Wingnuts Game Notes: August 21 at Gary
Published on August 21, 2016 under American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release
LATE RALLY DROPS WICHITA
The Wichita Wingnuts held a 2-1 lead entering the seventh, but a late rally by the Gary SouthShore RailCats gave the home team a 4-2 victory Saturday night at U.S. Steel Yard. The Wingnuts broke through with the first run of the night in the third, giving them their first lead of the series. Leo Vargas picked up Wichita's first hit of the night with a one-out single, then scored on an RBI double by Christian Stringer. The RailCats answered in the home half on a sacrifice fly by Reggie Wilson. Wichita went right back ahead in the fourth, when T.J. Mittelstaedt launched his 15th home run of the year, tying him for the club lead. The Wingnuts kept their 2-1 lead until the seventh. After back-to-back singles and a bunt, Gary had runners at second and third with one out. The Wingnuts got a force at home for the second out, but a two-out single by Colin Willis gave the RailCats the lead. The home team then added an insurance tally in the eighth on an Alex Crosby RBI bunt single. In the ninth, Wichita brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but hit into a double play to end the game.
T.J. ON A TEAR
T.J. Mittelstaedt has had a big year thus far for the Wingnuts and added to it last night, going 2-for-3 with his 15th home run, which ties him for the team lead with Brent Clevlen. Mittelstaedt has been especially hot for the last several weeks, going back to July 23 when he hit for the cycle against Joplin. Entering that game, the California native was hitting .265, the lowest average he'd had since the opening week of the season. Since then, Mittelstaedt is 34-for-94 (.362), raising his average to .294. The 28-year old has been especially important driving in runs lately for the Wingnuts, collecting 13 RBIs in the last seven games to boost his total to 65 for the year, the third-highest total in the league.
AVOIDING THE SWEEP
With the RailCats taking the first two games of this weekend series, they have the chance to be the first team to sweep a series from the Wingnuts in 2016. Wichita has also only had one three-game losing streak all year, which came back from May 22-25, when the Wingnuts lost the last game of their first series with Lincoln, and their first two at Joplin.
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