Mann has record-breaking night on the mound as RedHawks even series with New Jersey

FARGO-There have been a lot of stops in the professional baseball career of Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks starting pitcher Brandon Mann.

If you stick around the game for as long as Mann has, opportunities to break records sometimes present themselves.

One such opportunity was there for the taking Wednesday night at Newman Outdoor Field for Mann.

Mann recorded seven strikeouts in seven innings of work to help the Redhawks to an 8-3 victory over the New Jersey Jackals of the Canadian-American Association in front of 3,264 fans. Mann's fifth strikeout of the night against New Jersey's Leandro Castro in the fourth inning broke the American Association's single-season strikeouts record.

"I felt like I was locating my fastball well and I was using my other pitches too," said Mann, a 6-foot-2 left-hander. "I usually go with my slider to get the strikeouts, but (Wednesday) it was a lot of changeups and curveballs."

Mann entered the game with 140 strikeouts and needed five to break the record of 144 set by former Sioux Falls Canaries pitcher Ben Moore in 2011. He now sits at 147 strikeouts for season, which is a career best during his 13-year professional career.

"The last two seasons I spent most of my time working out of the bullpen and I got better at striking guys out," said Mann, who improved to 7-9. "This is my first year back as a starter, and I took the reliever mentality as a starter. I have tried to attack every batter I face, and it has really helped me come a long way this season."

Mann got some run support to grab the victory on top of the record.

With the game tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, F-M plated two runs to get Mann in line for the victory.

Shortstop Zach Penprase connected for a triple that scored second baseman Ryan Pineda. Drew Muren followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Penprase.

"Brandon breaking the record made it a special night," said Penprase, who finished the night 2-for-5 with three RBIs. "When they tied it up, we didn't feel like we were going to lose this game. We felt like we would score a couple more runs and win the game for him. He did a great job keeping us in the game."

New Jersey took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first getting a two-out RBI single from Castro.

The RedHawks (41-54) answered in the second inning, scoring two runs courtesy of an RBI single off the bat of first baseman Charlie Valerio. F-M started the second inning with four straight singles.

The Jackals tied the game up 2-2 in the sixth getting another RBI single from Castro.

F-M scored four runs in the eighth inning and have now won 18 of its last 24 games. The RedHawks also have won their last seven series-a streak they can extend with victories in the final two games of the series with the Jackals.