CLEBURNE, TX – Brandon Jacobs hit a solo home run in the second inning and the Lincoln Saltdogs pitching staff did the rest of the work in a 3-0 win at the Depot at Cleburne Station on Friday night.
After the Jacobs home run, Brian McAfee settled in to pitch six more shutout frames in the win over the Cleburne Railroaders. The right-hander allowed just four hits and two walks over his seven frames. He struck out two in his second appearance for the Saltdogs.
The ‘Dogs offense tallied nine hits, their highest total since getting 10 base knocks on June 27th in a win against the Kansas City T-Bones.
After the home run in the second inning, the Saltdogs did not score again until the seventh. Randolph Oduber reached on an error by the shortstop to start things. Then, Dashenko Ricardo followed with a base hit. After Cleburne caught a fly ball for the second out of the inning, Christian Ibarra stepped to the plate. Ibarra, who did not have a hit in the road trip before the at bat, ripped a 1-2 pitch past the third baseman to score Oduber and make it 2-0.
The Saltdogs added another run in the top of the eighth inning. Cesar Valera started the frame with a base hit and Curt Smith followed with another single. Cleburne changed out relievers and got Jacobs to ground into a double play that sent Valera to third base. After a walk, Oduber came up and hit a single up the middle to add another run to the total.
Cameron McVey worked a perfect eighth inning and Michael Wagner pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his ninth save of the season.
The victory was the third shutout win for the Saltdogs in 2017.
The win evens the series against the Railroaders. Game three of the four-game set is Saturday night at 7:06 PM with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM on ESPN 1480 and saltdogs.com.
The Saltdogs return home to face the Salina Stockade on Tuesday, July 11th. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling (402) 474-2255 or visiting Saltdogs.com. For the latest information on the Saltdogs follow the team on Facebook and Twitter/Instagram @saltdogsball.