MOOSIC, Pa. (June 21, 2019) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders trailed by five runs entering the ninth inning, eventually brought the tying run to the plate, but fell to the Durham Bulls 6-2 in game one of a series Friday night at PNC Field.
MOOSIC, Pa. (June 21, 2019) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders trailed by five runs entering the ninth inning, eventually brought the tying run to the plate, but fell to the Durham Bulls 6-2 in game one of a series Friday night at PNC Field.
A solo homer by Nick Solak in the second inning put the Bulls on the board first in front of a crowd of 7,688.
Durham tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth against Raynel Espinal. In the inning, Jake Smolinski collected an RBI double and later scored on a two-run home run by Jason Coats, bringing the Bulls lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, Logan Morrison drilled the RailRiders first hit of the night; a solo home run over a shifted four-man Bulls outfield, pulling the RailRiders to within three.
The Bulls started off the eighth inning against RailRiders pitcher Kaleb Ort with back-to-back singles. With runners on the corners, Dalton Kelly hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Solak to extend the lead to 5-1.
The RailRiders produced two singles from Tyler Wade and Breyvic Valera in the bottom half of the eighth and eventually loaded the bases, but Clint Frazier struck out and the inning came to a close.
In the decisive ninth inning, Smolinski doubled on a line drive for the Bulls, 6-1. Ort walked Solak and Rex Brothers took the mound for the RailRiders. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rallied in the bottom of the inning and Morrison lined a two-base hit to center, followed by a single from McBroom. Keeping the momentum, Gosuke Katoh reached on an infield single to plate Morrison and make it 6-2. After an Erik Kratz bloop single loaded the bases, the RailRiders had three chances with the tying run at the plate but came up short in their comeback bid.
Ricardo Pinto (4-2) entered in back of Jake Faria, who worked as the opener Friday night. Faria retired all six men he faced before turning the ball over to Pinto who worked 5.0 complete innings. Espinal (3-6) took the loss after allowing the first four runs.
The RailRiders and Bulls continue their series on Saturday night with Chance Adams taking the ball for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Durham's Brendan McKay at 6:35 p.m.
