Bats, bullpen solidify series win for the Dogs

The Chicago Dogs kept rolling Saturday night, jumping all over the Gary SouthShore RailCats in a 7-4 win to take game two of the series. Jeff Lindgren got the ball for Chicago, while Peyton Long started for Gary, but it was the Dogs' bats that stole the show early.

In the bottom of the second, Alex McGarry opened the scoring with an RBI single to bring in Chance Sisco. A few hitters later, Henry Kusiak blew it open with a bases-clearing double, scoring Reggie Pruitt, McGarry, and Dusty Stroup to make it 4–0. Brantley Bell followed with an RBI single to bring in Kusiak to make it 5-0 Dogs.

Gary answered in the third with a pair of runs off Lindgren, as Olivier Basabe and Cooper Edwards cut the lead to 5-2. In the fourth, Pruitt doubled in Stroup to make it 6–2. In the fifth, T.J. Hopkins singled up the middle, and Bell crossed the plate to tack on one more. The RailCats pushed back in the seventh. Nick Ultsch roped a double to center, scoring Elvis Peralta. Ultsch then came home on a Jake Guenther sac fly, making it 7-4.

The Dogs bullpen bore down behind Jeff Lindgren’s five and a third innings of work. Bryson Walker, Brock Bell, and Jacob DeLabio combined for three and two thirds scoreless innings, striking out five, while allowing five base runners, stranding them all. For Lindgren, just three of the four runs were earned.

After winning the series on Saturday, the Dogs look for the sweep on Sunday. First pitch at Impact Field is scheduled for 3 p.m., with John Baker on the mound for the Dogs.