ROSEMONT, Ill. — Keon Barnum and Gustavo Pierre homered, but the Chicago Dogs’ late rally fell just short as they bowed out to the Milwaukee Milkmen, 5-3, on Thursday night at Impact Field.

Down by two in the ninth, the Dogs had the bases loaded with one out for David Olmedo-Barrera. Milkmen closer Myles Smith snagged a grounder up the middle to turn two and close out the game.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Barnum mashed a solo shot to straightaway center field, his league-leading 23rd of the year, to put the Dogs up 1-0.

Austin Wright (L, 5-6) was cruising with five shutout frames before running into trouble in the sixth inning. Adam Walker got Milwaukee on the board in explosive fashion with a three-run homer.

Three batters later, Glen McClain scored on a throwing error by Gustavo Pierre, pushing the Milkmen’s lead to 4-1. Sam Dexter later drilled an RBI double to give the visitors a 5-1 advantage.

Wright struck out eight, marking his fifth start with at least eight strikeouts on the season. Luke Wilkins then took over in the seventh and hurled two shutout frames, keeping the Milkmen at bay. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Pierre launched a two-run to bring Chicago within two runs.

Carlos Zambrano then hurled a 1-2-3 ninth with back-to-back strikeouts, providing one last chance for the Dogs offense, which ended with the double-play ball.

The Dogs open a three-game set against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Impact Field tomorrow night. LHP D.J. Snelten will get the start with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Fans can tune in to The Chicago Dogs Baseball Network to watch all Dogs home games. For more updates, follow @TheChicagoDogs on social media and use the hashtag #TakeABite.