RailCats Topple Kansas City 4-1
September 4, 2009 - Northern League (NL)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release
GARY, Ind. - Steve Haake hit his second playoff home run and Derell McCall allowed only an unearned run over 6.1 innings as the Gary SouthShore RailCats moved within one win of the Northern League Championship Series with a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City T-Bones in front of 3,115 fans at U. S. Steel Yard.
The win gives the RailCats a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five opening round set, with the winner moving on to face either Fargo-Moorhead or Winnipeg next week with the league championship on the line. The RailCats are the only team in the history of the Northern League to reach the final series four years in a row, doing so each of the last four seasons.
In Friday's pivotal swing game, both starters were firing zeros in the early going as McCall (1-0) stranded the bases loaded in the first and pitched around two hits, two walks and an error in the first four innings to keep the T-Bones off the scoreboard. Cody McAllister (0-1), meanwhile, was cruising for Kansas City and retired each of the first 11 men he faced.
With two outs in the fourth and the bases empty, Jay Pecci hit a bouncing ball to the right side of the infield that first baseman Jim Fasano fielded and flipped to McAllister covering first. But McAllister could not find the bag with his foot, allowing Pecci to reach on an error and extending the inning to Haake. Behind in the count 1-2, Haake drove a McAllister offering inside the foul pole in right for his second home run in the last three games and the franchise-best sixth of his postseason career. Haake's blast was also the RailCats first hit of the game.
In the fifth, the RailCats found a little more two out magic after Jeff Beachum and Mike Rohde singled to start the inning but were still at first and third with two outs. Mike Massaro smacked a double into the corner in left to drive in both runs - his first two RBI of the playoffs - and extend the RailCats lead to 4-0. McAllister would not make it out of the inning and was saddled with the loss despite allowing only four hits and striking out five.
McCall did not record a 1-2-3 inning all night but found just enough to keep Kansas City off the scoreboard time and time again. The 27-year-old Floridian allowed seven hits and three walks on a chilly night in Northwest Indiana but gave up just an unearned seventh inning run as he stranded 10 T-Bones on base. In nine starts since joining the RailCats on July 21, McCall has seven wins and the RailCats as a team are a perfect 9-0.
Kansas City would strand 11 runners in total on the night as Tom Thornton, Aaron Cook and Andy Shipman closed the game out with 2.2 innings of hitless relief. Shipman retired the side in order in the ninth - the only time Kansas City did not have a baserunner in an inning all game - to pick up his second save of the series.
The T-Bones out-hit the RailCats 7-5, but no player in the game had more than one base hit. Beachum's fifth inning single was the first of his playoff career as he made his first start of the series.
The series continues with Game Four Saturday night at 6 p.m. at U. S. Steel Yard, with gates opening at 5 p.m. Tickets are still available for Saturday night's game by calling 219.882.2255 or visiting www.railcatsbaseball.com. The RailCats will send right-hander Chris Jones to the hill against Kansas City's rookie left-hander Brett Davis, with play-by-play coverage available live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and at www.railcatsbaseball.com.
Notes: Friday's crowd of 3,115 was the third-largest ever to see a postseason game at U. S. Steel Yard and the biggest since 3,797 fans saw the RailCats 7-3 win Game Three of the 2005 Northern League Championship Series, September 16, 2005 ... the RailCats have taken a 2-1 lead for just the second time in their postseason history, spanning nine total series. The only other time was the 2008 Opening Round, when the âCats went on to beat Winnipeg in Game Four and advance to the finals ... the RailCats are now 35-14 at U. S. Steel Yard this summer.
Northern League Stories from September 4, 2009
- Clutch Hit Eludes T-Bones in 4-1 Loss - Kansas City Monarchs
- RailCats Topple Kansas City 4-1 - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Goldeyes blank RedHawks - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Broadcast Schedule Adjusted for Weekend Playoff Series - Kansas City Monarchs
- CommunityAmerica Ballpark Named Field of the Year - Kansas City Monarchs
- Kansas City's Community America Ballpark Named Best Playing Surface in 2009 - Kansas City Monarchs
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