Down to their final out, the Gary SouthShore RailCats (37-53) pulled off a stunning rally to tie the game in the ninth inning, but the Chicago Dogs (50-40) came away with a 5-2 victory in extra innings.
Harrison Francis got the ball and once again delivered against the Dogs. The right-hander notched his second straight quality start against Chicago and his seventh of the season. He allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings, striking out six and exiting with Gary SouthShore trailing 2-0.
The bullpen picked up the slack from there to give the ‘Cats a shot at a late comeback. Jose Betances, Oddy Nuñez, and Jack Eisenbarger each fired a scoreless frame in relief to hold the Dogs in check and afford Gary SouthShore one final opportunity in the home half of the ninth.
With their backs against the wall, the RailCats found their mojo. Marcos Gonzalez singled with one out to bring the tying run to the plate. After LG Castillo singled to put two on base, Francisco Del Valle grounded into a fielder’s choice, moving Gonzalez to third.
At that point, the bottom of the order came through in the clutch. Down to their final out, Jacob Bockelie lined a single that bounced off of Dogs closer Brian Schlitter’s leg and scored Gonzalez, placing the RailCats on the board, 2-1.
The very next batter, Seth Caddell, connected on the fourth Gary SouthShore single of the inning, racing Del Valle home from second to tie the game at two and force extra innings.
However, the RailCats ran out of late magic. Chicago scored three times in the top of the 10th, and their bullpen shut Gary SouthShore down in the bottom of the frame to close out the victory.
The RailCats aim to even the series against Chicago at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. All the action will be streamed on ww.aabaseball.tv and broadcast over the radio on 95.9 WEFM and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network via the Mixlr app.
