Lubking Blanks T-Bones, RailCats Win 3-1
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Six shutout innings from Trevor Lubking and a 3-0 lead through eight innings led the Gary SouthShore RailCats to their third straight victory and a 3-1 win over the Kansas City T-Bones on Saturday night with 4,148 in attendance at T-Bones Stadium. Gary has yet to trail in the series and are a season-high two games above .500.
Lubking (3-1) tossed six shutout innings for the second time this season in his team-high third victory. The southpaw retired the first eight batters he faced and 10 of the first 11 batters, yielded just four hits and a walk and struck out a pair in his fourth start.
Gary (8-6) jumped in front for the third straight game with a run in the fourth. Tom Walraven increased his season-high-tying hitting streak to seven games with a two-out single to left before Wilfredo Gimenez poked a single to center, giving the ‘Cats runners on the corners. With Evan Marzilli at the plate, Gimenez broke for second on a delayed steal. T-Bones catcher Christian Correa threw down to second, however, Walraven then stole home on the throw down to second for the game’s first run.
The ‘Cats made it 2-0 with another run in the fifth. Andy De Jesus led off the inning with his second of two singles before moving up to second on a sacrifice bunt from Zach Welz. Sean Guida followed Welz with an opposite-field RBI single to left, plating De Jesus from second.
Gary added their final run in the sixth to go up by three. Back-to-back singles from Colin Willis and Walraven gave the ‘Cats runners on first and second to begin the inning. Gimenez then moved both runners up 90 feet with a groundout in front of home plate before Marzilli delivered a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Willis from third.
Kansas City (7-7) avoided being shutout with an unearned run in the ninth. Carlos Franco doubled with to left-center with one out before Casey Gillaspie shot a single back through the middle, giving the T-Bones runners on the corners. Former MLB World Series Champion Daniel Nava delivered KC’s only run with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Franco from third.
Ryan Thurston (1) and Kaleb Fontenot (1) each recorded their first Independent Professional Baseball (IPBF) holds with a scoreless inning each out of the bullpen. Despite allowing an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, Felix Carvallo (1) secured the win with the save in the bottom of the ninth.
Dylan Baker (1-1) was tagged wit the loss. The right-hander went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four.
Gary wraps up their six-game road trip on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. against Kansas City. Right-hander Eric Morell (0-1, 2.46) gets the ball for the RailCats in the series finale while the T-Bones have yet to announce their starter.
Gary returns home to U.S. Steel Yard on Monday, June 3rd for the first of four games vs. the Chicago Dogs. Monday’s game is the first Metro Monday and Meaty Monday of the season. Visit any Northwest Indiana Metro by T-Mobile location for complimentary tickets and enjoy our delicious hamburgers for just $2. Monday’s series opener is also Munster and Dyer Community Night, presented by Fifth Third Bank.
by Jared Shlensky