In game two of a three-game set, the Gary SouthShore RailCats (13-17) dropped a 6-5 finish to the Chicago Dogs (20-11) in the 11th inning at Impact Field in Chicago, Illinois.
With one down and a pair in scoring position, Ryan Lidge roped a single into left to walk things off and send us home over four hours after first pitch. Lidge finished the night with a 4-for-6 performance and three RBI in the win.
Both starters earned no decisions on the evening as the Dogs’ Jonathon Crawford pitched four innings of scoreless baseball while RailCats’ Felix Santiago posted seven innings, allowing five runs on ten hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Chicago drove in a pair in the third frame, but the RailCats fired back in the fifth. Tyler Van Marter drilled a two-bagger into left to plate two and take a 3-2 lead before MJ Rookard stepped up to the plate with one on and two outs.
Rookard crushed his first home run of the year, a two-run shot, to give Gary SouthShore the 5-2 advantage in the fifth frame.
TJ Bennet pulled the Dogs within two just half an inning later with his second homer in as many days. Bennet punched a solo shot over the left field fence to make it 5-3 after five, and the lead held until Chicago tied things up in the seventh.
In relief for Santiago, Nolan Clenney delivered three innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit while striking out five.
The loss goes to Cal Djuraskovic, his second loss in as many appearances, after the righty came into the game in the eleventh inning and managed to record 0.1 innings with two hits and an earned run while facing four batters.
The series finale between the Gary SouthShore RailCats and the Chicago Dogs is scheduled for Father’s Day tomorrow, June 20 at 3:05 p.m. at Impact Field in Chicago.