For Immediate Release

August 15, 2021

Sheaks Perfect Through Six, Not Enough to Take Series

LINCOLN, Neb. In the series finale at Haymarket Park, the Gary SouthShore RailCats (32-49) fell to the Lincoln SaltDogs (44-36) in a 2-0 final despite a perfect six innings from John Sheaks to open the game for the RailCats.

Sheaks retired the first 18 batters he faced in his seventh start of the season, nine of which via strikeout, but the 6-foot-5 righty would suffer the loss after the SaltDogs would score two in the seventh.

It was just the third time the RailCats have been held silent at the plate this season despite outhitting the SaltDogs 5-4 in the loss. 

With the 6.1 inning start from Sheaks, the Long Beach State product hit his career hit in innings and strikeouts yet couldn’t come away with the win due to a lack of run support.

To lead off the seventh, Justin Byrd lined a double past a diving Daniel Lingua at first and then was driven home and a Ryan Long RBI-double.

Long came around to score two batters later when Curt Smith singled to left as the final batter Sheaks would face on the day.

For Lincoln, Kyle Kinman delivered seven scoreless innings and retired the 13 of the final 14 batters he would face, allowing just three hits with nine strikeouts in his team-high seventh win of the year.

Onto the second leg of a six-game road trip, the Gary SouthShore RailCats now travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba to take on a three-game set against the Winnipeg Goldeyes that gets underway with the series opener on Tuesday, August 17 at 7:05 p.m. at Shaw Park.

###