CHARLOTTE, NC (April 12, 2018) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat the Charlotte Knights 11-1 on Thursday night at BB&T in their first road game of the 2018 season. Mike Ford hit two home runs, Abiatal Avelino drove in five and Josh Rogers struck out 10 to lead the RailRiders.
CHARLOTTE, NC (April 12, 2018) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat the Charlotte Knights 11-1 on Thursday night at BB&T in their first road game of the 2018 season. Mike Ford hit two home runs, Abiatal Avelino drove in five and Josh Rogers struck out 10 to lead the RailRiders.
Spot starter Chris Beck stymied Scranton/Wilkes-Barre over the first three innings, striking out six and walking on. Ford broke up the no-hit and shutout bid in the fourth by launching an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for a 1-0 RailRiders lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Daniel Palka hit a solo home run off Rogers to tie the game at one.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre regained the lead in the top of the fifth. Avelino singled home two for a 3-1 edge and Gleyber Torres drove Avelino home to extend the advantage.
The RailRiders sent 10 men to the plate in the sixth, scoring five times on six hits. Ford hit a second solo home run to left field to start the inning. Rashad Crawford tripled in two runs, Avelino singled in Crawford and Torres hit a sac fly to push the margin to eight runs.
In the seventh, Avelino tripled in Ryan McBroom and Billy Fleming to cap the scoring at 1-1, which was more than enough for Rogers (1-0). The right-hander pitched seven innings, striking out 10 and walking none.
Tyler Danish (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing the first four runs over two innings.
Avelino, Crawford, Ford and Torres were the only players with multi-hit games and all four drove in multiple runs each, led by Avelino's five RBI night.
The RailRiders and Knights continue their four-game set Friday evening at 7:04 p.m. David Hale will start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Charlotte's Donny Roach. Follow along with all the action on The Game NEPA's Sports Radio, online at swbrailriders.com and on the RadioBold and TuneIn Radio Apps, with coverage starting at 6:35 p.m.
