The Gary SouthShore RailCats (35-45) received a dominant outing from a starting pitcher for a second straight day as they defeated the Kane County Cougars (39-42) 1-0 in their series rubber match.
In his first start on the mound in over two weeks, Julio Vivas delivered his best outing of 2023. The right-hander fired 6.2 shutout innings with eight strikeouts, setting a pair of new personal bests on the South Shore. He picked up right where yesterday’s starter Edward Cuello left off after his eight-inning, one-run performance.
The game’s lone run came in the second inning. Marcos Gonzalez led off with a double into the left-center field gap, another highlight in a breakout series for the third basemen. The team’s newest acquisition finished the series by batting 6-for-11 (.545) with that double and home run yesterday.
The next batter, LG Castillo, drove Gonzalez by roping a single down the left field line providing the RailCats a lead they would not relinquish.
After Vivas exited in the seventh inning, the bullpen finished the job from there. Aaron Phillips got the last out of the seventh before Jack Eisenbarger fired a scoreless eighth.
One batter reached for Kane County in the ninth, but Joan Valdez struck out the side to polish off the third Gary SouthShore shutout victory of the season.
The RailCats have a day off tomorrow before heading to Wisconsin Brewing Company Park at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday to begin a three-game series against the Lake Country DockHounds (39-40). All the action will be streamed on www.aabaseball.tv and broadcast over the radio on 95.9 WEFM and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network via the Mixlr app.
