RAILROADERS WIN SERIES VERSUS REDHAWKS
CLEBURNE, TX – JJ Figueroa’s grand slam in the fourth inning powered the Railroaders to a 10-5 victory and series win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on Saturday, July 2.
Cleburne struck first in the bottom of the second when Guillermo Quintana singled home Hill Alexander to make it 1-0. That lead wouldn’t last long, however, as the RedHawks tied it up in the next half inning on a Manuel Boscan sacrifice fly, scoring Evan Alexander.
Jose Sermo put the ‘Roaders back on top with his league-leading sixteenth homer of the year in the bottom of the third, scoring both him and Brian Klein.
Cleburne loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, giving Figueroa the opportunity to drive them all in with a grand slam, blowing the game wide open at 7-1.
While Nick Novak homered in the top of the sixth to cut it to 7-2, Elmer Reyes and the Railroaders responded immediately with Reyes’ solo homer in the bottom half of the inning.
Two more Railroaders came across on Hill Alexander’s two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
The RedHawks scratched across three more harmless runs in the top of the ninth but couldn’t complete the rally. Cleburne won 10-5 and took home the series victory.
Kasey Kalich was awarded the win for his efforts. He went five and two-thirds and allowed just two runs (only one earned), on seven hits. He struck out five and walked two. Jake Dykhoff picked up the loss after twirling three and two-thirds, allowing five runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
With the victory, the Railroaders pulled within two games of the Milwaukee Milkmen for first place in the East Division. Fargo-Moorhead dropped to two games back of first in the West Division behind the Kansas City Monarchs.
The Railroaders begin a three-game series against the Lincoln Saltdogs on Monday, July 3 at 7:06 p.m. Pregame coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. on aabaseball.tv and on the Railroaders Broadcast Network on Mixlr.