Hours before the Mankato MoonDogs and Waterloo Bucks were set to square off on Tuesday night, the heavens opened up on Franklin Rogers Park and put the future of the game in doubt.  But clear skies prevailed and allowed the MoonDogs to try for a sixth straight victory.  They did not get it, however, as the Bucks slugged their way to an 11-2 win.

The Bucks started hot right off the bat, pun intended, putting up three runs off MoonDogs starter Ricky Digrugilliers before recording an out.  They would add a fourth later in the inning, putting the MoonDogs in a sizable hole before their first turn at bat.

Fortunately for the MoonDogs, that was the only blemish of Digrugilliers’ outing, as he shut the Bucks out for the next three innings.  Unfortunately for the MoonDogs, their offense was not mounting any rallies.  Bucks starter Zachary McLeod did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when Ethan Valdez reached on an infield single.

MoonDogs reliever TJ Satterly entered the game in the fifth inning, holding the Bucks hitless until the seventh, where they managed to push two more runs across.  Satterly faced two more batters in the eighth inning, but ultimately gave way to teammate Kaleb Schmidt after a two-run home run by Drew Greenwood gave the Bucks a 8-1 lead.  Schmidt then gave up a two-run home run of his own to Nicola Mislinski, and suddenly it was a 10-1 game.

The MoonDogs showed some signs of life in the bottom of the eighth inning, scraping together three hits and scoring their second run of the game on an Alvaro Rubalcaba single.  But another home run in the top of the ninth, this time by Charlie Concannon, crushed any hopes the MoonDogs had of a comeback, making the score 11-2, which would become the final score minutes later.

The MoonDogs finished with five hits, and an RBI apiece from Rubalcaba and Kyle Cuellar.  The loss drops their second half record to 16-8, and they will travel to St. Cloud to battle the Rox in a doubleheader tomorrow, with the first game starting at 12:05.