GARY, IN. 8-18-2010 – Cristian Guerrero’s two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie and lifted the Gary SouthShore RailCats to a 3-1 win over the Schaumburg Flyers Wednesday night in the finale of a three-game series at U. S. Steel Yard.

The win gave the RailCats two of three in the series from the Flyers and pushed the ‘Cats a season-high seven games over .500 on the season.  The RailCats have won 10 of their last 12 overall and got two great pitching performances Wednesday – from Willie Glen and Brad Furnish – to three-hit the Flyers in the win.

But the offensive star was Guerrero, who after just missing a grand slam with a towering blast foul down the left field line went the other way with an 0-2 pitch from Matt Elliott to drive in Adam Klein and Mike Massaro to put the RailCats in front for good in the eighth.  Klein had reached earlier in the inning on an infield single and Massaro walked off starter Ryan Gehring (3-9) before Jay Pecci reached on an error to load the bases with one out.

Guerrero had all three RailCats RBI, tying the game with a run-scoring groundout in the fourth after Massaro had doubled to lead off the inning.  The Flyers got their lone run earlier in the fourth when Ron Bourquin reached on a two-base error, was bunted to third, and scored on a Chris Schultz sacrifice fly.

Glen started and was masterful, allowing just three singles in seven solid innings.  The right-hander did walk three but struck out seven to improve his league-leading season total to 97.  Glen faced danger in the first and second innings with two runners on but pitched out of it each time and was in control the rest of the way.

Furnish (4-0) relieved Glen in the eighth and got the final six outs in a row, three by strikeout.  The left-hander closed out the game with a swinging strikeout of Schultz to give him now 44 strikeouts in 43.2 innings in 2010, tops among all RailCats relievers.

The RailCats out-hit Schaumburg 8-3 with Jeff Beachum leading the way offensively.  Starting for the first time since a July 18 injury, Beachum went 3-for-3 with a third inning double, fifth inning single and seventh inning triple, just the second of his career.  The RailCats tried the squeeze to get Beachum home with the go-ahead run in the seventh but Mike Valadez was unable to bunt a pitch off the outside corner and Beachum was tagged out coming home.  Massaro cracked a pair of doubles to record the ‘Cats only other multi-hit game.

The RailCats (45-38) will enjoy their first off day since July 15 Thursday before opening a three-game weekend series Friday at 7 p.m. at U. S. Steel Yard against the Rockford RiverHawks (40-42).  Left-hander Brad Halsey (5-6, 3.95 ERA) will start for the ‘Cats opposite Rockford ace right-hander Kyle Wright (7-2, 3.93 ERA).  The game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Friday’s game will be yet another Fireworks Friday at The Steel Yard, presented by First Midwest Bank and the Post-Tribune.  Tickets are on sale now by calling 219.882.2255 or stopping by the Box Office at U. S. Steel Yard anytime after 10 a.m. Friday.

Notes: Glen is 8-0 in his last 12 starts and lowered his ERA to 2.75 Wednesday, lowest among all Northern League starting pitchers …the win was the RailCats third straight in their last at bat … the game attracted 3,676 fans to see not only the RailCats but also enjoy the only Northwest Indiana appearance this year by The Famous Chicken.