GARY, Ind. — The Gary SouthShore RailCats welcomed Kelly Scurlock as the one millionth fan in franchise history Friday night at U. S. Steel Yard, but Scurlock and the rest of the 4,226 in attendance watched the Winnipeg Goldeyes score six early runs to beat the ‘Cats 10-1.

Scurlock was the 2,301st fan to walk through the Steel Yard gates to hit the magical total, and had the opportunity to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before the game while wearing a special commemorative “one million” jersey.  Scurlock also won $100 to spend at the SouthShore Depot Merchandise Store and season tickets to the see the RailCats in 2010.

The Goldeyes tallied an unearned run in the second inning, Juan Diaz blasted a three-run homer in the third off the scoreboard in left-center to put the Fish in front 4-0, and Bear Bay (5-1) easily made that early cushion stand up.  Bay was excellent over eight innings, allowing just four hits and two walks, getting three big outs in the fourth inning to limit the RailCats to one run after they had loaded the bases with no outs.  Steve Haake got the RBI in that inning with a sacrifice fly, but his hit made the score 6-1 and the ‘Cats would get no closer.

Winnipeg added three runs in the sixth and one in the ninth to close out the scoring.  The Goldeyes pounded out 14 hits and won their seventh game in a row against the RailCats in the first meeting between the two teams this season at U. S. Steel Yard.  Adam Frost had three hits to lead Winnipeg and Kevin West and Juan Diaz each drove in three runs.  Dee Brown collected an infield single in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to a Northern League best 23 games.

Onan Masaoka (1-5) made the start for the ‘Cats and allowed six runs (five earned) in 4.0 innings, but did strike out five.  Aaron Jenkins made his RailCats debut in the eighth and pitched the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits.  Six different RailCats collected hits in the game and the ‘Cats made three critical errors defensively.

The RailCats (22-23) and Goldeyes (28-13) continues their series Saturday night at 6 p.m. as the RailCats commemorate Independence Day at U. S. Steel Yard.  The RailCats will celebrate the Fourth of July with a postgame fireworks spectacular, courtesy First Midwest Bank & The Post-Tribune.  The first 2,000 fans will also get a complimentary RailCats baseball sponsored by Indiana University-Northwest, and all fans who bring a donation for www.operationac.com – items for U.S. military forces stationed overseas – will get $2 off the price of any ticket.

Chris Jones (1-1, 3.60 ERA) is expected to be activated from the disabled list and make his first start since early June for the RailCats against Winnipeg right-hander Mark Michael (0-1, 1.80 ERA).  That game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Notes: Following a fifth inning double, each of Rob Marconi’s last five hits have gone for extra bases (four doubles and a home run) … the loss was just the RailCats third in their last 14 games at U. S. Steel Yard … the crowd of 4,226 was the sixth-largest at the Steel Yard this summer … Masaoka is now 0-3 versus the Goldeyes in three starts … the loss drops the RailCats to 5-2 on their season-long nine game homestand … the 10 runs are the most the RailCats have allowed at home all season.