RailRiders hammer back at WooSox as PNC Field draws biggest post-pandemic crowd
May 24—MOOSIC — Scranton/Wilkes-Barre leadoff hitter Estevan Florial scalding the first pitch he saw nearly 110 mph the other way for a single should've been a sign of things to come.
Not even a day after suffering a blowout at the hands of Worcester, the RailRiders returned the favor Wednesday by walloping the Red Sox, 15-2, in a school-day special at PNC Field that featured the ballpark's largest attendance since before the pandemic.
A crowd of 8,108, made up mostly of students attending the game scheduled for an 11:05 a.m. first pitch, was the biggest since a sellout of 10,000 on Aug. 31, 2019. In 2021, the most the RailRiders drew was 6,654; in 2022, they had 8,021 come out on Independence Day weekend for a July 2 game against Buffalo. Prior to Wednesday, this year's biggest draw was 6,658 on April 14.
They saw plenty of loud contact from the home team.
Starting with Florial's leadoff single against Worcester's Shane Drohan, the RailRiders put 22 balls in play that had exit velocities of better than 90 mph; 15 of those were hit faster than 100 mph. On the balls that crossed triple digits, the RailRiders went 9 for 15 with four doubles — including one in the second inning by Jamie Westbrook that opened the scoring — and two home runs: a 105.8-mph, three-run blast by Franchy Cordero that gave the team a 5-0 lead in the third inning, and a 105.3-mph, 405-foot, three-run bomb deep into the grass in right field by Billy McKinney that capped the scoring in the seventh.
"The past, what, seems like month we've been rolling homers, doubles, hitting the ball hard, taking our walks," said Westbrook, who was on base four times by the end of the sixth inning. "So, offense is in a good spot."
Worcester pounded six home runs to take the series opener, 13-3, on Tuesday night and send SWB to its third straight loss, but as soon as the RailRiders got a runner in scoring position Wednesday, they returned to the form that saw them bash Charlotte for 20 homers in six games last week.
Cordero started the second inning with a double then slid into third on a stolen base just before Nick Sogard could get the tag down. Westbrook followed with a 105.5-mph missile to the gap in left center for a 1-0 lead.
"To get up early is definitely huge to get us rolling," Westbrook said. "Especially after last night."
The RailRiders sent nine to the plate and scored four runs in the third inning thanks to Cordero's homer, then nine more marched up in the fourth when the RailRiders plated another three runs for an 8-0 advantage. Cordero doubled in a run in the fourth — he had an extra-base hit in three consecutive innings — and Rodolfo Durán knocked in two more with a single, one of five balls he put in play at better than 97 mph.
"It's a great day. Especially when you drive guys home. That's the best feeling," Cordero said.
Oswald Peraza lofted a two-run homer into the bullpen in the fifth inning to push it to 10-0, then after Worcester's Bobby Dalbec blasted a two-run shot of his own in the sixth inning for the only damage against SWB starter Tanner Tully, the RailRiders scored five times in the eighth to end on a high note. In addition to their 14 hits, the RailRiders worked eight walks and were hit by pitches twice.
"That was awesome, especially after yesterday," RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan said. "We needed something to give us that pep in our step back. It was a sneaky three losses in a row after as good as we played in Charlotte.
"And for Tanner to come out there and throw the ball as well as he did right out of the chute was huge."
Tully pitched 5 2/3 innings to improve to 4-1 and lowered his ERA a tick to 3.83. He allowed eight hits, though seven were singles, walked one and fanned four.
"When you have a guy on the mound that's aggressive in the zone right out of the chute, that's going to allow him to keep them off balance, that's going to allow the catcher to do his thing with game calling," Duncan said. "And he executed pitches."
It didn't get any easier for Worcester once the RailRiders went to the bullpen, with Matt Krook whiffing five of the six hitters he faced over a two-inning stint. The southpaw threw 27 pitches, got Worcester hitters to swing 14 times, and got them to come up empty on 12 of them. In 17 1/3 innings this year, Krook has allowed five hits, walked 12 and struck out an outrageous 34.
"Filthy, huh?" Duncan said with an ear-to-ear grin.
Contact the writer:
570-348-9125;
@RailRidersTT on Twitter
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.
User Legend: iconModeratoriconTrusted User
