Erwin Brushes Milkmen Aside in Shutout Victory
August 13, 2022 - American Association (AA)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release
Gary, IN - The Gary SouthShore RailCats coupled a brilliant performance from starting pitcher Chris Erwin along with a middle-inning offensive surge to cap off a 6-0 shutout of the Milwaukee Milkmen.
In his first start following his 27th birthday last Wednesday, the left-hander tossed seven innings of no-run baseball, allowing five hits while striking out seven as he outdueled former Major Leaguer A.J. Schugel en route to his third win of the season.
Early on, the Milkmen applied pressure to the RailCats defense by placing two runners in scoring position through a hit-by-pitch and double in the top of the first. However, Erwin kept his cool on the mound as he fanned two consecutive batters to keep Milwaukee off the board.
The Milkmen put together a pair of one-out hits in another attempt to plate the game's first run, but once again, Erwin remained unfazed. A strikeout and flyout to the next two batters stranded another pair of Milwaukee baserunners and kept the score deadlocked at zero.
Gary SouthShore's bats rewarded Erwin's resilience by forcing the Milkmen infield into a pair of errors as they took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Jesus Marriaga led off by reaching on an error and advanced to third on a Victor Nova single. The next batter, LG Castillo, snuck a ground ball under Logan Trowbridge's glove at third base, enabling Marriaga to score and putting the 'Cats ahead 1-0.
Marriaga returned to the plate the very next inning to double the RailCats advantage. As Michael Woodworth stood on first base with two outs after his single, Marriaga roped a double into the right-center field gap to bring him home, giving Gary SouthShore a two-run edge.
Not to be outdone, the RailCats erupted for four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Sam Abbott tripled, and Jackson Smith got hit by a pitch to set runners on the corners before Nate Scantlin came through by driving Abbott in on a line drive single. The Milkmen turned to their bullpen to face Tom Walraven, and he immediately made them pay for that decision. He crushed a three-run home run, his second in as many games, to provide the 'Cats a comfortable 6-0 cushion heading into the final two innings.
Needing just six outs to lock down the win, manager Lamarr Rogers took no chances as he turned to Julio Vivas and Yeison Medina. The two relievers each tossed scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth, wrapping up a dominant win.
The RailCats return to The Steel Yard tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. as they look to sweep the Milkmen. All the action will be streamed on aabaseball.tv, 95.9 WEFM, and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network through the Mixlr app.
American Association Stories from August 13, 2022
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