RailCats Rally Falls Short in Opener
By Ryan Zimmerman, Gary Sasha RailCats
Franklin, WI – The Milwaukee Milkmen (55-42) struck for five runs in the middle frames, powering them to a 5-2 win over the Gary SouthShore RailCats (39-57) to open a four-game series at Franklin Field.
In the early stages, though, pitching held the upper hand. Through his first two innings, RailCats starter Edward Cuello shut the Milkmen down, racking up three strikeouts while stranding three base runners to keep the score tied at zero.
Gary SouthShore’s offense took advantage of Cuello’s success and jumped out to the game’s first lead in the top of the third. Jose Contreras led off the inning by singling to center field, promptly stealing second base and advancing to third on a wild pitch shortly thereafter. The next batter, Thomas Greely, snuck a base hit through the right side of the infield, firing the RailCats ahead 1-0.
However, their advantage was short-lived. The Milkmen struck for four runs in in the third and another in the fourth to pull ahead 5-1 themselves.
Immediately following Milwaukee’s offensive outburst, Gary SouthShore pitching found its form once again. Cuello fired spotless frames in the fifth and sixth before handing the reins over to the bullpen. Jared Price worked out of trouble to strand the bases loaded in the seventh, and Quincy Jones tossed a three-up, three-down eighth to keep their deficit at four heading into their final turn at bat.
Down to their final three outs, Gary SouthShore hit the comeback trail and rallied their way back into the game. Marcos Gonzalez started it off by doubling to the center field wall, and LG Castillo legged out an infield single to place runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved them both up one base, setting up Miguel Sierra and Contreras to record run-scoring groundouts to bring the RailCats within two.
Nevertheless, Gary SouthShore could not conjure up any more late magic, and the Milkmen recorded the final out to secure the victory.
The RailCats return to Franklin Field tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. as they aim to even their series against the Milkmen. All the action will be streamed on aabaseball.tv as well as broadcast over the radio on 95.9 WEFM and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network via the Mixlr app.