The Gary SouthShore RailCats (14-20) erased a 4-0 deficit and tied Saturday’s game at four, but the Lake Country DockHounds (14-18) rebounded in the late innings to hand them a close 5-4 loss at The Steel Yard.
Lake Country scored the game’s first four runs in the first three innings. The DockHounds notched six hits in the first three innings to build an early 4-0 advantage.
The RailCats responded, though, in the bottom of the third. With the bases empty and two outs, Gio Díaz kept the frame alive with a single. The speedy second baseman promptly stole second base and raced home on a single from Francisco Del Valle, and the ‘Cats clawed within three at 4-1 after three innings.
More offense arrived for Gary SouthShore in the fifth. Daniel Lingua reached on an error to begin the inning, and his sharp awareness enabled him to take second base on the play. Díaz singled once again to provide a prime opportunity, advancing Lingua to third with no outs, enabling Del Valle to drive in another run on an RBI groundout. Jesus Marriaga laced the very next pitch back into center field for a base hit, bringing Díaz around to score and cutting their deficit to one.
As the game hung in the balance in the middle frames, Aaron Phillips entered in relief and shut the Lake Country offense down. The righty fired three innings of scoreless relief, striking out three in the process. Phillips also worked out of two separate bases-loaded jams in the fifth and seventh innings to keep the RailCats within striking distance.
After escaping trouble in the top of the seventh, Gary SouthShore promptly capitalized. With two outs, Marriaga roped a double into the right field corner. One batter later, Jackson Valera connected on his first RailCats hit, a run-scoring single that knotted the contest up at four.
The game remained tied heading into the ninth, but Lake Country managed to manufacture a run as Marcus Chiu scored on a wild pitch, placing themselves three outs away from a victory.
However, the RailCats had one final chance to respond. Lingua earned a four-pitch walk to begin the inning before a Díaz sacrifice bunt and a Del Valle flyout advanced the shortstop to third base. The DockHounds elected to intentionally walk Marriaga, positioning the potential game-winning run on first base.
Unfortunately, Lake Country second baseman Blake Tiberi pulled off a leaping catch to steal a game-tying base-hit away from Valera to end the game.
The RailCats return to The Steel Yard at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow as they match up against the DockHounds once more in the series finale. 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.
