ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Thunder Bay Border Cats bats went silent on Friday night.
The Northwoods League team mustered only three hits against a trio of St. Cloud Rox starters and went down to an 8-2 defeat to wrap up a three-game road trip with two straight losses.
The win helped the Rox (21-11) maintain a share of top spot in the North Division, tied with the Waterloo Bucks, who also won on Friday night.
Brendan Illies homered and drove in a pair for the Rox, winners of three straight.
Jean-Francois Garon did all the damage for Thunder Bay (11-20), tripling home a pair of runs in the sixth inning off St. Cloud reliever Kyle Boser to cut the Rox lead to 4-2 at the time.
But St. Cloud bounced back with four in the seventh to put the game out of reach, reliever Brandon Fokkema hurt by a Garon error in right in allowing all four runs to cross the plate – three of them unearned.
Brandon Williamson (0-5) took the loss for the Border Cats, going six innings and surrendering four runs on seven hits.
Jack Cushing (3-1), allowed just one hit over five innings in picking up the win.
The Cats return on home on Canada Day to take on the La Crosse Loggers at Port Arthur Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
