The Weyburn Beavers entered Monday night’s game against the Sylvan Lake Gulls four games back of the Swift Current 57s for the last playoff spot in the East Division and with six games left to play on the season. With one of the top teams in the West Division in town, the Beavers would keep the game close, but then the Gulls were able to take advantage of the Weyburn bullpen, scoring seven runs in the 7th inning, going on to win 8-3.
Weyburn had taken the lead in the first inning when Ryan McCarthy drew a walk with the bases loaded, putting Weyburn up 1-0. From there, the defences of both teams held runners at bay, with the Gulls finally getting on the board in the 5th inning with a home run from Easton Jones.
Batters from both teams took issue with the strike zone of home plate umpire Jordie Dwyer in the game, however, Weyburn’s Trent Lawson would be the only player who would be rung up for arguing balls and strikes. He was ejected in the fourth inning and was replaced by Cale Yuzdepski.
Beavers starting pitcher Luke Zimmer would work 5 1/3 innings, striking out three and allowing one run on four hits. Joe Savelkoul came on in relief for Zimmer in the 6th inning and would be on the mound for seven runs in the 7th inning, with only one of those runs earned, as six of them came after an error that extended the inning.
The Beavers did add two more runs in the bottom of the ninth inning when Triston Madison drove in two with a single. However, the rally ended there.
Batters from both teams took issue with the strike zone in the game, however, Weyburn’s Trent Lawson would be the only player who would be rung up for arguing balls and strikes. He was ejected in the fourth inning and was replaced by Cale Yuzdepski.
The Beavers will look to get back into the win column Tuesday night as they play the Gulls for the second night in a row. The first pitch is at 7:05 p.m. at Tom Laing Park.