Production value

The Thunder Bay Border Cats finally got the top-to-bottom production from their lineup that’s been missing all summer long.

The result – a 9-5 win over their cross-border rivals from Duluth. It was a game that saw seven different Cats cross the plate and a pair of RBI from one of the two who didn’t score, a timely two-out single off the bat of leftfielder Ino Patron that stretched a two-run lead to four in the crucial seventh inning.

Patron, who was 1-for-4 on the night, reaching on an error in the third, said coming on the heels of two late-inning losses, he just wanted to put as much distance between the Cats and Huskies as he could.

“It’s always big to get insurance runs and helping the pitchers out a little. They’ve been having some rough patches, but we’re always trying to help them and give them support from the offence and always having faith that it’s going to come around for them,” Patron said.

Earlier in the season it was the other way around, with the pitchers doing their level best to carry an anemic offense that struggled to put more than two hits in a row together.

The Cats, losers of three in a row heading into Saturday’s contest, played in front of 615 fans at Port Arthur Stadium, have erupted for 20 runs in their past three outings.

Unfortunately they’ve also given up 26 during that span, half of them out of the bullpen.

“Everyone’s starting to come together and we’re just sticking with the approach and swinging it well,” said No. 9 hitter David Fallon, who started the season strong, but slumped and even found himself on the bench for a couple of games on the last road trip.

Fallon’s night was just what manager Mike Steed was looking for from the bottom part of his order. Fallon laid down a perfect sacrifice to move a runner into scoring position in the second, a runner who scored on Cullen Mahoney’s triple to the wall in centre.

Fallon singled home a run in the fourth, drove another one in with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and drew a one-out walk in the eighth and eventually made it into scoring position on a delayed steal of second.

“I was just trying to be productive, especially with a guy on third,” said Fallon, who upped his average to .204 with his 1-for-1 performance.

“I just wanted to have a good at bat, get a pitch to hit and (wait for) fastballs. I was lucky enough to get those tonight and was able to capitalize.”

Fallon epitomized Steed’s ongoing conviction that the Cats (11-19) have what it take to contend, although they will have to wait until the second half to do so.

“We had a great approach going into every at bat tonight and I thought what we did tonight, even though we’ve been scoring runs, we knew the situation walking to the plate. I thought David Fallon, with a runner on third base, had a perfect approach, looking for the deep fly ball that we needed to score the run,” Steed said.

The Cats, who won for just the third time in 14 games, were up 3-0 after three, then starter Tyler Mack was touched for a run in the fourth, catcher Chris Manship scoring on a Mike Bisenius single.

Thunder Bay responded, plating two more in the fourth, Fallon singling home Evan Weibel and then scoring himself on a wild pitch by Duluth starter Ryan Gibbard, who did not survive the inning.

But the Huskies netted a pair of their own in the fifth, thanks to doubles by K.C. Clabough, Brian Hansen and Manship.

Weibel scored again for the Cats in the sixth, a run Jake Wise erased with a lead-off homer off Thunder Bay reliever Reid Rooney, who took over for Mack in the fifth and got the win.

With Brad Delatte on the mound, one of the few Thunder Bay relievers who wasn’t overworked against Mankato, the Huskies threatened  in the eighth. They loaded the bases with one out, but the southpaw Delatte reached back and found a little extra heat, striking out Brian Hansen and Wise to end the threat.

It was the second time the Cats got out of a bases-loaded jam. Two innings earlier Alex Guthrie made a nice snag on a low liner to first, ending the sixth with no harm to Rooney.

Cat tracks: Sunday's 1:35 p.m. matinee is free admission day at the ballpark. The Cats, averaging 679 fans a night, are hoping to showcase the level of baseball they have to offer ... The Cats are mulling whether or not to place a waiver claim on former Mankato 3B Blair Moore. The Moondogs waived Moore, a temporary roster guy, despite the fact he was hitting .327 with four homers and 20 RBI, to make room for a player they had committed to over the winter.