By Jack Ankony

Danny Mars lined his fifth hit in five at-bats to right field to score Michael Crouse in the first inning.

That’s all it took.

The Dogs would tack on two more runs in the opening frame thanks to a Johnny Adams bases-loaded walk and a Ryan Haug fielder’s choice. But Mars’ RBI single in the first inning proved to be the game winner in a 3-0 Dogs victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats.

Dogs starter AJ Jones didn’t need much in the run-support department as he cruised along for his third win in four starts. After a sparkling eight-inning performance against Houston on July 2, Jones tossed seven scoreless frames on Wednesday.

Jones allowed just five hits while walking zero batters and striking out five. The final two outs of Jones’ performance came on strikeouts, but Jones stuck with his mentality of forcing weak contact for the majority of Wednesday’s contest.

Jones forced 11 ground-ball outs against the RailCats, many of which came on his devastating changeup. Jones said after his start against Houston that he is comfortable throwing his changeup in any count, which proved effective at the U.S. Steelyard.

After Dogs starter Connor Grey was signed by the New York Mets, Jones hasn’t skipped a beat filling Grey’s shoes. Jones has made four starts for the Dogs and has a 3.64 ERA across 24.2 innings.

It was another scoreless night from the Dogs bullpen as Cam Booser and Jeff Kinley kept the RailCats’ bats in check. The flame throwing Booser has touched 100 mph on his fastball during his first two appearances and struck out three batters on Wednesday.

Jeff Kinley dropped his ERA below one run with a scoreless frame to record his fifth save of the season. After losing closer Paul Schwendel to the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Kinley has stepped into the closer role and proven to be one of the most dominant relievers in the American Association with 34 strikeouts in 28 innings.

The Dogs improved their lead in the North Division to two games on Wednesday thanks to losses from the Milwaukee Milkmen and Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. This marked the Dogs’ sixth win in seven games and propels their record to 10 games over .500.

A day off is in store for the Dogs on Thursday as they prepare for a road series with the Sioux Falls Canaries who have lost eight games in a row.

Boxscore