A four-run fourth inning powered the Kane County Cougars past the Gary SouthShore RailCats, 9-6, Wednesday afternoon at the Steel Yard.
Already up 3-0, the Cougars blew the game open when Marcus Chiu lashed a double and Tripp Clark punched an RBI single, scoring Marcus Chiu. After the fourth, it was 7-0 Kane County and it looked like all hope was lost.
RailCats starter Spencer Adams struck out seven but was tagged for seven runs, five earned. Adams surrendered eight hits over five innings and took the loss in the afternoon.
However, the ‘Cats clawed back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. RBI knocks from Jake Guenther and Jake Allgeyer made it 7-3 after four. After four, it looked like a comeback was in the making.
In the fifth, Joe Suozzi answered the bell. He hit a two-run single in the fifth, trimming the deficit to 7-5, marking his 29th RBI of the season.
But in the seventh, there was a change of plans for the RailCats. With a runner on third, Oscar Santos roped an RBI single to make it 8-5. Two at-bats later, Claudio Finol sent another RBI single, scoring Oscar Santos from second with the score set at 9-5.
A huge bright spot of the day was between the one-two punch of Jairus Richards and Elvis Peralta. With a base-hit, Richards extended his on-base streak to 36 games, making that the second longest streak in RailCats history.
Peralta went 2-for-4, swiped his 19th bag, and scored twice to pace the RailCats.
The series finale is set for Thursday, June 26th for a 6:45 P.M C.T first pitch at the Steel Yard.