St. Cloud, MN- The St. Cloud Rox could not stop the heavy offense of Mankato as the MoonDogs tallied 13 hits to defeat the Rox 8-3 at Joe Faber Field in the first game of Monday’s twin bill. The teams will now play one more game tonight in Mankato beginning at 7:05 p.m. at Franklin Rogers Park, which will conclude the first half of the 2014 season as St. Cloud’s record sits at 18-16.

The Rox jumped ahead of the MoonDogs in the fourth inning Monday afternoon, breaking a scoreless tie as Boo Vazquez singled to score Bradley Strong and give the Rox their first run of the game. Josh Taylor took on the starting role on the mound for the Rox, pitching five innings and giving up six hits while striking out eight. Taylor started the sixth inning and was relieved by Tyler Peitzmeier after the first two batters reached base, who then allowed a three-run home run to Dalton DeLeon of Mankato to give the MoonDogs the lead.

From there Mankato would tack on another in the seventh and four more in the eighth off Rox pitcher Trevor Charpie to give them a commanding lead in the late innings. The Rox got back on the board with a solo home run from Morgan Phillips to left field in the eighth inning, giving them seven consecutive games of tallying a home run. Phillips finished the game 2-for-4 for the Rox after recording his second home run of the season.

The Rox added one more in the ninth with an RBI double from Mitchell Kranson, his fourth of the year, but could not tally any more runs as the final score read 8-3. Josh Taylor picked up the loss on the mound for the Rox, moving his record to 0-1 on the season.

This afternoon’s box score can be found at http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210437.

After tonight’s contest in Mankato, the Rox will play five consecutive away games after having Tuesday off, traveling to Kenosha on Wednesday for a two-game series and Green Bay after that for another two-game series as their trip ends in Rochester for one game on July 6^th. The Rox will next be at home on July 7^th against the Rochester Honkers, which is Hot Dog Hundo Night, where fans will have the opportunity to win numerous prizes and up to $100 just for purchasing a hot dog, presented by McDonald’s Meats.

Single game tickets can be purchased 24 hours a day at www.stcloudrox.com, by calling (320) 240-9798 or by visiting the Rox ticket office located at the Municipal Athletic Complex.

For more coverage of the Rox, visit www.sctimes.com.