Saints Slug Past RailCats 13-5 in Exhibition
May 7, 2009 - Northern League (NL)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Gary SouthShore RailCats jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the St. Paul Saints offense erupted for 13 runs in the last five innings to down the âCats 13-5 Thursday night in an exhibition game at Midway Stadium.
RailCats starter Tom Thornton was excellent in his spring debut, retiring the first seven batters he faced and allowing only one hit in three innings of work. Thornton struck out three and worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the third by whiffing Daron Roberts and getting Ron Fenwick to line out softly.
The rest of the RailCats staff, however, did not find the Saints so forgiving. St. Paul scored four times in the fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead, added two more in the fifth, one in the sixth, two in the seventh and four in the eighth. RailCats relievers Justin Huisman, Brian Halford and Zach Groh were each touched for multiple runs in their first official outings of the spring.
The RailCats took their first lead in the third inning when Mike Massaro walked with two outs. With Rob Marconi at the plate, Massaro took off for second and raced all the way home when Marconi lashed a line drive single to center. The âCats got two more two-out runs in the top of the fourth when Nate McKeon doubled off the wall in right to drive home Eric McNamee and Isaac Omura.
Massaro briefly tied the game leading off the fifth inning when he launched a long home run to center. In 332 professional games, Massaro has hit only three home runs - and none since 2007 - but his shot was a no doubt blast, traveling well over 400 feet. The RailCats rounded out their scoring in the seventh when Marconi doubled home Jeff Beachum, who had himself doubled earlier in the inning. Marconi finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs to pace an eight-hit RailCats attack.
The RailCats and Saints wrap up their two-game exhibition set Friday at 10:30 a.m. That game will be broadcast live on www.railcatsbaseball.com. Pitchers Jeff Fischer, Onan Masaoka, Jon Mueller, Alex Rollin and Aaron Cook are expected to throw for the RailCats Friday.
The RailCats open the 2009 regular season at home Monday, May 18 at 7 p.m. also against the JackHammers. Tickets for that game and every game this season are on sale now by stopping by the U. S. Steel Yard Box Office, calling 219.882.2255 or visiting www.railcatsbaseball.com.
GAR 5 8 2
STP 13 15 0
WP - Reed Dickert
LP - Brian Halford
S - None.
HR - GAR Mike Massaro (0 on, 0 out in fifth); STP Craig Brazell (1 on, 0 out in fourth); STP Jacob Butler (0 on, 0 out in seventh)
2009 SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 5 at Joliet, L 7-5
Wednesday, May 6 at Schaumburg, W 5-2
Thursday, May 7 at St. Paul, L 13-5
Friday, May 8 at St. Paul, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, May 10 at Rockford, 3 p.m.
Monday, May 11 vs. Rockford, 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 13 vs. Schaumburg, 1 p.m.
Northern League Stories from May 7, 2009
- Saints Slug Past RailCats 13-5 in Exhibition - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- JackHammers Beat RiverHawks - Joliet JackHammers
- Schaumburg Flyers Logo Gets Facelift For New Season - Schaumburg Flyers
- IBN Sports Baseball Channel Goes International with the Winnipeg Goldeyes - Winnipeg Goldeyes
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