‘ROADERS BATS GO COLD IN DEFEAT
GARY, IN – Coming off a night where the offense produced four home runs and ten runs, the Cleburne Railroaders’ bats went silent in a 4-2 loss.
Just as he did last night, Hill Alexander opened the scoring with a home run, this one a solo shot in the top of the second off John Sheaks to make it 1-0. That home run would be Cleburne’s only offense until the ninth inning.
Sheaks got into a groove after allowing the homer to Alexander. He ended his night after five innings of solid work, allowing just one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out three.
In the bottom of the fourth, the RailCats got their bats going. Emmanuel Tapia led off the inning with a single, which was followed by an LG Castillo base knock. Victor Nova grounded into a fielder’s choice, putting runners at the corners with just one away. Railroaders’ starter Travis Perry was unable to get out of the jam, as Francisco Del Valle singled home Tapia to knot the score at one. Thomas Greely added on with a bloop single of his own to drive in another run. Finally, Daniel Lingua grounded out to second, bringing home the third run of the inning, making it 3-1 RailCats after four.
In need of some extra cushion, the RailCats scratched across one more run in the bottom of the seventh. Gio Diaz walked and then advanced into scoring position when Kasey Kalich’s pickoff attempt got past Jose Sermo. He proceeded to score on a Jesus Marriaga single, extending the RailCats’ lead to three.
DJ Wilkinson game out of the bullpen to try and earn his second save of the season. He struck out Alexander to begin the inning but then gave up an opposite-field solo home run to Guillermo Quintana. It was Quintana’s third home run in the past two games. That homer wouldn’t be enough, however, as the next two ‘Roaders grounded out to end the game. The RailCats won 4-2.
Picking up the win was Sheaks. The loss was awarded to Perry. Wilkinson earned the save.
The Railroaders continue their six-game series against the RailCats tomorrow at 6:45 p.m. from the U.S. Steel Yard. Pregame coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on aabaseball.tv and on the Railroader Radio Network on Mixlr.