American Association Daily provides insights, features, and recaps of the action from around the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions. In today’s edition, Robert Pannier how the Gary SouthShore RailCats have been the model of consistency through the first four series, winning the final two games of all four of their three-game series.

Living Out the Song

In 1977, the surprisingly popular musical group Meatloaf came out with a song that spent 23 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was called “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” and was a song about how he loved a woman, and he needed her, but he would never love her. This made it so that she received two out of the three things that she wanted.

In baseball, managers embrace this philosophy. They want their team to take two out of every three games of the series, and the Gary SouthShore RailCats are living out that philosophy under Manager Lamarr Rogers. The RailCats have lost the first game of each of their four series, but have rallied to win the next two games in each set, starting out the season 8-4, the best start by the team in franchise history.

Winning by the Numbers

The RailCats have been a model of consistency. They are 4-2 at home and 4-2 on the road. The club is hitting .278 at home, but see a small decline on the road, hitting .262. However, the team ERA at home is 3.83, while the club has posted a 3.46 mark on the road.

Gary Southshore has lost three of their four games by at least five runs, losing 6-1 to the Winnipeg Goldeyes on opening day, 10-4 to the Kansas City Monarchs in the first game of their series, and 11-2 to the Lake Country DockHounds. A 3-1 loss to the Lincoln Saltdogs was the closest margin of defeat the team has faced this season. They have scored eight total runs in their four losses.

They have been just as dominant in their victories, winning five of their eight games by at least four runs. They have won all eight of their games by at least two runs and have allowed 17 total runs in the victories, with six of those coming in one contest, an 8-6 victory over Kansas City. They have held opponents to two runs or fewer in six of their wins.

The RailCats are getting a solid performance overall. The team is fifth in batting average (.270) and in runs scored (69). They are fourth in team ERA (3.65) and are tied for third in opponent batting average (.227). No other team in the league can claim to rank in the top five in those four categories.

The Streak Continues?

The Gary SouthShore RailCats will have an opportunity to extend the early season streak when they welcome the Kane County Cougars for three-games this weekend. However, the opportunity to extend the streak is going to end after that, as the RailCats will welcome the Milwaukee Milkmen for four games starting on May 29.

It is a remarkable run, and is a warning to the rest of the teams in the American Association. After all, the first two games of the postseason are best of three series. At this rate, the Gary SouthShore RailCats are putting themselves in prime position to reach the Miles Wolff Cup championship, proving that taking two out of three clearly ain’t bad.

By Robert Pannier