By Zach Letson, Gary SouthShore RailCats

Gary, IN – Despite scoring two runs in the 10th inning and moving both the tying and winning runs into scoring position, the Gary SouthShore RailCats (20-32) fell 6-5 in a second consecutive extra-inning game against the Lincoln Saltdogs (27-23).

The ‘Cats helped out starting pitcher Edward Cuello right away by grabbing an early lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Francisco Del Valle blasted his fifth home run of the season deep past the right field wall.  The solo shot placed Gary SouthShore ahead 1-0.

However, Lincoln fired back with a homer of their own in the third.  Connor Panas belted a three-run shot to right field to put the Saltdogs in front 3-1.

That proved to be the only blemish against Cuello.  The righty settled in shortly thereafter, reaching the seven-inning mark for a second time in 2023.  He only yielded those three runs while striking out three batters, exiting after tossing four consecutive scoreless frames.

Cuello’s consistency gave the Gary SouthShore offense an opportunity to mount a comeback.  In the bottom of the third, Michael Woodworth was hit by a pitch before promptly advancing to second base on a Gio Díaz single.  Jackson Valera served a single to right field to plate Woodworth, helping the RailCats inch closer at 3-2.

Two innings later, the ‘Cats offense was at it again.  Daniel Lingua connected on a leadoff double, and one batter later, Woodworth sent a ball to the right-center gap and raced all the way to third for his third triple of 2023.  Those back-to-back extra-base hits leveled the contest at three.

The game remained scoreless from there until the 10th inning.  Jack Eisenbarger relieved Cuello and fired 1.2 scoreless frames before exiting in the ninth inning.

Once the 10th inning came around, the RailCats made a heads-up defensive play as Lingua threw out inherited runner Carson Maxwell at third base on a fielder’s choice.  Nevertheless, with two outs, Luke Roskam hit a three-run home run to give the Saltdogs a 6-3 advantage.

Gary SouthShore would not go down quietly.  Down to the final two outs, three straight hitters reached base.  Jesus Marriaga drew a one-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate.

LG Castillo then produced an RBI single to claw the ‘Cats one run closer, and Francisco Del Valle followed up with one of his own to cut the deficit back down to one run.

Jose Contreras grounded out to move Castillo to third and Del Valle to second with two outs, allowing for one last chance to conjure a dramatic victory.  But, with the potential winning run at second, Lincoln induced another groundout to escape their second straight 10-inning win.

The RailCats remain in pursuit of their 1,000th win at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow as they close out their series against the Saltdogs.  All the action will be streamed on aabaseball.tv and broadcast over the radio on 95.9 WEFM and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network via the Mixlr app.