Brewers Lose Shootout At Centene

Facing the Great Falls Voyagers (23-31, 8-8) for the first time since the end of June, the Helena Brewers (20-34, 5-10) couldn't keep pace with their North Division foe in a 10-7 loss on Friday night at Centene Stadium.
The Brewers fell behind early as the Voyagers scored two runs in the first and added on a run in the bottom of the second, staking a 3-0 lead after two innings.
Helena took advantage of well-placed hits and critical errors by the Voyagers to go ahead in the third. Nick Roscetti started the inning with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Nicolas Pierre, Kenny Corey and Tristen Lutz followed with three consecutive singles, plating two runs to make it 3-2. Gabriel Garcia grounded out to short, scoring Corey from third, tying the game 3-3. Lutz then advanced to third on a failed back pick by Voyagers catcher Carlos Perez and scored when the ball was bobbled in the outfield, giving the Brewers a 4-3 lead.
 Great Falls responded in the bottom of the fourth inning, knotting the game at 4-4 on a solo home run by Justin Yurchak, his fourth of the season. Yurchak finished the night 4-for-4 with a walk and came just a double shy of the cycle.
The Voyagers continued their roll in the fourth, scoring two runs when Anthony Villa doubled with the bases loaded. Great Falls pushed the lead to four runs with another Villa double and a Yurchak single in the sixth.
In the final three frames, Helena mounted a pair of rallies to try and tie the game. With one out in the seventh, Jay Feliciano singled and Garcia doubled, putting two men in scoring position for Chad McClanahan. The first baseman bounced a ball down the third base line for a base hit, bringing in both runners to cut the deficit to 8-6.
Yet again, Great Falls separated from the Brewers in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs on a single, a triple and another single to make it 10-6. In total, the Voyagers pounded out 16 hits, nine of them for extra bases.
Trailing 10-6 in the top of the ninth, the Brewers brought the tying run to the plate. Feliciano reached on an error and advanced to second when the throw rattled around in foul territory. He tagged up to third on a fly out by McClanahan before scoring on a double from Payton Henry. Franly Mallen walked, bringing up Roscetti as the tying run. KJ Harrison came in as a pinch hitter, but popped out to second on the first pitch he saw, ending the game.
The Brewers return to action Saturday night in Great Falls against the Voyagers. Helena is scheduled to send RHP Dylan File (0-0, 3.72) to the mound against Great Falls RHP Kyle Von Ruden (2-2, 4.01). The game can be heard locally on Newstalk KCAP 95.9/950 AM, TuneIn Radio or the MiLB First Pitch App.