The Gary SouthShore RailCats (39-55) still came away with a series victory, but they dropped the finale against the Chicago Dogs (53-42) 8-0 Thursday night at Impact Field.
The Dogs got to work early, getting their offense going right away. A pair of home runs helped Chicago to an immediate lead, scoring four times in the bottom of the first. Shortly thereafter, another tally in the third and two in the fifth fired them ahead 7-0.
Franklin Dacosta was called upon out of the bullpen, and he commanded the middle frames. The southpaw stepped up and fired 2.2 shutout innings to pair with three strikeouts in his second appearance against Chicago in four days. Over those two outings, Dacosta has compiled 4.2 scoreless frames.
In the sixth, Gio Díaz drew a leadoff walk before stealing his 36th base of the season. The utility player continues to add to his franchise-record mark, previously at 32.
Nevertheless, Chicago notched 15 hits en route to their eight-run output, running away with the 8-0 in the final matchup this season between the rivals.
The RailCats begin their final series of 2023 tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. as they head to Franklin Field to face the Milwaukee Milkmen (54-42). All the action will be streamed on www.aabaseball.tv and broadcast over the radio on 95.9 WEFM and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network via the Mixlr app.