Rochester ends RailRiders' winning streak
After a successful two-week road trip, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders returned to PNC Field on Tuesday.
Rochester wasted little time in spoiling the homecoming, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning on its way to an 8-5 victory.
Darren Baker, James Wood and Jackson Cluff each had two hits for the Red Wings, who stopped the first-place RailRiders' six-game winning streak (23-10).
Baker and Wood started things, opening the game with consecutive singles off RailRiders starter Will Warren (3-1). They scored when Joey Gallo reached on a pair of errors. Travis Blakenhorn then followed with a two-run home run to cap the four-run outburst and force the RailRiders to play catchup.
In the bottom of the second, Carlos Narvaez walked and Oscar Gonzalez singled. An error on a ball hit by Josh VanMeter scored Narvaez and Jeter Downs plated Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
But in the top of the fourth, a two-out, two-run single by Baker restored Rochester's four-run lead, 6-2.
Downs doubled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and scored one out later on a single by Caleb Durbin to make it 6-3. It also extended Durbin's hitting streak to 11 games.
Solo home runs by Cluff in the top of the sixth and Drew Millas in the top of the eighth gave the Red Wings an 8-3 lead.
Another RBI single by Durbin and a run-scoring double by T.J. Rumfield in the bottom of the ninth made things interesting, 8-5, with one out. But Rico Garcia came out of the Rochester bullpen to retire the final two RailRiders hitters to notch his third save and seal the victory.
Besides Durbin, Oscar Gonzalez and Luis Gonzalez each had two hits for the RailRiders. Luis Gonzalez has a 10-game hitting streak.
New York Yankees pitcher Nick Burdi pitched the top of the seventh for the RailRiders on a major league rehab assignment. Burdi struck out all three batters he faced, including Gallo, who is on a rehab assignment with Rochester.
The series continues Wednesday morning at 11:05 with the first of two school-day specials. Righthander Clayton Beeter (3-1, 2.74 ERA) is scheduled to start for the RailRiders against Red Wings lefthander D.J. Herz (0-2, 5.00).
