miller Express extended their lead to 7-1 with four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Soto hit a ground-rule double to bring home Martin and Deringer. William Edwards then singled to score Soto and Ben Waliczek.
Moose Jaw added another run in the bottom of the fifth when Waliczek hit into a fielder’s choice to bring home Andy Rivas.
Regina got a run back in the top of the sixth, but Moose Jaw added two more in the bottom half of the inning to make it 10-2. Edwards scored on a sacrifice fly by Saenz, and DeGrazia singled to drive home Austin Gurney.
The Red Sox added a single run in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Moose Jaw responded with four more runs. Edwards singled to bring home Waliczek and Deringer. Soto then scored on a sacrifice fly by Gurney, and Edwards crossed the plate on a groundout by Rivas.
Regina scored three runs in the top of the eighth, but the deficit was too much as the Miller Express secured the 14-6 win.
Rodolfo Guardiola got the start for Moose Jaw, going six innings and allowing three hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out five. Also pitching for the Miller Express were Maddox Mateychuk, Joe Gutierrez and Josh Bourbeau.
The Miller Express are back in action tonight when they head to Currie Field in Regina for a rematch with the Red Sox.