The Gary SouthShore RailCats (47-32) secured a series win over the Kansas City T-Bones (35-44) with a 7-6 victory tonight at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. 

In front of 4,271 fans, Derek Duclos issued back-to-back walks to Eric McNamee and Jay Pecci with one out in the first before Cristian Guerrero hit an RBI single that scored McNamee and gave Gary an early 1-0 lead.

The RailCats added five more in the second while recording just one hit in the frame.  Duclos loaded the bases, walking two and hitting one batter to start the inning.  A double-play plated one run before another hit batter and walk filled the bases again, chasing Duclos from the game.  Justin James threw a wild pitch to Guerrero, the first batter James faced, scoring one run, and an error on the play pushed another across, leaving a runner at second.  A home run by Guerrero added two runs, extending Gary’s lead to 6-1.

Duclos was charged with five runs on one hit, six walks and two hit batters in one and two-thirds innings of work.

A solo home run by Craig Hurba off Tom Thornton in the bottom of the second cut into the RailCats lead before Kansas City plated five in the third to even the score.  Aharon Eggleston reached on an infield single to begin the frame and scored on a two-run shot by Damian Rolls.  Thornton then hit Greg Jacobs with a pitch and surrendered a single to Jacob Blackwood.  An RBI double by Ryan Fox pushed Jacobs across, and a two-run single by Hurba tied the game at six. 

James left in favor of Chris Rhoads after the fifth, allowing one run on four hits in three and one-thirds innings of relief.  Rhoads entered and threw three shutout innings, allowing just one baserunner on a walk in the eighth. 

For the fourth night in-a-row, neither starter factored into the decision.  Thornton allowed six runs on seven hits over five innings.  Tristan Facer threw two shutout innings of relief for Gary and Eddie De la Cruz (5-1) added a scoreless frame, allowing just one hit, to earn the victory. 

Payton Tweddale (1-4) took the mound for Kansas City in the ninth and gave up a single to Pecci to start the frame.  He struck out the next batter, but walked Guerrero and hit Mike Rohde with a pitch to load the bases.  Daniel Sattler replaced Tweddale and hit pinch-hitter Chris Carrara with the first pitch he threw, pushing Pecci across to give Gary a 7-6 advantage.  Tweddale was tagged with the loss, allowing one run on one hit in one-third of an inning.

Eggleston hit a single off Grant Johnson to begin the bottom of the ninth and, after taking off on the pitch, advanced to third on a groundout by Rolls.  Johnson intentionally walked Jim Fasano, but induced a flyout and a groundout to end the threat and earn his second save of the year.

A two-for-four performance extended Eggleston’s on-base streak to 37 and his home hit streak to 18 games. 

The T-Bones have two off-days before they travel to Schaumburg for a three-game set against the Flyers beginning Friday night.  Neither team has announced their starters for the series.  First pitch is set for 6:45.  To catch all the action while the T-Bones are on the road, tune to KXTR 1660 AM or click the listen live link at www.tbonesbaseball.com