Escape Plan: SWB takes getaway game 6-2

Durham, NC. (August 12, 2018) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat the Durham Bulls 6-3 on Sunday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  Mike King earned his first career Triple-A win and the RailRiders earned a split of their six-game road trip.    

The RailRiders opened the scoring in with three home runs in the second.  With Mike Ford on, Mark Payton homered to left-center.  After a Gio Urshela double, Zack Zehner drove the first pitch of his at-bat over the 32-foot high wall in left for a 4-0 advantage.  With two down, Tyler Wade lined the first pitch he saw down the line in right and just inside the foul pole for a 5-0 lead.
Mike King, making his second Triple-A start, allowed one hit over the first four innings; a double to former RailRider Rob Refsnyder in the second.
Rain began to fall in the bottom of the third.  In the top of the fifth with one out, the game went into a delay.  After 41 minutes, play resumed with both starters still in the game.  The Bulls Forrest Snow finished a 1-2-3 fifth.  King allowed a one-out single in the home half of the fifth but kept his shutout bid intact.
In the top of the sixth, Urshela's second double of the game plated Payton from first for a 6-0 lead.
Durham scored twice in the seventh on a solo home run by Refsynder and a RBI-single from Mac James to cut the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre advantage down to four runs.  Andrew Velazquez hit a solo home run in the ninth to cap the scoring.
King (1-0) worked six and two-thirds in his first Triple-A victory, allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk.  Joe Harvey pitched the final two and a third to secure the win in the series finale.  Snow (5-7) allowed all six runs over six innings and took the loss.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre remains a game out of the wild card spot heading into play tomorrow.
The RailRiders return to PNC Field on Monday for a seven-game homestand against Indianapolis and Norfolk.  Luis Cessa (3-0, 2.55) will start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Indianapolis's Nick Kingham (4-1, 2.32).  First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and tickets are available online at swbrailriders.com.