(Franklin, WI) Coming off of a 13-run outburst against the Milwaukee Milkmen from the opening contest, the RailCats had an opportunity to do something they hadn’t accomplished since late June. Win a series on the road. Peyton Long would start on the bump for the RailCats as he faced off against Sebastian Rodriguez.  

After a hit from Miguel Sierra and an automatic double for Carlos Rincon, Gary SouthShore had baserunners on second and third with nobody out. Olivier Basabe would put the ball on the ground to second base and Sierra would freeze, a couple of flyouts would leave the ‘Cats empty-handed.  

Anthony Abbatine and Gio Diaz would single in the third, Guillermo Quintana would send a hot smash over to short and Abdiel Layer successfully turned a double play to change the momentum. Rodriguez would escape two scoring chances in as many innings.  

From there, Long and Rodriguez would turn the game into a pitcher’s duel until Rodriguez bowed out for his bullpen in the eighth. He spun for seven innings, struck out seven, and stranded seven baserunners.  

Peyton Long worked his way to the eighth and led off the inning with a walk of Kyle Huckstorf. Huckstorf would steal second, Reggie Pruitt popped out to the Quintana for the final out of Peyton Long’s 20th start this season. Josh Smith, the 2024 East All-Star, would surrender back-to-back hits and the Milkmen moved ahead 2-0. 

The RailCats couldn’t rally against Jordan Johnson who was able to lock down his 11th save and the Milkmen were victorious 2-0. The ‘Cats record after the loss goes to 30-62 on the year, forcing a rubber match tomorrow at 1:00. Andres Diaz and Calvin Schapira is the pitching matchup to close out the season series.