August 15th, 2024. The RailCats face off against the Cleburne Railroaders in game 3 of 6 at the US SteelYard. The RailCats would go on to lose the game 6-2 and are on a 4-game losing streak and are 28-55 and 6th in the East Division.

Here is how the game played out.

The RailCats would take a 1-0 lead over the Railroaders when Miguel Sierra would drive in Carlos Rincon on a single.

In the top of the 2nd, Carter Aldrete would tie the game at 1 after a solo home run to left field.

In the Bottom of the 2nd, Anthony Abbatine would single, driving home LG Castillo. The RailCats would take a 2-1 lead.

We wouldn’t see any scoring until the Top of the 7th. After Andres Diaz gave up a walk to Korey Holland and Brian O’Grady pop out to Marcos Gonzalez in foul territory, Lamarr Rodgers made a call to the bullpen. I didn’t want to see Diaz come out of the game because he had a great outing going, but he ended his night with 101 pitches. So Denson Hull came into the game. Hull would get Thomas Dillard to strike out, but would walk Bret Bosewell and Blake Grant-Parks to load the bases. Again Lamar Rodgers would go to the bullpen where we would see Julio Pinto come on for the 40th time this season. Now this wasn’t the easiest spot to be in for Pinto as bases were loaded but there were 2 outs. He would give up a double to Shed Long, scoring 2 runs to give Cleburne a 3-2 lead. Then, Hill Alexander would bring in 2 more after he singled to make it 5-2. Jesus Lujano would fly out to end the 6th.

Then in the 9th, Shed Long would double off of Nate Alexander, allowing Bret Boswell to score.

The Good

This was a really good baseball game up until the 7th. Seeing the RailCats get on the board 1st and respond with a run after giving up a run was a good sign. They had 11 hits tonight. We saw some really good defense from Anthony Abbatine who made a nice running backwards catch in the 4th, and we saw a double play that I’m still amazed was turned by Olivier Basabe, who backhanded it, and Marcos Gonzalez picked the low throw to him out of the dirt and rifled the ball to Jose Contreras to get Cater Aldrete out at 1st. But, the highlight of the night was Andres Diaz, who went 6.1 innings, gave up 2 runs, but it really should have been 1 if the bullpen could have shut down the Railroaders. He gave up 4 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 6. He looked like he was in control on the mound, something we’ve seen in the past 2 starts as he has given up 5 runs in 12 innings with 10 strikeouts for an ERA of 3.75.

The Bad

The bad was having 11 hits and scoring only 2 runs while Cleburne scored 6 runs on 8 hits. Run production is something that has plagued this team all year long. But, the big blemish of the night was the 4 runs given up in the 7th inning. Cleburne scores 4 run on 2 hits and 3 walks. Denson Hull was tagged with the lost on the game, and he has given up his 1st runs since August 2nd in a 3-game span. Julio Pinto continues to struggle as he has given up 6 earned runs in 1.1 innings.

This one was confused me. In the bottom of the 7th, Abbatine on 1st after a walk, Guillermo Quintana would line a ball to the left field wall. You’re thinking okay, Abbatine on 3rd and Quintana for sure would be on second, well you guessed wrong. Quintana was sitting on 1st. That wasn’t the kicker in that inning with Rincon, Sierra, and Gonzalez up to bat. You’re thinking at least 1 or 2 runs could be scored. Nope, all THREE STRUCK OUT.

The Ugly

I love it when the team does the jersey auction because it’s a great experience bidding on a game-worn and signed jersey, being able to go out to the field and meet the player. But the Rieth-Riley jerseys tonight were a little hard on the eyes. I heard a couple of fans talking about the jerseys, and even the Cleburne players made a couple of not-so-well comments on them. I know it was kind of a last-minute setup, but the design could have been a little better. Later in the game, two women in their early 20s came down to the Cleburne dugout and started getting a little obnoxious, and I heard one of the players calling them Cleat Chasers. I’m all for you having a good time on a Thirsty Thursday and wanting to get a ball or talk to the players, but when you make yourself known after having had one too many $3 beers and start yelling really loud into a dugout full of players playing a game, don’t get mad when everyone else is laughing at the situation.

RailCats play tomorrow at 6:45PM for game 4 of 5.

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GO ‘CATS