AA Gary SouthShore Railcats

Rosario Pitches RailCats to Third Straight Win

Published on September 4, 2016 under American Association (AA)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release


GARY, IN- Charle Rosario gave up two runs over eight innings to help the Gary SouthShore RailCats (52-47) to a comfortable 5-2 victory over the Joplin Blasters (35-64).

The win was the third straight for the RailCats and clinched the series win over the Blasters. It took two hours and ten minutes to complete and was played in front of 3,825 fans at US Steel Yard.

However, the victory is moot because Sioux City won in Texas and clinched the Central Division's playoff entry. The RailCats can still tie for first place in the division, but Sioux City owns the tiebreaker with a better division winning percentage.

The first inning on Sunday afternoon was marked with controversy. Chase Harris, the first batter in the bottom of the first, was hit by a pitch in the elbow. Home plate umpire Kyle Cornell ruled that Harris failed to evade the pitch and it was called a ball. Harris was furious and promptly tossed from the game. RailCats manager Greg Tagert discussed the play with Cornell and was eventually ejected as well. It was the second time this series where Harris was hit by a pitch but not awarded first base.

Rosario established his dominance early in the ball game. After hitting the first batter he faced, he shut down the next three batters. The RailCats' "Ace" didn't give up a hit until the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, the RailCats offense got busy. Jaime Del Valle recorded the Cats first hit in the second inning. Andy DeJesus singled and Jarred Mederos walked to load the bases with two outs. Colin Willis, who came in for Harris, ripped a base hit to right field that scored two runs.

The RailCats added another run in the fourth. Kris Goodman tripled on a towering shot to deep center field. DeJesus made the game 3-0 with a sacrifice fly that scored Goodman.

The Blasters tallied their first hit and their first run in the top of the fifth. It was the Blasters first run of the series and broke a 28-inning scoring drought. Alex Polston singled and stole second base before moving to third on a ground ball. Mitch Glasser hit a sacrifice fly to right field that made the score 3-1.

Gary SouthShore responded with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Reggie Wilson walked and Tony Cheky singled with nobody out. Frank Martinez hit a grounder to third base that was thrown away by Cie Arrel to allow Wilson to score. Alex Crosby tacked on another run by hitting a sacrifice fly to score Cheky.

Joplin scored another run in the sixth. KC Huth took Rosario deep to left field for a solo shot to make the score 5-2.

Jorge de Leon came on for the ninth inning and notched his 11th save of the season in a perfect inning.

Rosario's eight-inning performance gave him the franchise record for most innings pitched in a season with 155.1. He passed the previous record holder, Josh Habel, by one-third of an inning. If he had finished the game, Rosario would have set the career record for complete games with five. The Dominican Republic native set the season record with four complete games.

Del Valle was the only RailCat with multiple hits and Willis joined with multiple RBIs. The RailCats did not make an error in the game.

The RailCats will finish out the season tomorrow afternoon against the Blasters. First pitch is at 1:10 PM and coverage begins at 12:45 PM on 95.9 WEFM and railcatsbaseball.com.

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American Association Stories from September 4, 2016


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