LINCOLN, Neb.  –  The Sioux Falls Canaries' bats fired off a barrage of 20 hits on Friday night, including five from J.P. Ramirez, and the Birds cruised to an 11-3 defeat of the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park.

Ramirez became the 16th Sioux Falls hitter in team history with a five-hit performance, adding three runs scored and an RBI.

The Canaries (28-38) never looked back after a four-run rally in the second inning against Lincoln ace Pete Parise (7-5). After back-to-back singles by Jake Taylor and Ramirez, Nate Baumann doubled home Taylor. Stephen King then doubled home two men, and Cory Morales capped the scoring with an RBI single.

The last four men in the Canaries lineup were a combined 13-for-18 with nine runs scored and six RBI. King was 3-for-3 with a team-high three RBI, while Taylor and Baumann had multi-hit nights.

Tim Pahuta also hit long solo home run for his team-high 18th of the season, and Nick Van Stratten went 4-for-6 after going hitless in his last two games.

Canaries starter Kyle Ruwe (8-5) received plenty of run support as he cruised through seven innings. He gave up three runs on five hits, improving to 4-0 in July and remaining unbeaten since June 25. His only mistake was a three-run home run yielded to Ian Gac in the fourth inning. He walked two and struck out two.

Parise made an early exit after four innings and took the loss. He gave up nine runs on 13 hits, and the Canaries beat Lincoln for the fourth time in eight games this season.

The Canaries seek to clinch three-game series in game two at 7:05 p.m on Saturday.

Courtesy:  Sioux Falls Canaries

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