Doubledays Fall to Scrappers in Extras

AUBURN, NY - A late-inning rally which drove in a single run was all it took to breath new life into the Doubledays. Backed by spectacular pitching, Auburn forced Saturday's contest against the Scrappers into extra innings in front of a lively crowd at Falcon Park. The Doubledays were unable to pull off another big inning, however, as Auburn fell to Mahoning Valley in 13 innings, 5-3.
Doubledays starter Rafael Gomez had a yet another solid night on the mound after going five strong innings his last time out against the Black Bears. Though he did have to weave in and out of trouble - he allowed runners to reach scoring position every inning except the fourth - double plays in the first and second inning, as well as five strikeouts, allowed him to keep the Doubledays in the game his whole time out. 
His only blemish came in the fifth when Billy Wilson reached third base to lead off the inning on a misplayed ball by Jake Randa. What seemed to be an easy double turned into a triple when Randa didn't play the ball off the outfield wall, allowing Wilson to coast into third. He came around to score two batters later on an RBI single.
On the other side of the plate, the Doubledays struggled against Scrappers starting pitcher Brian Eichhorn and then, later, Eric Mock. Eichhorn scattered four hits over his five innings of work, and, despite loading the bases in the seventh inning, could not put anything together against Mock.
But the Doubledays' luck soon changed. With Mock returning for his third inning of work, Jeremy Ydens and Caldioli Sanfler roped back-to-back doubles to tie the contest at 1-1. Onix Vega followed with a single, but Sanfler was tagged at home for the second out. Mock escaped the jam, getting Jose Sanchez to fly out to end the inning.
The game headed into extras after neither the Doubledays nor the Scrappers could push across any runs in the ninth. But while innings 1-9 saw only two combined runs, innings 9-13 had six, largely in part due to each team's placed runner at second base to begin each inning. 
The Doubledays opted to use a single pitcher to get through extras - Alfonso Hernandez - while the Scrappers mixed and matched bullpen arms. Hernandez gave up single runs in the 11th and 12th inning, but the Doubledays matched each one tit for tat. 
Sanfler knotted the game back up at 2-2 with a double in the 11th, while Eric Senior did the same the following inning to force the game into the 13th. The Scrappers, however, struck back with a pair of runs in the top of the inning. 
The top of the 13th started on an encouraging note as Hernandez fielded a soft grounder and threw out the Scrappers' placed runner for the first out. A passed ball, however, put a runner back on second base, and a single put two runners on. Brayan Rocchio knocked in a run to put runners on second and third, and an intentional walk loaded the bases. Yainer Diaz brought in a run to make it 5-3 before the Doubledays defense turned two to end the inning. 
Auburn couldn't push across any runs in the home half, with Jose Oca putting the Doubledays in order to end the game.
The Doubledays will be back in action Saturday at 7PM for Game 2 against the Scrappers. Listen in on the action on fingerlakes1.com, milb.streamguys1.com, or the TuneIn app.