By Michael Barthelemy

OCONOMOWOC, Wisc. – The Dogs got hot and stayed hot all throughout the night en route to a 10-2 win over the Lake Country DockHounds on Saturday.

Chicago was clicking on all cylinders tonight. The offense exploded behind 12 hits and the pitching staff was solid. Grant Kay found his stroke again, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and three total RBI. The Dogs’ second baseman has three home runs in games and increased his season total to nine. Four different Dogs collected two or more hits and three had three RBI.

Johnathon Tripp and Tanner Lawson each threw three innings of scoreless work. Tripp started and allowed three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. It was Tripp’s fourth start of the season and third win.

It was clearly the Dogs’ night from the jump. Charlie Tilson swung at the game’s first three pitches and connected on the third for a leadoff single. He advanced to second and eventually to home courtesy of a Ryan Lidge double to left center field.

Kay doubled the early lead in the second with a solo home run deep over the left field wall. It was a no-doubter for the second baseman, whose nine home runs already trump his 2021 season total of six.

Tilson kept his hot night going in the third when he singled again. The center fielder finished the game 4-for-5 with four singles and three runs. He and Michael Crouse made their way to scoring position, and Stevie Wilkerson drove both of them in with a RBI single and made the game 4-0. In both games he has been a Dog, Wilkerson has picked up RBIs.

On the bump, Tripp avoided trouble but through risky execution. The DockHounds consistently got hard contact on the righty, but could not get balls past the Chicago defenders. T.J. Bennett led off the second with a double, but Lake Country could not cash in on the opportunity thanks to well-executed outs.

Tripp ran into trouble in the fourth, however, when he allowed and single and walked two DockHounds to load the bases with no outs. Sensing his starter’s control depleting, manager Butch Hobson went to the bullpen and brought in the left-handed reliever Lawson in a difficult spot.

The fellow Texan treaded carefully across Lake Country’s lineup and got to two 3-2 counts. Yet he prevailed and got all three hitters to line out and keep the shutout alive.

As Lawson continued to deal in the fifth and sixth, DockHounds starter Francisco Jimenez began to get comfortable as well. The Dominican Republic native kept Chicago scoreless through his final three innings and struck out three. Jimenez ended his night with six innings pitch and four runs allowed, but nine strikeouts and just one walk.

Similar to Friday, the later innings were when the Dogs offense exploded. Chicago picked up five straight hits to score four runs instantly. Wilkerson then doubled to score a fifth and Kay’s single capped off a six run inning that put the Dogs ahead 10-0 and all but sealed the game’s fate.

With a huge margin, the Dogs went to Justin Goossen-Brown for the final third of the game. Wilfredo Gimenez doubled for the DockHounds, and Jake Snider continued his hot weekend with a two-run home run to break the shutout and make it 10-2.

Kay hit his second home run in the ninth to tack on a cheeky extra run off newly-activated Devin Beckley. The DockHounds countered with two doubles that made the game 11-2. Nevertheless, Goossen-Brown got the job done and picked up a save in doing so because he pitched three innings of work.

The Dogs secured the series win and now have an opportunity to sweep tomorrow. This also extends the Dogs record against Lake Country to a perfect 5-0 record. Chicago will trot out Kyle Murphy. The team’s opening-day starter has had his ups and downs as of late, but has four starts allowing one earned run or less over five or more innings.