Eight Late: Bats swat RailRiders with epic rally

MOOSIC, Pa. (July 19, 2019) -The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell in the series opener against the Louisville Bats 8-6 Friday evening at PNC Field. Brody Koerner pitched 7.2 scoreless innings for the RailRiders, the longest outing of the season for a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter, but Louisville rallied late and plated two runs in the tenth to take the series opener.

The RailRiders opened the offense with a Trey Amburgey home run to centerfield in the bottom of the second for a 1-0 lead. 
Koerner battled Vladimir Gutierrez throughout the night. The Bats starter scattered three hits over six innings with four strikeouts and two walks.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Eric Stout, Breyvic Valera walked, Amburgey singled and Ryan McBroom walked to load the bases. Justin Grimm, making his Louisville debut, went full on Zack Zehner. The RailRiders designated hitter followed with a grand slam to give the RailRiders a 5-0 edge over the Bats. Zehner has nine RBIs in his last three games. 
 
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre plated another run in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to four wild pitches by Grimm, bringing the score to 6-0. 
 
In the top of the ninth, the Bats rallied for six runs to tie the game, including five against Dan Jennings, who made his RailRiders debut. Lousiville hit four home runs in the inning, tying a franchise record set on June 16, 2000. 
The RailRiders pushed the winning run into scoring position in the bottom of the ninth but could not score against R.J. Alaniz, sending the game into extra innings. 
 
In the top of the tenth, Blake Trahan knocked a bases loaded, two-run single, giving Louisville an 8-6 lead. The RailRiders put the tying run on in the bottom half of the inning, but could not complete a rally.
J.P Feyereisen (7-1) took the loss while Alaniz (1-0) garnered the win.
 
The RailRiders will continue the series against the Louisville Friday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.