(7/27/06) For a few moments, it looked as though the Mankato MoonDogs were on their way to completing a two-game sweep of their crucial series with the first-place Duluth Huskies. Ryan Addison had come up with a clutch two-out single in sixth to put Mankato on top, and Steve Salas was tossing a one-hit shutout before 1,663 fans at Franklin Rogers Park, the third-largest crowd in franchise history.

But the Huskies showed why they have won 16 of 18 games in the season’s second half, rallying for two runs in the seventh and two more in the eight, en route to a 4-2 win over the MoonDogs to move four games ahead of Mankato in the North Division. The two teams open a two game series in Duluth on Friday.

All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Brock Bond led off the seventh with a double, and scored on a single by Tim Murphy. One out later, Nick Sullivan doubled into the right-center field gap to give the Huskies the lead, and knock Salas from the game. Salas (3-5) finished by allowing two runs on four hits in 6.1 innings, striking out four and walking none in another in a series of tough losses for the All-Star pitcher.

Duluth added two more runs in the eighth, as Chris House singled, stole second, and came around to on a wild pitch and an error. Later in the inning, Murphy once again drove in Bond with a single to give Duluth a 4-1 advantage.

The MoonDogs drew within two runs in the bottom of the inning, when Tim Smith singled home Ben Geelan, who had walked and advanced to third on an error. The ‘Dogs brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, when Robert Rodebaugh was hit by a pitch leading off the inning. But Nate Hanson flied out and Sean Halton bounced into a game-ending double play to ensure the Huskies left Mankato with a series split.

Smith continued to swing a hot bat for the MoonDogs, going 2-for-4 with an RBI for his third straight multi-hit game.