Dogs win in packed house
A strong bullpen and a season-high 14 hits charged the Chicago Dogs in a 7-5 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats in front 5,278 people Tuesday night at Impact Field.
Chicago touched up Gary pitching from start to finish, collecting hits in seven of their eight innings at the plate, and runs in five of eight.
Edwin Arroyo, Treysen Vavra, Tony Rosselli, and Matt Dean all recorded multiple hits Tuesday, with Rosselli posting a three RBI night thanks to a two-run, fifth inning home run. The dinger came with the Dogs down 5-3, and was the fourth of the year for the Dogs left fielder. The Dogs are now 4-0 on the year when Rosselli homers.
Chicago chased Gary starter Alex Gunn from the game after the fifth inning, and proved stronger in a battle of bullpens the rest of the night. With Dogs starter Evan Smith lasting just three and two-thirds innings in his first start of the year, the Chicago pen was tasked with going the final five and one-third frames of the game. The trio of Jared Carkuff, Brandon Shimo, and Kaohi Downing did just that, allowing only one run on three hits.
The Dogs bullpen set down the final ten RailCats in order to preserve a 7-5 win.
Chicago broke the 5-5 tie with an Arroyo sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, and picked up a run of insurance thanks to a seventh inning wild pitch that allowed Joe Benson to score from third base. The RailCats issued five wild pitches in the game after entering Tuesday with just 14 wild pitches through their first 42 contests.
Carkuff earned the victory for the Dogs, moving him to 2-1 on the year, while Downing picked up his tenth save in 12 tries with a one-two-three ninth inning.
The Dogs move to 15-28 on the year with the victory, while Gary falls to 23-20 with the loss. The two teams will resume their four-game, home-and-home set with an Independence Day doubleheader Wednesday night at U.S. Steel Yard.
First pitch of game one is scheduled for 5 p.m. Both games will be broadcast at www.thechicagodogs.com/broadcasts/ with the game one Crowne Plaza Pregame Show beginning at 4:40 p.m.