DURHAM, NC - The official statistician of the American Association, Pointstreak, has announced that Lincoln Saltdogs 1B Dennis Raben (pictured) and Sioux City Explorers RHP Jason Jarvis have been named this week's Pointstreak Batter and Pitcher of the Week.

Raben played a key role in a tight win over the Gary SouthShore RailCats on Saturday. Raben’s two run double in the eighth inning that night broke a 2-2 tie and provided the Saltdogs with the winning runs in a 4-3 victory.

Though he never put the ball in play from the plate, Gary SouthShore 3B Daniel Pulfer (pictured) made the difference in the RailCats 6-5 win against the Lincoln Saltdogs. In the boxscore Pulfer had zero at bats because he drew five walks on Sunday. But, he scored three runs including the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning on a Chase Tucker single.

Elsewhere in the American Association Winnipeg downed Grand Prairie 10-5. Wichita edged Kansas City 3-2 in a rain-shortened six inning game. Laredo beat Fargo-Moorhead 4-2 and El Paso avoided a sweep by holding off Amarillo 12-8.

Behind homeruns from C Steve Domecus (pictured) and SS Cory Morales, the Sioux Falls Canaries took the fourth game of the series from the Sioux City Explorers 3-1 after losing the first three games. Domecus was just 1-for-3 on the day but his fourth inning blast gave the Canaries a lead that they would not relinquish.

Elsewhere in the American Association St. Paul beat the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League 9-3 in a rain-shortened eight inning game.

A long night came to an end in Laredo when third baseman-turned-pitcher Garrett Rau (pictured) lofted a game-winning sacrifice fly to give Laredo a 4-3, walk-off win over Fargo-Moorhead in 11 innings. Rau came in to pitch in the 11th and struck out a pair of RedHawks with the go-ahead run on third. He then won the game with his sac fly in the bottom half of the inning.

Elsewhere in the league, Lincoln edged Gary SouthShore 4-3, Sioux City squeezed past Sioux Falls 5-4, Winnipeg shut out Grand Prairie 5-0, Wichita got by Kansas City 4-3, Amarillo beat El Paso 14-4 and St. Paul downed interleague opponent New Jersey, 12-8.

One hit over seven innings. That was the line for Explorers RHP Jason Jarvis (pictured) in a 3-0 Sioux City victory over Sioux Falls. The starter faced just one batter over the minimum, as he induced two double plays to evade trouble in the fourth and fifth. Sioux City RF Peter Barrows delivered a two-run home run in the seventh, which provided the distance the Explorers needed to secure the victory.

Elsewhere around the league, Winnipeg downed Grand Prairie 4-2, Kansas City beat Wichita 5-4, Gary SouthShore fell to Lincoln 10-4, Laredo knocked off Fargo-Moorhead 5-3, Amarillo came back to beat El Paso 11-8 and St. Paul defeated Can-Am League opponent, New Jersey, 5-1.

Several former Independent players have been given nice promotions in recent days in the affiliated minor leagues. These include:

–RHP Lance Day, who started his pro career at Grand Prairie, TX (American Association), from Class A to AAA by Houston.

–RHP Chris Martin, another who started in the Indy game at Grand Prairie, from AA to AAA by Boston.

–INF Vance Albitz (Lincoln, pictured) from AA to AAA by St. Louis