Error costly

Two-out errors usually come back to haunt you.

The Thunder Bay Border Cats are still smarting from Alex Guthrie’s seventh-inning miscue, a play that should have ended the inning and preserved a one-run Cats lead. Instead the visiting Mankato Moondogs plated three runs, all unearned and snatched victory away at Port Arthur Stadium, sending the Cats to their eighth loss in nine games, a 9-5 defeat.

The loss officially eliminated the Border Cats (10-18) from first-half contention.

Manager Mike Steed said reliever Alec Smith (L, 1-1) did exactly what he wanted against Shaun Cooper in that situation, forcing a routine ground ball out of the Northwoods League’s second-leading hitter.

It just didn’t work out as planned.

“He got him to roll over a breaking ball. It’s a play we have to make and yeah, that turned the ballgame around. The next hitter hits a triple to the left-centre gap,” Steed said.

Sam Lind’s drive scored Cooper and Brennan Moore, whose one-out walk spelled the end for Cats reliever Reid Rooney (L, 0-2), who took over in the fifth for starter Logan Birr.

Lind then trotted home on a wild pitch by Smith, giving Mankato a 7-5 lead at the time.

Cats 1B Ty Woseleger said the lengthy losing streak is beginning to take its toll on his teammates.

“It’s just tough to swallow because we play parts of good games, we just have trouble playing a complete game. Tonight, collectively we just didn’t do it late in the game and I think that’s something we’ve got to work on as a team,” said Wosleger, who put the Cats ahead for the first and only time of the night, driving his second career homerun over the fence in right in the sixth, an inning after the team roared back to tie the game 4-4 with a three-run effort in the fifth.

It was a rude way for Wosleger to greet Mankato reliever Jeff Rohrback as he crushed a 2-1 offering deep into the rapidly darkening night sky, a ball that hugged the foul line but managed to stay fair.

“I was just trying to get on base as a lead-off guy in that inning, getting late into the game,” said Wosleger, who hit his only other homer as a Border Cat in 2010.

“He gave me a good pitch to hit, so I just drove it out of here.”

The Moondogs, who took a 1-0 lead in the third, only to see David Fallon tie it up, scoring on an infield grounder by Alex Guthrie, roared out a three-run lead in the fourth.

James McDonald delivered the devastating blow, in actuality a relatively routine grounder that Birr deflected away, along with a possible inning-ending double play.

Two runs scored on the play, making it 4-1 Mankato (18-9).

But the usually light-hitting Cats found their bats in the fifth.

Ino Patron singled to lead things off, then stole second to move into scoring position down 4-1. He went to third on a grounder and crossed the plate on a Cullen Mahoney single.

Mahoney, the team’s leading hitter who had a productive 3-for-5 night, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a double steal, when No. 2 hitter Brett Kay reached on a walk and took off for second. Kay tied it on a Guthrie single.

Mankato starter Alex Blackford recorded the final out, then headed for the showers, having given up six hits and four runs before departing.

Four other Moondogs pitchers followed, with Rohrbach earning the win, his second of the season against one defeat.  Nick Goody closed things out in the ninth, hitting David Fallon, but then retired three straight to clinch the victory.

Cat tracks: Attendance was 835, raising their season average to 671 on the season ... The team raised $750 to support Candy, a three-month-old puppy allegedly beaten by its former owner and taken in by New Hope Dog Rescue. Vet bills are expected to be about $3,500 ... Friday’s Canada Day rematch is scheduled to start at 1:35 p.m. The Cats will be wearing special Canada jerseys and will be giving away a trip to Las Vegas.