By Michael Barthelemy

ROSEMONT, Ill – After an ugly loss last night, the Chicago Dogs had an offensive explosion early and never looked back en route to a 13-0 win over the Gary SouthShore Railcats.

Chicago right fielder Danny Mars led the way with a 2-for-4 day and a home run to count four RBI on the afternoon. Third baseman Harrison Smith went 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI off of a home run of his own.

Left-handed starter Shane Barringer tossed a gem in his season debut for Chicago. Barringer delivered five shutout frames to go with five strikeouts.

In the bottom of the first, Dogs left fielder Michael Crouse picked up the team’s first hit with a single to centerfield. Quickly, he made his way to third base courtesy of his first stolen base of the year and a wild pitch. It was catcher Ryan Lidge that brought him in with a single up the middle.

This was only a taste of what would come. To lead off the second inning, Dogs second baseman Grant Kay notched the season’s first home run deep to left field. Kay had six in 2021. Once Harrison Smith picked up a walk, Dogs first year outfielder Charlie Tilson roped a line drive into left center and Smith used his speed to hustle from first to home to just beat the throw home.

With two outs in the inning, Mars dropped a single into right field that scored Tilson and made the score 4-0. The Dogs tacked on three more singles and ended Gary SouthShore starter Elio Serrano’s night. The righty finished with 1.2 innings pitched and allowed six earned runs.

Already up 6-0, there was no sign of stopping in the third. Shortstop Connor Kopach picked up the first hit of his Dogs career with a single to center field. He advanced Smith to third, who was brought in by a Tilson sacrifice fly. Crouse got his second hit of the game and with two runners on, Mars hit a high fly ball that kept carrying to over the left field wall. His home run extended the lead to 10-0 by the end of the third inning.

All while the lineup was stealing headlines, Barringer was dealing. The southpaw was consistently able to get out of big spots and kept a scoreless streak going despite four runners in scoring position. This was the second scoreless start of the series for the Dogs this season.

In the seventh, Smith decided that a 10-run lead was not enough. Anfernee Grier and Kay earned a pair of singles and that set up the third baseman’s three-run home run deep into left field off of Gary SouthShore righty Leif Strom. Strom pitched four innings and allowed three earned runs. At the end of the seventh, the Dogs looked up to the scoreboard to see a 13-0 lead.

Barringer deservedly gets the shine for his stellar start, but right-handed reliever Johnathon Tripp came out of the bullpen to deliver three scoreless frames with two strikeouts. The Keith, Texas native passed it off to James Reeves in the ninth, who completed his second scoreless outing for Chicago and lock up the final tally to 13-0.

Chicago takes the series 2-1 over Gary SouthShore from a pair of shutouts and a blowout loss sandwiched in between. The Dogs have tomorrow off, but return to Impact Field to face the Lincoln Saltdogs on Tuesday. The Dogs hold a career record of 8-6 over Lincoln, and 4-1 at home. First pitch for game one of the three game set will be at 7:00 p.m.