GARY, IN. 6-20-2010 – The Rockford RiverHawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never relinquished their edge, winning for the second day in a row by downing the Gary SouthShore RailCats 7-4 Sunday afternoon in front of 4,121 fans at U. S. Steel Yard.

Randall Simon and Patrick O’Sullivan hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning off RailCats starter Ryan Zink (1-3) to give Rockford the lead, and after the RiverHawks plated a pair of unearned runs in the third the RailCats were doomed to play catch-up the rest of the night.  Twice in the last three innings the RailCats got the tying run into scoring position down 5-4, but Rockford picked up two insurance runs in the ninth and went on to win two of three in the weekend series.

The RailCats chopped into the Rockford lead in the bottom of the third when Chris Carrara and Adam Klein notched back-to-back two-out singles.  Later in the inning, Mike Massaro and Tanner Townsend drove in both runners with consecutive two-out hits of their own, halving the Rockford lead to 4-2.

After a Simon RBI single in the fifth, the RailCats closed to within a run with a two-run bottom of the inning.  Klein led off with a bunt single and scored when Louis Ott ripped a double to the gap in left-center.  Ott came in later in the inning on a Townsend sacrifice fly, but that rounded out the day offensively for the ‘Cats.

Klein went 3-for-5 to lead the attack, doubling and scoring a pair of runs.  Townsend had two hits and two RBI as the RailCats collected nine hits as a team but left seven runners on base.  Eight different RiverHawks combined for 10 hits against three ‘Cats pitchers, including Simon, who went 2-for-5 with three RBI.

Zink went 6.0 innings in the start, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits.  Brad Furnish followed with two innings of shutout relief before Andy Shipman coughed up a pair of runs in the top of the ninth.  Kyle Ruwe (1-4) earned his first win for Rockford, giving up four earned runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings.  Four Rockford relievers closed the game out, including Scott Roehl who notched save number eight.

The RailCats (16-14) hit the road once again, opening a seven-game road trip in Winnipeg (17-12) at 7 p.m. Monday.  Right-hander Willie Glen (2-2, 5.19 ERA) will start that game for the RailCats with Mark Holliman (3-1, 2.19 ERA) replying for the Goldeyes.  The game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Notes: The RailCats lost a series for the first time in the month of June … Jeff Beachum singled in the eighth inning to reach base for the 15^th game in a row … the RailCats have lost consecutive games for the first time since June 3-4 … Ott’s double extended his hitting streak to six games.  He has 14 hits over that stretch … Jay Pecci and Cristian Guerrero did not play for the third consecutive game as they nurse injuries.