Railroaders lose four of six to division rival in final regular-season homestand

The second-place Cougars gain ground on first-place Cleburne as Cleburne falls in final home series of regular season

CLEBURNE — The Cleburne Railroaders finished off their final home stand of the regular season losing four of six against the team chasing them in the standings, the Kane County Cougars.

Cleburne (56-37) punched their ticket to the 2024 playoffs last week and are in first place of the East Division—holding a four-game lead over Kane County (52-41)—going into the final week of the regular season.

Jalen Miller (3-3) took the loss in each of his two starts last week—the series-opening 8-10 loss to Kane County August 20 and the 6-8 loss in the series finale Sunday. He surrendered 11 runs in nine innings pitched across the two starts. Miller has a 4.86 ERA in 11 starts in 2024.

Luke Boyd (7-1) got the win for Cleburne in Wednesday’s 8-0 victory, pitching six and 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing just three hits while striking out seven batters. Cleburne’s winningest pitcher Boyd has a 3.72 ERA in 2024. 

Jonathan Tripp (6-2) took the loss—surrendering two earned runs in six innings—as Kane County beat Cleburne 5-1 Thursday. Tripp’s four strikeouts bring his team-leading total to 78 in 106 innings pitched in 2024.

Dylan Bice (3-1) earned his fourth save of the season (all in August) as he struck out three batters in a scoreless 1 and 1/3 inning as Cleburne beat Kane County 6-5 Friday for their second and final win of the series. Bice made three appearances in the series, allowing one run off one hit and striking out six in three and 1/3 innings. Bice has a 2.84 ERA in 25 and 1/3 innings in 2024.

Shed Long led Cleburne with nine hits last week as he went 9-for-25 and had three-hit performances in the first two games of the series. Long—Cleburne’s primary leadoff hitter—is batting .313 with nine home runs and 72 RBIs in 2024.

Hill Alexander went 8-for-25—including three multi-hit games—with a home run last week. Alexander is batting .304 with 14 home runs and 68 RBIs in 2024.

American Association rookie Korey Holland recorded six hits for Cleburne against Kane County last week. Holland is batting .312 in 52 games in 2024.

The magic number for Cleburne to clinch the East Division is down to two going into the final week of the regular season. Cleburne looks to finish with the best record in the American Association for the first time in team history.

Cleburne will now travel to Nebraska to take on the Lincoln Saltdogs (35-58) in a three-game series before finishing the regular season in Sioux City with a four-game series against the Explorers (46-47).