LINCOLN, Nebraska – Curt Smith had three hits on his bobblehead night, Kyle Kinman tossed five shutout innings, and the Lincoln Saltdogs evened the series with a 3-1 win over the Sioux Falls Canaries at Haymarket Park on Saturday night.
Smith has eight hits over his last four games, and Kinman has now allowed just three runs over 20 innings in the month of August.
Lincoln (46-39) opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning and Skyler Weber made it 2-0 with a leadoff homer in the 5th.
Sioux Falls (34-52) got within a run when Trey Michalczewski hit a solo homer on the first pitch of the 7th, but Yanio Perez’s sacrifice fly restored Lincoln’s two-run lead in the 8th.
Carson Lance struck out the final three batters after a leadoff infield single in the 8th inning, and James Pugliese struck out two in a 1-2-3 9th for his league-leading 24th save in the 9th inning.
Perez had two hits and an RBI, while David Vidal also drove in a run. Skyler Weber’s homer was his sixth of the year and Lincoln’s 98th in 2021. Justin Byrd went 0-for-4, and his 34-game on-base streak – the longest active in the American Association – came to an end.
The ‘Dogs snapped a two-game skid – their first since mid-July – and are now 20-1 in games where the opposition scores two runs or fewer.
Lincoln can win the series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch time is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 1:05 p.m. on ESPN Lincoln 101.5 FM/1480 AM.
The Saltdogs are celebrating their 20th season at Haymarket Park this season! All ticket and promotional information can be viewed at saltdogs.com.