Rox Beat Bismarck, Clinch Home Field Advantage

The St. Cloud Rox beat the Bismarck Larks 3-2 on Monday night in North Dakota. The win, which improves the Rox to 44-20 on the season, clinched home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Jackson Cooke gave St. Cloud a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. St. Cloud scored its second run on an Eric Bello RBI single in the fourth inning before Bismarck tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Rox designated hitter Wilmis Castro smashed a solo home run to lead off the top of the eighth inning, which would prove to be the game-winning run.

All Star JP Robertson got the start for St. Cloud and ended his night with six strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched. Brandon Jaenke picked up the save with a scoreless bottom of the ninth inning. His 15 saves this season are a Rox single-season record.

The Rox wrap up their road trip with a game in Bismarck Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. on AM 1390 and FM 93.9 Granite City Sports. The next home game for St. Cloud is set for Wednesday night, with the team's homestand continuing through Friday night.

The Northwoods League playoffs begin on Sunday. The Rox will play game two (and three, if necessary) of the best-of-three series at Joe Faber Field. Game two is set for Monday and game three (if necessary) scheduled for Tuesday.