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NL Gary SouthShore Railcats

RailCats Hang on to Beat Schaumburg 5-4 Tuesday Night

July 21, 2009 - Northern League (NL)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release


SCHAUMBURG, Ill. - Cristian Guerrero hit his second home run in the last four games and Chris Carrara reached base five times as the Gary SouthShore RailCats held on to beat the Schaumburg Flyers 5-4 on a rainy Tuesday night at Alexian Field.

The ‘Cats took an early lead and never trailed, but the game was in doubt throughout as the Flyers rapped out 14 hits and left 12 men on base. The margin in the game was never greater than two runs, and to add to the drama the game was delayed 60 minutes after the end of the eighth inning by a driving rainstorm. In the ninth - with Andy Shipman unavailable to return after getting the last out in the eighth - Grant Johnson recorded his first Northern League save, getting Jeff Dunbar to ground out on a check swing in front of the plate with the tying run on base.

Carrara, in the lineup with Mike Massaro getting a scheduled day off, did not hit a ball out of the infield but still found a way to make his presence felt. The rookie third baseman was hit by a pitch in the first, reached on an infield single, stole second and scored in the third, walked and scored in the fifth and then walked again in the sixth and ninth innings. Carrara has been on base 13 times in his last four starts.

Guererro got the scoring started for the RailCats with a mammoth home run in the second, taking Ed Almonte (4-7) deep just to the left of straightaway center. Schaumburg got a run back in the bottom of the inning before Eric McNamee singled in Carrara in the top of the third. Felix Jose tied the game once more with his second home run in as many days in the bottom of the third, but the ‘Cats pulled ahead once more with a two-run fifth.

Carrara started off the fifth with a walk, went to third on a McNamee single and scored on Jay Pecci's sacrifice fly. McNamee would come in to score one batter later when Steve Haake's grounder was misplayed for an error by second baseman Jose Valdez. Schaumburg got a run back in the bottom of the inning once more, but Rob Marconi tripled with one out in the sixth to chase Almonte and scored when reliever Kris Jiggits threw his first pitch to the backstop.

The Flyers scored in the seventh but left men in scoring position later in the inning and again in the eighth. Pecci may have saved the game with two outs in the eighth inning, taking away a hit from Vince Harrison with a runner on second and two outs by ranging to his right from shortstop the play a sharp ground ball, then throw out Harrison from the outfield grass.

Harrison led the Schaumburg attack with three more hits - he now has seven in the last two games - and Jose went 4-for-4 before giving way to a pinch runner in the seventh. McNamee and Guerrero were the only two RailCats with two hits.

Garret Holleran (1-1) earned his first win of 2009 by scattering nine hits over five innings, allowing only three runs and striking out two. Eddie De la Cruz added 2.2 innings in relief, allowing a run on four hits.

The RailCats (34-25) and Flyers (27-30) will play two Wednesday, with a split doubleheader at 12:05 & 6:45 p.m. at Alexian Field. The RailCats will send newly signed right-hander Derell McCall (0-0, 0.00 ERA) in game one and southpaw Tony Cogan (5-5, 3.83 ERA) will get the ball in the nightcap. Schaumburg will counter with Tom Lyons (0-1, 5.88 ERA) in the opener and a to-be-announced starter in game two. Both games will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Notes: The RailCats improved to a league-best 12-5 in one-run games ... the ‘Cats are now 8-2 against Schaumburg this year and 10-2 since the All-Star Break.

More Info: The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a Professional Minor League Baseball Team serving Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs. The RailCats won the Northern League championship in 2005 and 2007 and for each of the last five years, they have been chosen "Best Local Spectator Sport" by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. Their 96 game schedule includes 48 home games at beautiful U. S. Steel Yard, an award-winning 6,000 seat state-of-the-art facility located next to the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) with easy access to I-65.

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