LINCOLN, NE – Brandon Jacobs belted his 21st home run and drove in a season-high five runs as the Lincoln Saltdogs beat the Cleburne Railroaders 10-6 on Thursday night.
The offensive onslaught continues a trend of high-scoring games for Lincoln (49-47). The ‘Dogs plated 36 runs on 48 hits over their last three games. This victory gives the Saltdogs the series win – their seventh in their last eight tries.
Jacobs’ blast tied him with Phil Hawke, Cory Harris and Bryan Warner for the third most home runs in one season in franchise history.
The game started in the Railroaders’ (30-65) favor. Angel Rosa and Levi Scott each doubled in the first inning and Cleburne jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Saltdogs starter Shairon Martis. It was Martis’ first start since May 26th.
The Saltdogs answered the Railroaders’ hot start in the bottom half of the first. Jacobs supplied a bases-loaded single to knock in two runs and cut the deficit to one run.
Lincoln grabbed the lead in the third inning. The first six batters reached base – including a streak of five straight hits. Dashenko Ricardo banged a double and Christian Ibarra drove in a couple runs with a two-out hit as the ‘Dogs poured on six runs to take an 8-3 lead.
Cam Monger hit a solo home run in the fourth to draw closer, but Lincoln added more in the bottom of the inning. Curt Smith singled before Jacobs launched a homer over the right field wall to make it 10-4.
Cleburne tallied two runs in the seventh after drawing four walks to make the score closer. Jake Hohensee and J.R. Bunda were not charged for a run in three innings of relief.
Bunda struck out Rosa to end the game. The punchout was Cleburne’s 872nd of the season, breaking the previous record set last year by Sioux Falls.
The Saltdogs try for the sweep in the home season finale on Friday. First pitch is at 7:05 PM with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM on ESPN 101.5 FM 1480 AM and http://saltdogs.com/stream.
For more information on the Saltdogs, follow the team on Facebook and Twitter/Instagram @saltdogsball. For ticket information visit https://saltdogs.com/tickets/ or call (402) 474-2255.