For the 2nd straight year, the RailCats will lose the first two games coming out of the gate. Before I get into the game, I sent out a post on X talking about Pointstreak not having last night’s game up during the game, and this morning the stats weren’t updated. I tagged the AA in it and, like magic, I refreshed and it was right there with tonight’s game ready to go. The funny part to that is last night’s game is classified as a tie; if that doesn’t get corrected, some things may become an issue with stats and records down the line.

Getting into tonight’s game, we saw something all too familiar to last season. Chris Erwin struggled out of the gate, giving up back-to-back walks to Estep and Perez. Estep would later score on a Davis RBI single. In the 2nd inning, we saw a little home run as Estep hit a ball to Galan, and Blake would score, but Galan overplayed the ball, and it turned into scramble mode trying to get the ball in, and an Estep RBI single turned into a 2-run inside-the-park home run (in all reality, it’s an advance on the E8 and won’t show up as a home run).

After that inning, Erwin settled in and kept the Milkmen off the board until he was relieved of his duties for Jonathan Martinez. You could tell that Erwin hadn’t pitched in about a week, and that’s fine; starters typically get a longer lease to settle in. In his first appearance of the year, he was tagged with the loss, but his offense didn’t do him any favors. His night looked like this: 4.2 IP, 7 K’s, 2 BB, 3 Hits, 3 runs, 2 Earned, and an ERA of 3.86.

I will typically give pitchers until the beginning of June to really hone in on them since it does take a moment to get comfortable in live game-time action. Hitting should be the dominant side early in the season, but today was something RailCats fans saw oh so well last season.

After Erwin was relieved, Jonathan Martinez took over and started with a walk to Perez, but he would strike out Ostberg in his 1st full inning. He gave up a hit and a walk, stranding Davis on 3rd. Martinez can deal, and you can see after his 1st strikeout on a tough customer like Ostberg, his confidence rising. However, we have seen good outings from our bullpen and then the next be terrible, but for his 1st night, I’ll take it along with Dawson Lane.

Lane game in with 1 out in the 7th he would walk Estep and Estep would steal 2nd base and Cooper Edwards would throw too far to the right and Estep would advance on the E2 from Coop. This was a moment where I was like here we go LG Castillo gets the RailCats on the board in the top of the inning by ambushing the Milkmen’s pitcher Tahnaj Thomas by hitting the 1st pitch for a solo homerun. Last season we would get this momentum from our offense and it would seem the pitching wouldn’t hold, well tonight was different. With the runner on 3rd and infield brought in Perez would hit a chopping ball just past Lane but Allgeyer would make a half sliding backhanded grab, look back at Estep, and throw out Perez, that would lead Lane to strike out Ostberg to pitch a scoreless inning.

Outside of the major error from Galan pitching and defense, where the lockdown force I was happy to see, it was the offense that didn’t show up to the plate. The ‘Cats just couldn’t get the ball moving. In the 2nd inning, Suozzi would get on due to an error by the 3rd baseman, but LG would ground into a double play. LG would also ground into a double play in the 9th after Suozzi would single.

Let me pause on LG for a moment. His 2 double plays he grounded into were not the issue I have. He went 2 for 4 tonight with a homerun, and he was one of the select few not to strike out. I believe he could have been a difference maker last night, but Lamarr left him out. I don’t fully understand; yes, LG struggled last year, but he is a leader in that clubhouse, and he will be a factor this year. I understand giving other players a chance to show what they can do, but you also want to try and win, and trust me, you will win more games with LG in the lineup than when he is not.

The offense just couldn’t get the momentum going. The Milkmen’s starting pitcher had 33 pitches thrown through 3 innings, while Erwin was sitting at 24 in the 1st inning. The approach wasn’t there. Yes, Jhordany Mezquita was throwing strikes; yes, he was, but the battle of strikes that aren’t your pitches wasn’t there. After Milwaukee scored 2 more in the 2nd, it was like panic mode for the offense, just hacking at everything or watching a slider drop right in the heart of the plate or looking at a curveball that just hit the outside corner. I hate strikeouts looking, and I’ve seen way too many so far. It’s not like they were completely fooled because the players will show it. No, these strikeouts looking are arguing with the umpire that it was just outside. Don’t leave it up to the Umpire.

Is it still early in the season? Yes, it is, but seeing a game like this so early in the season is a concern for me. The RailCats will look to salvage at least one win before heading back home for the home opener. The game is at 1 PM, and Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers!! There will be no Kyle’s Thoughts tomorrow, as I work during the game and will be recording with Chuck later that night!

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