IronPigs Feast in Extra-Inning Victory

Moosic, PA. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (7-7) stranded 12 runners and combined for nine hits in a 5-2 extra-inning loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (6-9) Friday night at PNC Field. The loss dropped the club to 0-1 in the race for the IronRail trophy.

The game began on a positive note for SWB. The RailRiders plated the first run on a Lehigh Valley miscue. Ramon Flores reached on a walk and, with two out in the inning, Jose Pirela struck a fly that IronPIgs right fielder Clete Thomas misplayed, allowing Flores to hustle around the bases and score.

Alfredo Aceves, making his first start of the season, didn't disappoint. The long-time veteran tossed five scoreless innings, racking up five strikeouts. Aceves' counterpart, Barry Enright, was equally as impressive. Enright twirled six and allowed one unearned run, needing 92 pitches to work his way through the RailRider order.

After Aceves departed, the IronPigs offense found its punch. Shane Greene came on in relief and allowed two base hits, the first a leadoff double to Thomas. After a strikeout by Jim Murphy and a groundball to second by Koyie Hill moved Thomas to third. Reid Brignac plated the IronPigs' first run on a double to right.

After a scoreless RailRider sixth, the IronPigs took the lead in the seventh. Right-hander Preston Claiborne became the third RailRider pitcher to make an appearance. Claiborne labored, Steve Susdorf led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ronny Cedeno. Susdorf scored after Thomas laced a line drive to right. Flores did his best to keep the deficit at one, firing a bullet to the plate to nail Troy Hanzawa on the same play. The outfield assist marked the second of the campaign for Flores.

Not to be outdone, SWB avoided the shutdown inning with a run of its own in the home half. After a groundout by Flores began the inning, Pirela added his second base hit on a fly to ball left. Zoilo Almonte, after clubbing two home runs the day before, slapped a single by the glove of Hanzawa to move Pirela to third. The RailRiders evened the game 2-2 on a sacrifice fly by Russ Canzler.

In the eleventh, the wheels came off for Yoshinori Tateyama. With one out and bruised batter, followed by a pair of singles, one of the bunt variety, led to the first of three runs on the inning. The deficit that proved too much to overcome as the RailRiders fell, 5-2 in 11 innings.

Tateyama (0-1) suffered the loss, while Luis Garcia (1-0) was awarded the win. Seth Rosin (1) received the save.

The RailRiders will continue an eight-game homestand at PNC Field Saturday, April 19 at 7:05 p.m. against Lehigh Valley. SWB sends right-hander Bruce Billings (2-1, 2.81) to the hill, while the IronPIgs toss right-hander Sean O'Sullivan (0-1, 6.30) gets the nod. John Sadak and Aaron Berlin will have the call on radio with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. The radio pregame show starts at 6:35 p.m. on NEPA Sports Radio - The GAME, Northeast PA's largest sports radio network: 100.7 FM, 1340 WYCK-AM, 1400 WICK-AM, 1440 WCDL-AM and 106.7 FM. For season ticket information, single-game tickets or to book a ballpark group outing, call (570) 969-BALL (2255) or visit swbrailriders.com.

OFF THE RAILS:

All nine RailRiders hits were singles.

The RailRiders were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Adonis Garcia went 4-for-5.

Jose Pirela and Garcia combined for six of SWB's nine hits.