The RailCats fall to 28-60 after a 7-5 loss to the Lake Country Dockhounds on August 20th. The RailCats are currently on a 9-game losing streak.

Takeaways

1. Howard Rodriguez returns to the lineup after being released on August 11th. I knew he was gonna be coming back for the Winnipeg series, but Lamarr Rodgers brought him back a series and a half early. And what a night he had! He went 3-4, scoring 2 runs and driving in LG Castillo with a single in the 4th that got the RailCats on the board. He also got a double, stole a base, but also got caught stealing once.
2. Gio Diaz has found his old self in the last 3 games, and again he was very noticeable tonight. He went 3-4. He drove in Howard Rodriguez to bring the RailCats within 1 run in the top of the 4th with a single. He also walked once and stole 2 bases. Gio is on a 4-game hitting streak and a 5-game on-base streak. In his past 3 games, he has gone 7 and 10 with 1 run scored, 1 RBI, 4 walks, 1 strikeout, and 2 stolen bases.
3. LG Castillo is on a 17-game on-base streak after he got on with a walk in the 4th.
4. I’ll have to do more research, but the last time I checked on Guillermo Quintana’s Caught Stealing Percentage, it was around 10%, and now he is at 18%, as it seems he is throwing more runners out consistently vs. what was a rarity early on in the year.
5. Andres Diaz was the starter for the RailCats in this game. He would give up 4 runs in 3 innings but settled in for the 4th and 5th, allowing only 1 hit and getting one strikeout in those 2 innings. When he entered the 6th, he had a 1-run lead. He was also pushing 100 pitches. He would strike out Ray Zuberer, then he would walk Marek Chlup. JT Benson would single, tying the game at 5. I thought that would have been his last batter, but Lamarr Rodgers left him in the game to face Dievy Grullon, who would ground out for the third out, and that would be the end for Andres Diaz. Andres Diaz was tagged with the loss after Sanabria would give up a Chavez Single that scored JT Benson, for whom Andres was responsible. Andres went 5.2 innings, gave up 10 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. He did pick off Chavez Young in the 1st inning.
6. Oliver Basabe tied the game in the top of the 6th after hitting his 4th home run of the year.
7. The RailCats took the lead on a weird heads-up play by both Gio Diaz and Howard Rodriguez. Gio Diaz hit a ball to right field, and it was one of those situations where the right fielder might catch it, but it dropped in front of the Right Fielder JT Benson. Howard advanced to 3rd, and Gio Diaz got himself out of a little pickle. When Gio went back to 1st, he saw that 2nd base wasn’t covered, so he took back off for 2nd, and Howard went home. By the time Sims threw the ball to 2nd to get Gio out at 2nd, the throw from Tiberi was late, allowing Rodriguez to score, and the RailCats took a 5-4 lead.
8. The 5-4 lead was short-lived as the Dockhounds would score 2 in the 6th as well. JT Benson would tie the game with a single, and Chavez Young would give the Dockhounds the lead with a single. In the 7th, Curtis Terry would give the Dockhounds a 7-5 lead after hitting a solo home run off of Carlos Sanabria. 7-5 would be the final score.
9. Going back to the bottom of the 6th on the Chavez Young single that gave the Dockhounds the lead. It could have been 7-5 earlier if it weren’t for a great diving tag by Howard Rodriguez. After Young hit the ball to Gio Diaz, Gio would throw the ball to Sierra, who would throw it to Howard as Young tried to take 2nd base, and Howard would make a diving tag just before Tiberi could score as he was on his way home from 2nd base.
10. The last takeaway from this game was that it felt like the RailCats could have had this one. They played solid defense, had good baserunning, and were getting the production they needed when they really needed it, but just fell short to a team that has a very good offense, even though they are missing Ryan Hernandez at the moment. I know this will be a rough ride to the end, but if you’re still watching these games, look for the young players getting their chance to prove they can play in this league, like Howard Rodriguez and Anthony Abbantine.

The RailCats are one loss away from tying the most losses in a single season at 61 in the American Association, set in 2021. The franchise record is 65 back in 2004 when they went 31-65. They play the Dockhounds tomorrow at 6:35 PM for game 3.