LINCOLN — Cesar Valera delivered the walk-off single in a brilliant outing from Lindsey Caughel as the first-place Saltdogs (47-40) toppled the Gary SouthShore RailCats (45-43) 2-1 in front of 2,793 fans at Haymarket Park.
Valera roped a two-out single to left, plating Luis Alen in the bottom of the ninth to give Lincoln their fourth walk-off victory.
Alen had drawn a two-out walk and reached third base on a dropped ball by the covering pitcher Jorge De Leon.
Lindsey Caughel (6-3) pitched his second complete game, allowing just a run on four hits with a walk and a season-high 10 strikeouts.
The All Star right-hander struck out five of the final seven hitters he faced, lowering his league-leading ERA to 2.03.
Trailing 1-0 with two outs and Alen at second in the seventh, Valera smacked the equalizer up the middle.
Valera went 2-for-4 with both Lincoln RBI in his Haymarket Park debut as a Saltdog.
Travis McGee turned in 6 1/3 impressive innings, allowing a run on three hits to take a no-decision.
In the Saltdogs’ third ever “Bobblelection,” Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton 500-261 according to the first 761 fans through the gate.
Game two of the three-game series is Wednesday at 11 a.m., with LPS fifth-graders in attendance. Radio coverage is online online at kfornow.com.