RailCats Split First Doubleheader
Published on June 11, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Gary SouthShore RailCats saw a season best six-game win streak come to a halt in the opener of a doubleheader but rebounded with a shutout to salvage a split against the St. Paul Saints, who owned the best record in the American Association.
ST. PAUL 5, RAILCATS 1 (GAME ONE)
Following last night's suspension, action resumed with two outs in the top of the second inning on Saturday. Trailing 1-0, the RailCats evened the game with a run in the top of the third against St. Paul's Jake Schmidt, who entered in place of starter Alberto Rolon. Mike Massaro singled with two outs to extend his hitting streak to eight games, stole second, and came around on a single to right off the bat of Toddric Johnson.
St. Paul responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take control. Richard Mercado's sacrifice fly handed the Saints a 2-1 lead. With two outs, Jeff Howell connected on a three-run homer to finish off the inning against RailCats reliever Zeb Engle, who took over for Carlos Rivas in the second. Rivas was activated from the inactive list before the game on Friday.
Engle threw three innings out of the bullpen and was followed by three scoreless frames from Brian Grening, and an inning from James Baker. Mike Valadez and Johnson registered two hits each in the game.
RAILCATS 3, SAINTS 0 (GAME TWO)
The RailCats responded in the second game to split the doubleheader. Jeremy Hauer received a spot start and twirled 2.1 shutout innings. Will Krout followed with 2.1 blank innings of his own.
Massaro extended his hitting streak to nine games with a basehit to right leading off the fourth. Brad Boyer, playing for the first time in a week after nursing a knee injury, moved Massaro to third with a single to right. Cristian Guerrero lifted a sacrifice fly to drive home the first run.
Two more runs crossed in the sixth to provide the RailCats with insurance. Boyer coaxed a one-out walk and scored as Guerrero tripled to the wall in right. Guerrero trotted in on a wild pitch. Chris Chavez pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to hold the lead for Travis Minix who spun a 1-2-3 ninth to tally his first save. Krout collected his first win. The pitching staff held the Saints, who entered with a team average of .306, to just four hits.
The series concludes with the rubber match on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. with RHP Scott Shaw (2-2, 5.84) climbing the hill. St. Paul counters with RHP Matt Long (2-1, 5.22). The game can be heard live on The Lakeshore.
American Association Stories from June 11, 2011
- Balanced attack gets another AirHogs win in El Paso - Grand Prairie AirHogs
- Jones Spells Redemption with Walk-Off Dong - Lincoln Saltdogs
- Jones' Walk-Off Homer Defeats Captains, 7-5 - Shreveport-Bossier Captains
- RailCats Split First Doubleheader - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- American Association Game Recaps - AA
- Saints Blanked For Just Second Time in 3-0 Loss - St. Paul Saints
- Pheasants fall again to Fargo-Moorhead - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Lentini, Garcia propel Sox over Cats 5-4 - Amarillo ThunderHeads
- Goldeyes come up one run short again - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Washington's Late RBI Secures Series Win for KC - Kansas City Monarchs
- Murray Helps Wingnuts Blank X's - Wichita Wingnuts
- Saints Snap Railcats Six Game Win Streak With 5-1 Win in Continued Game from Friday - St. Paul Saints
- T-Bones Add First-Round Pick to Starting Rotation - Kansas City Monarchs
- American Association Late Game Recap - AA
- American Association Game Recaps - AA
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
