Gunn’s Brilliant Outing Carries Cleburne

CLEBURNE, Tex. (June 18, 2021) – Behind 6.2 shutout innings from Michael Gunn, the Cleburne Railroaders blanked the Houston Apollos on Friday night at The Depot at Cleburne Station. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for the Railroaders.

Gunn (2-2) continued his stretch of impressive performances, holding the Apollos (4-24) to just three hits over 6.2 innings while striking out four. He allowed just one baserunner in each inning until the seventh, when Alex Fishberg came out of the bullpen to strand the bases loaded. Fishberg and Kyle Chavez worked through the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the shoutout. 

Gunn has now allowed just one run over his last 20.2 innings of work, lowering his season ERA to 3.38.

Offensively, Cleburne (12-16) surged in front in the bottom of the fourth. After a leadoff double from Chase Simpson, Zach Nehrir followed with a run-scoring triple into the right field corner. Hunter Clanin and John Nester added RBI singles later in the inning to give the Railroaders a 3-0 lead.

Two big swings added to the advantage in the bottom of the seventh. Grant Buck led off the inning with a double, and then Noah Vaughan blasted a two-run home run over the fence in right-center field to push the margin out to 5-0. It was the first home run for Cleburne since the series opener against Sioux Falls on June 8.

Yosmel Naranjo (0-5) took the loss for Houston, allowing three runs, two earned, over four innings of work.

The Railroaders and Apollos continue their three-game series with game two on Saturday night at 7:06 PM.

For information on partnerships, season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Railroaders main office at (817) 945-8705, or visit the Railroaders official website at www.railroaderbaseball.com.