RailCats WIN 3-1

21-34

6th in the East 

1. The RailCats’ 1st inning streak of going down 1-2-3 extends to 4 games. I don’t know if the offense is trying to score 5 runs, but on the road, they go down in order way too much and don’t take a lot of pitches.

2. Trevor Achenbach drilled a ball over the left field wall to open the scoring. The wind was blowing hard out to left.

3. In this game, the RailCats had 4 hits in the first 4 innings, while in the previous 2 games they had 2 hits in the first 4 innings.

4. In the 5th inning, the RailCats’ offense finally came alive. After Gio Diaz singled and stole 2nd, LG Castillo hit a soft ground ball to 2nd, slipping past Achenbach to tie the game. On the next pitch, Marcos Gonzalez hit a 2-run home run for his 8th home run of the year, also a career high! The RailCats took a 3-1 lead.

5. Tai Tiedemann had one heck of a start! Holding the Canaries to just 1 run in 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 5. This was his 2nd straight start going 7 innings! He looked locked in all game. In a game I was a tad bit nervous for just because of it being the BirdCage and the wind was blowing out to left. Tia is known to give up hits because he is a contact pitcher. His only run came off the Trevor Achenbach solo home run in the 2nd.

6. After Josh Smith was hit in the hand by a ground ball that took him out of the game last night, I was concerned that he might be out for a couple of games and could risk missing the All-Star game in Kansas City. But I was wrong, as he came back and pitched the 8th inning looking like vintage Josh Smith! He had a 1-2-3 inning and struck out 1.

7. We also saw All-Star Nate Alexander come in and pitch a gem against the hardest part of the lineup, facing Jabari Henry (struck out swinging), Josh Rehwadlt (grounded out), Mike Hart (singled), and Trevor Achenbach (struck out looking). That was his 5th save of the year and helped Tai get his 4th win of the year!

8. Olivier Basabe has been a human highlight reel, making 2 straight games with a diving line drive snag. He was also a part of 9 outs in the field, with 8 putouts and 1 assist on a double play. Andrew Mild has trademarked the nickname “Brick Wall Basabe,” which even the American Association X account liked.

9. The RailCats offense had 7 hits in this game, and throughout the game, they looked more comfortable at the plate. They could have had more runs when they had 4 runners in scoring position, but couldn’t capitalize. Luckily, in the 5th inning, LG Castillo was able to drive in Gio Diaz, and Marcos Gonzalez would come through with a 2-run home run that was right down the left field line.
10. Now the RailCats are 21-34 with the 3-1 win over the Canaries. But we have a big series that starts tomorrow against the Chicago Dogs. The RailCats are currently 7 games back of the Dogs for the last playoff spot. They really need to sweep the Dogs. This will be the 1st time since Mother’s Day The ‘Cats will play the Dogs where they got swept.