St. Cloud scored 7 runs (5 unearned) in the first two innings and held on to win, 7-5 Sunday night.

The River Bats took advantage of early errors by the MoonDogs to score 2 runs in the bottom of the first and 5 runs in the second. Alex Kringen, who got the start, only made it through 1.1 innings and tagged for 7 runs, 5 of which were unearned.

Mankato turned to its bullpen to hold the River Bats at bay and give the offense a chance to get back in the game. That’s exactly what happened, as the bullpen came in to pitch 6.1 innings of shut out baseball the rest of the game.

Mankato’s offense came alive and scored one run in the top of the second, 2 runs in the third and 2 more in the fifth to close the gap. Unfortunately, the MoonDogs couldn’t get across another couple runs to tie the game.

The MoonDogs finished with 12 hits, while Grant Rembert finished 3-5 with a double, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Kevin Dixon turned in a nice performance as well, going 3-4 with a run scored.

Mankato returns home tonight Monday, August 2nd to host the North Division leading Duluth Huskies at 7:05 p.m. Current Minnesota Twins star Lew Ford will be on hand as it’s Minnesota Twins Night presented by Jake’s Stadium Pizza. Accompanying Ford will be the one and only Wally the Beer Man and TC Bear. For ticket information call 507-625-7047.