(Gary, IN) The second half of the Gary SouthShore RailCats season starts today with the Milwaukee Milkmen coming to the Steel Yard for a four-game series. RailCats Manager Jeff Isom signed three pitchers to gear up for the playoff push bringing in former MLB pitcher Erasmo Ramirez, and rookie pitchers Blaze Wong and Tobin Moran. 

Ramirez is a 36-year-old from Nicaragua. He was signed as an international free agent by the Seattle Mariners in 2007, by 2008 he was named the Mariners minor league pitcher of the year. In 2012, he made his MLB debut with Seattle against the Texas Rangers on April 9. Ramirez would go on to pitch in the Major Leagues for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals and most recently, the Minnesota Twins. Ramirez pitched in 860 innings and 336 games in the Bigs. 

This season he started down in Mexico pitching for Union Laguna before having his contract transferred to the Colorado Rockies where he pitched in 10 games in Triple-A Albuquerque where he had a 11.90 ERA. 

Blaze Wong is also a right-hander and he hails from Hawaii. Wong pitched at Saint Martin’s university in the state of Washington. In his final season in college he pitched in 13 games with 12 starts putting up a 6.06 ERA and struck out 33 in 68.1 innings. Wong continued to pitch in the Northwoods league with the Kenosha Kingfish and in four games he threw the first complete game in the club’s history, his ERA was a 2.45 and he struck out 22 while walking just three. 

Tobin Moran is a native of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and pitched at the Division II powerhouse, the University of Tampa. In 2024 he won his first national championship and was out for the 2025 season. Moran returned in 2026 and in 16 games his ERA was a 2.58 and he racked up 39 K’s to 11 walks. The righty was a big piece of the Trojans putting together an undefeated season and completed their third-straight National Title. 

The RailCats will have a Hawaiian Shirt giveaway tonight with jersey’s up for auction and that is sponsored by Methodist Hospitals. Tomorrow will be Princesses and Pirates night sponsored by Tradewinds and Sunday is Bark in the Park sponsored by Arbor View Animal Hospital. Tickets are available at Tixr.Com/RailCats or call at 219-882-2255.