Rafael Bautista Launches Two HR in Win over Williamsport

AUBURN, NY - The Doubledays (4-7) relied on the bat of one of their rehabbing veterans during Wednesday night's game against the Crosscutters. Rafael Bautista - who is working his way back up the system from a torn ACL, LCL and meniscus sustained last season in Triple-A Syracuse - displayed just why he's a big leaguer by launching two home runs in Auburn's 5-2 win over Williamsport (2-10). 
"Every time you hit a ball that far you're going to feel good," Bautista said. "Every morning (Doubledays manager Rocket Wheeler) comes to me and tells me what I have to do - trying to get in the field and feeling good. Asking me how I feel because of my injury. It feels great, I've been feeling really really good after my injury."
Bautista brought in three of the Doubledays' five runs, two of which came in the 2nd inning. Down 1-0 after a Nick Matera home run the top of the inning, Jake Alu tied it back up on a sacrifice fly. Albert Carrillo launched a booming double to left field to bring in another, and Bautista's bomb capped off Auburn's four run inning.
On the mound, Leif Strom held the Crosscutters to only that one run over five innings. He held Williamsport to four hits on the night while lowering his ERA to 1.80 in his home debut. Nelson Galindez, who struggled early on in the season, also impressed with his second scoreless outing in a row.
Bautista provided an insurance run in the 7th on his second homer of the night, which Auburn ended up needing after Amos Willingham allowed a solo home run to Crosscutters' DH Logan Simmons. Despite the run, the Doubledays had a relatively smooth 9th inning with Tyler Yankosky collecting his first save of the season. 
The Doubledays are back in action Thursday at 7PM. Listen in on the action on fingerlakes1.com, milb.streamguys1.com, or the TuneIn app.