MANKATO, Minn. – The Stingers were unable to bring home a win Monday evening from Mankato,  dropping a 7-6 heartbreaker against the MoonDogs.  

Polo Portela (Sac City) began the game by throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his third start of the season. He has still not allowed an earned run, now totaling nearly 27 innings on the year.

At the plate, the Stingers worked quietly for seven innings, until they scored six in the eighth to take a four run lead over the MoonDogs. 

The rally started when Eddie Estrada (Minnesota) had a sacrifice bunt to put two in scoring position. Two batters later, Tyler Reichenborn's (Iowa Western) two-RBI single brought in the first pair of Stinger runs.

Six more batters came up after Reichenborn, bringing the total to 11 in the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, the MoonDogs came up to the plate trailing 6-2. They rallied in front of their home crowd toward a come-from-behind walkoff victory.

Today's Center for Diagnostic Imaging player of the game was Polo Portela. CDI is your local medical imaging provider. It’s your choice where you go for medical imaging, for MRI, CT, mammograms and pain injections, choose CDI. Visit online at myCDI.com/CentralMN.

The Stingers return home to play the Bismarck Larks tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. in Willmar. It will be Marathon Versus Baseball Night presented by Hansen Advertising. Runners will compete in a marathon during the game to answer the age-old question: What takes longer a baseball game or a marathon?

Tickets for all games at Bill Taunton Stadium are available at WillmarStingers.com or by calling the Stingers' ticket office at 320-222-2010.

The 2017 Stingers season is presented by Marcus Construction. For more coverage of the Stingers, visit the West Central Tribune online at www.wctrib.com.