May 16th – RailCats lose to the Lake Country DockHounds 11–2. RailCats lose their first series of the year. In the last two games, they have been outscored 23–6, giving up eight home runs and 32 hits. Game 2 was much closer until the 8th. Nick Podkul hit a two-run home run in the 1st, giving the RailCats their first lead of the season, but the DockHounds would tie it in the 2nd. It was a 5–2 game going into the 8th, but the DockHounds exploded for six runs, including a grand slam from Peter Zimmerman. Here is what I saw in this game.

1. The start of the game felt different after Nick Podkul hit his first home run of the season. It was a two‑run blast to left, giving the RailCats their first lead of the season.
2. Peyton Long got the start in this one. He had a good first inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. He gave up two runs in the second, one run in the third, and a home run in the fifth. Lake Country seemed to have the book on Long, waiting for the curveball to drop into the strike zone and picking their spots through the infield. When he did get weak contact, it fell into spots that made it difficult for plays to be made. He finished the game going five innings, allowing 10 hits and four runs, with eight strikeouts and one home run allowed.
3. The offense only had one inning where they went down in order, but they left 11 runners on base. In the sixth, they were putting pressure on the DockHounds’ pitching staff, but a hit-and-run turned south when Peralta was doubled off after he took off for second and Podkul drilled a ball to right field. It looked like Peralta was focused on stealing second and didn’t see that the ball was hit in the air, and he didn’t get back in time.
   • I look at this in two ways. If it was a true hit-and-run, Peralta has to trust Podkul to make contact and then try to find the ball. The DockHounds had a similar situation, I believe in the seventh, and Hernández got back in time. But if it was a true steal, I would like to see Podkul just eat the pitch and let Peralta steal the bag, and if the steal sign was on, it’s a hold all the way.
4. The downside of practicing on natural dirt and grass is that when you start the season on artificial turf, the way the ball plays is completely different. There were a couple of plays I’ve seen Peralta and Basabe make that they just couldn’t make with the way the ball was coming off the turf. I would also like to see Jeff move Elvis to second and Cooper Weiss to short. From the games I’ve seen, Weiss’s arm at short might be more beneficial to the club.
5. RailCats baseball and the lights at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park don’t mix. In the sixth, Korry Howell lost the ball in the lights; it didn’t result in a run on that play, but Roberts scored in the next at-bat when Johnson hit a sac fly to make it a 5–2 game. It never fails: in those middle innings, the ’Cats outfielders can’t read the ball. It’s time to push for these to be school day games instead.
6. We saw action from our second left‑hander, Denson Hull. He pitched 2 innings, gave up 3 hits and 1 run, and struck out 2. He would have allowed just 2 hits with no runs scored, but in the sixth Korry Howell lost a ball in the lights. Denson looked good; a couple of pitches came close to hitting batters, but he was the only pitcher to limit any real damage from the DockHounds.
7. After taking a year off from playing, we saw Joan Valdez take the mound. He started out by striking out Nelson. Basabe muffed a ball at third, and after Peralta couldn’t get the ball to second to try to turn a double play (he did get Reyes out at first). With two outs and a runner on second, Valdez started to lose control. Of the 37 pitches he threw, only 19 were strikes, and 9 of those were fouled off. He gave up an RBI double and an RBI single, then walked the next two batters to load the bases, and Peter Zimmermann hit a grand slam. Valdez got out of the inning by catching Jack Blomgren looking. His stat line was 1 inning pitched, 3 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 1 home run allowed. The biggest positive and negative with Valdez is his emotion: the fewer mistakes his fielders make behind him, the better he seems to pitch.
8. We saw good batting efforts from Elvis Peralta, who had two hits, scored one run, and walked twice, and from Joe Suozzi, who added two hits and a walk.
9. I would like to see a switch-up in the lineup for Game 3. Elvis has been a spark plug for the team, and seeing Peralta in the leadoff spot and Suozzi hitting second would be a nice setup to start the game and get some momentum going, as both have over a .400 batting average and a .550 on-base percentage.

Extra Innings – This team is starting to feel like the same team as the past five. The pitching staff gives you a couple of good innings and then has one horrible inning that puts the team in a huge hole. The offense can’t keep the line moving. They had 7 hits, 6 of them singles, and so far they have only 3 extra‑base hits on 13 total. If this team wants to compete in the East, they have to find ways to do more than just hit singles. I know it’s early and it may take a minute to get going, but I have a saying: “You can’t make the playoffs in May, but you sure can miss the playoffs in May.”