The Milwaukee Milkmen offense operated at full capacity on Saturday night as they defeated the Gary SouthShore RailCats 10-3.
Milwaukee scored in six of their eight turns at-bat, including a seven-run outburst from the second inning to the fourth, to pull away early.
The RailCats called upon their bullpen for five innings of work, and they mostly cooled off the Milkmen lineup. Robbie Coursel entered in the fourth inning and permitted just two tallies on four hits, striking out three in the process. In the eighth, Daniel Lingua took over after playing shortstop to start the night and tossed a scoreless frame in his fourth-ever American Association pitching performance, keeping his career earned run average at 0.00.
Offensively for the RailCats, both of the team’s newest acquisitions did the heavy lifting. Zach Racusin ripped a one-out single and immediately scored on Sam Abbott’s double one batter later to get Gary SouthShore on the board. The pair also recorded back-to-back base hits in the eighth inning to set up an Alec Olund fielder’s choice.
Between those two runs, Tom Walraven crossed home plate in the top of the seventh on a two-out Lingua single after he walked to kick off that rally.
The RailCats ended the day with eight hits as Lingua led the way with three. Racusin and Abbott both notched a pair while Olund also contributed a single in his first at-bat in the second inning.
The two teams take the field for the final time this weekend tomorrow at Franklin Field at 1:00 p.m. as the RailCats look to avoid the sweep. Nick Garcia (1-0, 0.96 ERA) opposes Jose Espada (0-0, 2.31 ERA) on www.aabaseball.tv, 95.9 WEFM, and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network through the Mixlr app.