On a 98-degree night in Texas, the Gary SouthShore RailCats took on the Cleburne Railroaders after rallying the night before to split the first two games of the series. RHP Peyton Long made the start for Gary SouthShore and fellow Right-hander Austin Faith took the mound for Cleburne.
Elvis Peralta, coming off a 5-5 game, led off the game with a triple to center field, and Marcos Gonzalez drove him in with a sacrifice fly. In the second inning, Cooper Edwards hit with the bases loaded and drove a ball to left center. Jesus Lujano led the
ball get past him and three runs would score on the play. RailCats led 4-0.
Marcos Gonzalez came up to the plate in the 4th with the bases loaded facing Kade Mechels who just replaced Faith. With two strikes, Gonzalez guided a single to center and two more runs were added to the RailCats lead. Olivier Basabe had the final RBI of the
night in the fifth. The RailCats had built themselves a seven-run cushion.
Long had a quality start going six scoreless innings giving up just five hits and two walks. The starter struck out six batters en route to his fifth win of the season. Recent trade acquisition Junior Cerda made his ‘Cats debut and retired all nine hitters
with four strikeouts to get a save for turning in three scoreless innings.
The RailCats won 7-0 and pitched their first shutout in Cleburne since the ‘Roaders joined the league in 2017. With the win, Gary SouthShore’s record goes to 28-50, the series continues Friday at 7:06 and RHP Deyni Olivero will take the ball for the RailCats.
The livestream can be found on www.AABaseball.TV, Mixlr, and WE.FM 95.9.