In the third leg of the nine-game homestand for the RailCats, they welcomed in their East Division rival, Milwaukee Milkmen. Going 1-4 in their last five games, Gary SouthShore needed a change in pace to get off the starting blocks in July. The ‘Cats handed the ball off to Chris Erwin as he faced another crafty lefty, Greg Minier.
Miguel Sierra was back in the lineup after a five-day hiatus, in his first time in the box, he hit a home run over the left field wall to plate the first run of the series. Jackson Valera would double the lead with an RBI single into left field the next inning.
Chris Erwin diced through the first four innings allowing no hits, Milwaukee got their first hit in the fifth inning. Reggie Pruitt Jr would get the second hit for the Milkmen and Trey Law came in for an unearned run. Gio Diaz got the run back with a sacrifice fly to put the lead back to two.
LG Castillo and Olivier Basabe got their own respective RBI doubles in the sixth and eighth as Gary SouthShore cruised to a series open win, 5-1 being the final tally. Erwin went seven innings, allowed two hits, no unearned runs, and struck out a season-high, eight batters.
The RailCats record goes to 19-28 on the season notching their tenth win at home this season. The second game of the series will be a matchup of Andres Diaz for Gary, and Milwaukee will be tossing Sebastin Rodriguez. First pitch at 6:45.
The RailCats will play at home on the Fourh of July. Come on out to the Steel Yard to watch some baseball, spend some time with the family, and catch some fireworks after the game! The contest to close out the homestand starts at 6:00.
