LINCOLN — The Gary SouthShore RailCats (17-12) came back twice late in a roller coaster of a rubber game as they edged the Saltdogs (13-17) 11-10 in front of 3,274 fans at Haymarket Park Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 7-2 through six innings, the RailCats plated three runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth – highlighted by a Cody Bishop two-run, game-tying homer – to take a 8-7 lead.
Luis Nunez then homered to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth and the 'Dogs plated two more to take a 10-8 advantage after eight.
The RailCats began the ninth with two singles and a sacrifice bunt, setting up a two-run single by Derek Smith to pull even at 10-10. The next batter, Cody Bishop singled in Smith to give Gary the ultimate lead.
Nunez finished 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, three runs and three RBI. Mike Gilmartin went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Brian Joynt went 2-for-5 with a run and three RBI in a losing effort for the Saltdogs.
Kagen Hopkins (2-2) allowed three hits in 2/3 of an inning but got the win. Marshall Schuler (1-4) surrendered three runs on four hits to suffer the loss. Kevin Brahney worked a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Each club produced three runs in three different inning. Each team had 17 hits as the RailCats took the final two games of the weekend, building their Central division lead to 4 1/2 games.
The Saltdogs open a week-long road trip with the opener of a four-game series at St. Paul Monday night at 7:05 p.m. Radio coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. with "At the Ballpark" and "The Obie Show" on KFOR 1240.