Early Deficit Ruins Solid Night for Alkire, RailCats
GARY, Ind.- In game two, the Cleburne Railroaders (33-23) held off the Gary SouthShore RailCats (23-35) in a 4-2 win at the Steel Yard in Gary, Indiana to take their record-tying tenth straight series.
Railroaders’ leadoff hitter Osvaldo Martinez cranked the second pitch of the game over the left-field fence to give Cleburne an early lead, and the Railroaders never looked back. One of two players with a multi-hit effort, Martinez is now 5-for-9 through the first two games of the three-game set against the RailCats.
An inning later, Martinez doubled the lead on a single to left before Alay Lago would plate two as the Railroaders jumped on top 4-0 early.
While the Gauchos would get on the board with a Ryan Cash RBI-single in the bottom of the second, the damage had already been done.
Despite going scoreless the rest of the way through the seventh, Jack Alkire suffered the loss after seven innings, allowing four earned on seven hits with two walks as he struck out nine.
The win goes to Austin Fairchild who recorded five innings of one-run baseball on hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Game three between the Gary SouthShore RailCats and the Cleburne Railroaders is scheduled for tomorrow, July 22 at 12:10 p.m. at the Steel Yard in Gary, Indiana.
By Max Kelton, Gary SouthShore RailCats