FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 9, 2019
CONTACT: Jared Shlensky
[email protected]
ST. PAUL, MINN. — A 1-0 lead through an inning and two singles, two hit by pitches and a walk from Colin Willis wasn’t enough for Gary as the RailCats lost their fourth straight game in a 9-7 loss to the St. Paul Saints on Friday night in front of 9,211 at CHS Field. Gary brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the eighth and put the go-ahead run on first base in the ninth but couldn’t complete the comeback in the opening contest of the series.
Gary (31-46) scored first for the third straight game with an unearned run in the first. MJ. Rookard walked with one out before stealing second. Rookard then advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on throwing error by Saints shortstop Joey Wong on a ground ball hit to him off the bat of Tom Walraven.
St. Paul (46-31) quickly took their first lead of the series with three runs in the second. Josh Allen reached on an infield single for the Saints’ first hit before an opposite-field single from Chesny Young gave St. Paul runners on the corners. Chris Baker followed Young with a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Allen from third and moving Young up to second. Joey Wong then tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI double to left-center before coming around to score from second on Dan Motl’s RBI single to right.
The RailCats cut the St. Paul lead to 3-2 with a two-out run in the third. Willis singled to right before advancing to third on a double from Danny De La Calle. John Price Jr. then drew a four-pitch walk before Hayden Schilling recorded his first professional RBI with a bases-loaded walk.
John Silviano ended Sinibaldi’s run of 10 straight batters retired with a home run on a 3-0 pitch to begin the bottom of the sixth before getting another run in the frame to go up 5-2. Jeremy Martinez doubled off the right field wall before moving up to third on a sacrifice bunt from Allen before scoring on a groundout by Young.
Michael Lang put St. Paul in front by four with a two-out opposite-field home run in the seventh. Lang’s home run was his eighth of the year and his second with the Saints since getting acquired by the club on July 28th.
Gary cut the St. Paul lead back down to two with two more runs in the top of the eighth. Willis drew a five-pitch to begin the inning before De La Calle was hit in the left shoulder. Schilling then reached on an infield single to load the bases before Alex Crosby scored Willis and De La Calle with a two-out, two-run single down the left field line.
St. Paul countered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take their biggest lead at 9-4. Silviano homered off the left field pole to begin the inning before Allen was hit with one out. Young followed with an RBI triple into the right field corner, however, a throwing error by Schilling on the throw to third allowed Young to score from third.
The RailCats tacked on three more runs in ninth and even put the tying run on second base. Santiesteban walked to begin the inning before Walraven reached on a throwing error by Young at third. Willis then singled before Ray Jones drew a pinch-hit bases-loaded walk. Schilling was then robbed of a single by a diving catch by Wong at shortstop before Marcus Mooney plated the final two runs of the game with a two-run single down the left field line. Crosby kept the inning going with a two-out infield single before pinch-hitter Andy De Jesus struck out to end the game.
Sinibaldi (5-5) was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks over seven innings. Landon Beck (4-2) allowed yielded two unearned runs over a season-high 4.2 innings of relief in the win while Tanner Kiest (2) recorded the final two outs for his second save.
Gary resumes its three-game series in Minnesota against St. Paul at CHS Field on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Seth Hougesen (2-2, 6.21) gets the start for the RailCats in the middle game of the series while the Saints have yet to announce their staring pitcher for the middle game of the series.
Gary returns home to U.S. Steel Yard on Monday for the start of a six-game homestand. Monday’s game vs. the Texas AirHogs is at 7:10 p.m. and is another Metro Monday and Meaty Monday. Hamburgers cost just $2.00 and complimentary tickets to any remaining Monday game are available at participating Northwest Indiana Metro by T-Mobile locations.
Ticket packages for the 2019 Gary SouthShore RailCats season are available online at railcatsbaseball.com and can also be purchased by calling the RailCats ticket line at (219) 882-BALL. The RailCats box office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
–RAILCATS–