In the series finale, the Gary SouthShore RailCats (6-6) held off the Milwaukee Milkmen (6-5) to take the rubber match 4-2 and win the slate in their first road series of the season.
After splitting a double header yesterday, the RailCats had sharp fundamentals through nine coupled with stout relief pitching out of the bullpen.
Gary SouthShore was knotted up with Milwaukee nearly the entire way through, yet with a 2-2 tie game and two outs in the seventh frame, Raymond Jones singled in Nikola Vasic to take a 3-2 lead.
Milkmen starter David Holmberg and Manager Anthony Barrone were promptly thrown out of the game by home plate umpire Dustin Ragsdale arguing balls and strikes with two down in the seventh. Holmberg suffered the loss on the day after 6.2 innings on the rubber resulting in three runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts.
In the top of the ninth, Phil Caulfield blasted a solo jack, his second in two games, to add some insurance and give the RailCats a 4-2 lead.
Cas Silber earned the win for Gary SouthShore, throwing three, one-run innings with three hits while striking two out in relief. The save goes to Chris Erwin who threw two scoreless innings to close out the ball game.
Gregori Vasquez earned a no decision in a four-inning effort, allowing four hits with one earned run while striking out five.
RailCats’ first baseman Ben Andrews recorded his first three-hit performance of the season, going 3-for-5 in the win while both Raymond Jones and Daniel Lingua added a pair of base knocks and an RBI a piece. Every RailCats batter recorded at least one hit on the day.
Despite the RailCats being outscored 13-10 in the series, Gary SouthShore won the series to improve its win percentage to .500 for the first time this season.
Another double header is on the horizon for the Gary SouthShore RailCats tomorrow, May 31 as the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks come to town for a three-game slate that commences with a pair on Memorial Day at the Steel Yard.