MOOSIC, PA (July 5, 2019) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders split a doubleheader with the Rochester Red Wings on Friday at PNC Field, falling 4-2 and rallying for a 7-6 extra-inning win in game two. In the nightcap while donning Field of Dreams inspired jerseys, the RailRiders used two runs in the
MOOSIC, PA (July 5, 2019) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders split a doubleheader with the Rochester Red Wings on Friday at PNC Field, falling 4-2 and rallying for a 7-6 extra-inning win in game two. In the nightcap while donning Field of Dreams inspired jerseys, the RailRiders used two runs in the seventh inning to force extras, before scoring four times in the bottom of the eighth inning to split the day.
The Red Wings scored three times in the top of the eighth inning off J.P. Feyeresien to put the RailRiders in a difficult situation entering the bottom of the frame. With Thairo Estrada as the pace-of-play runner at second base to begin the inning, Ryan McBroom, Breyvic Valera and Trey Amburgey notched three straight hits to plate a pair of runs and knock Ian Kroll from the game, trailing just 6-5.
As Jake Reed entered out of the bullpen, Zack Zehner came to bat for the RailRiders with Valera- the tying run- at third base and Amburgey at first. He laced a groundball single to left-centerfield that not only plated Valera to tie the game but allowed Amburgey to go first-to-third as the winning run with still no outs in the inning. Rochester elected to intentionally walk Billy Burns to load the bases, and that set the stage for Ryan Lavarnway's walk-off sac fly to shallow left field to score Amburgey and secure one of the more thrilling wins at PNC Field in 2019.
The game went to extras as a result of a flurry of offense in the seventh inning. The contest remained tied 1-1 until the top of the seventh when Ronald Torreyes drove in his second run of the night, giving Rochester a 2-1 lead with a single past a drawn-in infield. Jake Cave grounded out, allowing Torreyes to score and push Rochester ahead 3-1. Moving into the bottom of the seventh, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre needed two to tie. Lavarnway doubled down the left field line to score Burns and the RailRiders cut the deficit to 3-2. Then, Kyle Higashioka delivered a pinch-hit RBI double and the contest was tied 3-3. Higashioka represented the winning run at second base with one out, but Kroll escaped with a groundout and a strikeout to push the game into the eighth.
In game one, Rochester came away with a 4-2 win over SWB. RailRiders starting pitcher Chance Adams got the first two Red Wings batters out, but the next four reached safely and Rochester established an early 1-0 lead. Brent Rooker hit an RBI double in the top of the third and brought home a score for Rochester, extending its advantage 2-0.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre first baseman Ryan McBroom robbed an extra-base hit from Jake Cave, and Adams beat Cave to the first-base bag with a great dive to end the fourth inning.
Rochester extended its advantage with two more runs as the game moved into the bottom of the sixth inning with the Red Wings leading 4-0. Thairo Estrada shot an RBI double down the right field line and the RailRiders got on the board in the top of the sixth. Erik Kratz then crushed an RBI single and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre cut the Red Wings lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, but did not score again as game one came to a close in the seventh inning.
The RailRiders will face off against the Red Wings again Saturday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
