THUNDER BAY – A night after picking up their first win of the second half, things did not go quite so well for the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
Starter Peyton Burks gave up four runs in the first, two more in the second and went on to a one-sided, 10-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting Eau Claire Express.
The loss dropped the Cats to 1-6 in first-half play and 15-27 overall.
Vincent Martinez doubled to score two and Brock Burton also had an RBI double in an inning that saw Burks load the bases with no out and surrender four hits and a walk.
Troy Beilsmith singled to score Connor Laspina, who reached on an error by Thunder Bay shortstop Nate Soriano, and Burks balked in another run before departing for the night after the second.
Burks gave up a total of six runs, five of them earned, on six hits and three walks.
It took the host Border Cats, playing in front of 948 fans at Port Arthur Stadium, until the fourth to get on the board against Express starter Colt Mink.
Jakob Newton singled home Jake Engel to make it 7-1, Engel later driving in Joe Jimenez in the fifth on a fielder’s choice.
Trent Valentine, Austin Eggleston, who gave up the final three runs of the night, and Alex Dafoe mopped up for Burks, who slipped to 0-2 in making his third start of 2019 in 13 appearances.
The Cats only managed to rap out six hits against Mink and Eau Claire reliever Kuster Kinlecheenie, who tossed four innings of one-hit, shutout ball to earn his first save of the season.
