Railroaders move closer to first after winning series against Kansas City
Cleburne gained a half-game on Milwaukee for first in the division after winning two of three games against Kansas City last week
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CLEBURNE, Texas - The Cleburne Railroaders moved up half a game on the Milwaukee Milkmen for first place in the East Division last week.
Cleburne (32-31) sits in second place, six games behind Milwaukee (37-24) after winning two of three games against the Kansas City Monarchs last week.Â
Cleburne scored at least six runs in Friday’s 7-6 victory and Saturday’s 6-5 walk-off victory but lost 3-2 Saturday in the only game the pitching staff held Kansas City to under five runs. Cleburne leads the American Association of Professional Baseball with 404 runs scored in 63 games and has the league’s third-worst ERA at 5.13.
Travis Perry (4-5) took the loss Saturday despite pitching a quality start. Perry surrendered two earned runs (three total runs) on three hits and five walks and struck out six batters through six innings pitched as Kansas City beat Cleburne 3-2.
Cleburne’s other starting pitchers Kody Bullard (5-2) and Trey Cumbie (2-6) failed to last five innings and each surrendered four earned runs in their respective starts.
Chandler Casey (2-1) earned the victory as he shut out Kansas City and struck out two batters through one and 1/3 innings as Cleburne won 7-6 Friday.Â
Michael Krauza (1-0) earned the win as he shut out Kansas City after surrendering a walk and struck out a batter in the ninth inning before Cleburne walked off in the bottom of the inning to win 6-5 Sunday. Cleburne signed Krauza Saturday.
Alex Jackson hit a walk-off RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth to complete Cleburne’s comeback from 5-1 and win 6-5 Sunday.
Cleburne’s bullpen surrendered three earned runs on eight hits and six walks and struck out 12 batters through 11 and 2/3 innings pitched against Kansas City.
Rookie Blaze Brothers extended his on-base streak to 13 games while going 2-for-9 from the plate with three walks, two RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base against Kansas City. Brothers has reached base safely in every game he’s played for Cleburne in 2023. He’s batting a team-high .288 with a home run, five RBIs, 11 runs scored and five stolen bases in 2023.
Elmer Reyes led Cleburne with three RBIs in the series after returning from the injured list to the lineup Friday for the first time since July 4. Reyes went 4-for-12 with three RBIs in the series. He’s batting .258 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 35 games in 2023.
All-Star Zach Nehrir led Cleburne with four runs scored as he went 3-for-10 with an RBI, three walks and three stolen bases in the series. Nehrir is batting .282 with 11 home runs and a team-leading 57 RBIs in 2023.
Guillermo Quintana led Cleburne with five hits as he went 5-for-11 with two RBIs, a run scored, two walks and a stolen base against Kansas City. Quintana is batting .270 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs in 50 games in 2023.
Cleburne begins a six-game series against theGary Southshore Railcats (26-36) Tuesday at 7:06 p.m. at La Moderna Field. Gary Southshore is in last place in the East Division.
Ashton Nicks is the media director of Peak One Sports Network and a contributor at FanSided covering Dallas-Fort Worth sports and at Let’s Talk Sports Network. Check him out.
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