For the 1st time in the 2025 season, the RailCats went into extra innings as they were down 5-0 in the 4th inning to score 5 unanswered runs to tie the game. They ultimately ended up losing 6-5 in extra innings on a bases-loaded, hard-hit ground ball by Joshua Day that just hit off the tip of a diving Peralta’s mitt to bring in Abdiel Layer for the winning run. The RailCats have yet to win a game on the road and have been swept twice so far in the young season. Here are my thoughts on the game.

1. Last night’s game was a long game that I missed a bulk of since I was at work, and when I got home I heard Andrew Mild talk about how tight the strike zone was. So when I saw that the zone was looking big, I figured we would have a shorter game. I was right until the 4th and 5th plus extras.
2. Up to the 5th inning, I felt I was watching last year’s team. The offense couldn’t buy a hit until Allgeyer was able to single in the 3rd, and Cooper Edwards got on by an error by the pitcher. Then Nick Ultsch hit a ground ball to 2nd, and Shumpert went to the shortstop, Day, to get Edwards on a force at 2nd. Allgeyer, instead of staying at 3rd, went home and got tagged out while in a rundown. I understood the move by Allgeyer because it looked like it was going to be a routine double play. There was already 1 out, so why not?
3. Cooper Edwards has been lights out with throwing players out trying to steal 2nd base as he threw out Schumpert and George, but in the 4th he had an error that changed the momentum in the Explorers’ favor. With 2 outs, Schumpert singled into right and Toribio scored. The throw was offline, and Edwards cut it off in front of home plate and made a running throw to Basabe at 3rd to try and get Layer, but the throw was wild and Layer scored. The X’s would go on to score 2 more runs in the inning to make it 5-0. Not saying that Cooper’s error was the reason 2 more runs scored after the error, but the offense was struggling and it felt like a Little League play that shouldn’t have been made.
4. In the 5th, the RailCats had a 2-out rally of their own. After Castillo and Allgeyer both struck out swinging, Cooper Edwards got on base after being hit by a pitch. Nick Ultsch hit a triple, scoring Edwards (made up for the error). Basabe singled right after to score Ultsch. After Richards was walked, during Suozzi’s at bat, Willeman balked, allowing Basabe and Ultsch to move up to 2nd and 3rd. Willeman then threw a wild pitch, and Basabe scored.
5. This is where things got heated. In the past two years, I believe one game of each series against the X’s, the benches would clear. Well, we got close. Suozzi would get hit, and he would say something to Willeman, and you could see the RailCats’ benches and the X’s benches rise and start to make their way to the front of the dugout. Now, Suozzi was hit in last night’s game, and the pitch tonight was behind him and grazed the numbers on his back. Bryne was hit in the previous inning, but Willeman was starting to struggle, so I didn’t think anything of it. But this is where things differed from last year. Lamar was able to get the guys under control, a big help to Elvis Peralta. As I was staring at the potential brawl we could have, Andrew Mild pointed out in the broadcast that Peralta was telling the players in the dugout to get back and relax. Something that last year’s team didn’t have was more players with level heads.
6. In the 8th, the RailCats made a big push in almost tying the game. Peralta would strike out, but Contreras would single, Castillo would come up huge with a double, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd, and Allgeyer would hit a SAC fly. Howard Rodriguez would come in for Cooper Edwards, and Howard would fly out to right. The bottom of this order has really hurt this RailCats team. Yes, Allgeyer did his job and got in a run, but replacing a .111 Edwards with a .085 Rodriguez is a move I wouldn’t have made, even though Howard had an RBI double in the last game. However, that puts Waite out there with Edwards, who at this time calls a better game.
7. This 9th inning was a gambler’s dream! Down by a run, top of the order Nick Ultsch singled, gambled on trying to steal second, was gunned down, 1 out. Basabe grounded out to 3rd, 2 outs. Here is where I would have loved to see live in-game betting, the line of the ‘Cats scoring 1 run in the 9th with 2 outs. Jarius Richards, on a 1-1 count, bunts the ball to the left of the mound, and I would have given Richards a hit, but the pitcher fumbled the ball and he was tagged with the error. Richards would steal 2nd and be safe by a mile. Joe Suozzi would come in clutch by hitting the ball just over the shortstop Day’s head, allowing Richards to score. I found it funny that Suozzi thought Day caught it, and he threw his helmet in disgust, only to find out that he indeed hit in the tying run and hurried to 1st base.
8. So this is where I realized that American Association umpires have zero clue on how to call a game. So in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, Nate Alexander got Abdiel Layer to strike out on a breaking ball in the dirt, but Waite didn’t handle it cleanly; he picked it up and took a step further toward the 3rd base side so he didn’t hit Layer. It was a low throw, and Contreras scooped the ball and raised his mitt in the air with the ball before Layer even hit the bag, and Layer was called safe. I was flabbergasted watching the replay over and over. Well, luckily the umpires huddled up and reversed the call, but again maybe they shouldn’t have because if Layer was called safe and Nate got Schumpert out, maybe extras could have gone differently, maybe in a different timeline.
9. Extra innings: Top of the 10th. Peralta on 2nd, Contreras up to the plate. Here is where I believe that everyone shouldn’t bunt. Jose Contreras is not a bunter, I understand the thought process, but if you wanted someone to bunt you would put in Howard Rodriguez. Oh wait, you subbed him in for Edwards. So that leaves you with 1 option: let the big boy feast. Don’t take away someone who has the ability to hit the ball 450 feet to try and have him bunt; it’s like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. Contreras would try to bunt twice, fail both times, and strike out. Castillo would ground out to second, moving Peralta to 3rd. Allgeyer would strike out. Bottom of the 10th: Layer on 2nd, Montgomery would hit a chopper to 3rd and Basabe couldn’t get Layer, who advanced to 3rd, but Basabe would get Montgomery at 1st. Lamarr would walk, Shumpert and Vooletich to load the bases, which I didn’t mind since you have a play anywhere and if the ball goes into the outfield, game over anyways, and you didn’t have to risk a tag play at the plate. Well, the gamble didn’t pay off as Joshua Day hit the game winner just past Peralta and Layer would score.

Final Thought: I like Nate Alexander as a person and a pitcher, but when he has to pitch into multiple innings or has to start with a runner on 2nd we have lost more than we have won. Now I can’t put that all on him because the offense didn’t step up, but when looking at some underlying numbers. Going into tonight, with a runner on, his average against is .385; with the bases loaded, opponents’ average is 1.000, RISP OPAVG is .600, and RISP with 2 outs OPAVG is .333. I would have probably gone with someone else in those situations. Numbers don’t tell you everything, but it does tell that story…