The Gary SouthShore RailCats secured their second win of the season, overcoming the Cleburne Railroaders 7-5 on Sunday afternoon at the Steel Yard.
Gary jumped out to an early lead, scoring in each of the first four innings. A double from first baseman Joe Suozzi in the first brought home Elvis Peralta, setting the tone for a productive afternoon at the plate. Peralta himself drove in three runs on the day, going 2-for-5 to raise his season average to .419.
The RailCats continued to apply pressure in the third when Suozzi launched his first home run of the season, a two-run blast that made it 4-2. Later in the inning, LG Castillo added an RBI single to center, extending the lead to 5-2.
Gary's pitching staff was solid throughout, with starter Payton Long (1-1) earning the win. Long struck out nine over five innings to, allowing just two earned runs. Long’s nine strikeouts were a career high, and he silenced a Railroader offense who put up 30 runs over the last two games.
After a rocky ninth, reliever Julio Pinto closed things out despite surrendering home runs from Shed Long and Steven Rivas.
With the win, the RailCats improved to 2-7. The team will look to build on this momentum as they hit the road for a midweek series against Sioux City and Winnipeg.