MOOSIC, Pa. – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, on the strength of a four-run bottom of the fourth inning, beat the Gwinnett Braves 5-3 Wednesday afternoon in the second of a three-game series at PNC Field.
The loss ended the G-Braves’ season-high, four-game winning streak and evened their record at 1-1 on the current six-game road trip.
The RailRiders (13-14) broke a scoreless tie with a single tally in the bottom of the third, as catcher Eddy Rodriguez lined a double to left field off of Gwinnett right-handed starter Chen-Ming Wang. A passed ball moved Rodriguez to third, and Slade Heathcott drove him in with a single to center to put the G-Braves behind 1-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Wang walked Kyle Roller and Tyler Austin to begin the inning. Ben Gamel reached on a fielder’s choice that moved Roller to third and forced Austin out at second. A Jonathan Galvez single to right scored Roller to push the RailRiders’ lead to 2-0. Nick Noonan followed with a single to left to load the bases. Rodriguez then made it 3-0 by scoring Gamel with a sacrifice fly to right. Back-to-back singles by Heathcott and Ramon Flores pushed across two more runs for a 5-0 RailRiders advantage,
The G-Braves (12-14) scored their first run in the top of the sixth. Eury Perez led off with a single to center against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre right-handed starter Bryan Mitchell. Perez stole second, moved to third on a groundout to second by Jose Peraza and scored on a groundout to second by Todd Cunningham, which cut the lead to 5-1.
Gwinnett added another in the top of the eighth, as Mycal Jones and Perez opened with back-to-back singles off of right-handed reliever Nick Rumbelow. Cunningham singled to right with two outs, scoring Jones to make it 5-2.
In the top of the ninth, with reliever Jose Ramirez one the mound, Elmer Reyes and Barrett Kleinknecht singled and moved up one base on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Cedric Hunterplated Reyes from third with a sacrifice fly to center for the final run of the game.
Wang (L, 0-3) pitched 6.0 innings with six hits, five runs (four earned), four walks and four strikeouts. He was relieved in the seventh by right-hander Mitchell Boggs, who worked 1.0 inning with one hit and two walks. Righty Aaron Kurcz went 1.0 inning with one walk.
Mitchell (W, 2-2) beat the G-Braves for the third time in two seasons. He pitched 6.0 innings with four hits, one earned run, two walks and two strikeouts. Left-hander Jacob Lindgren went 1.0 inning and was followed by Rumbelow, who worked 1.0 inning with three hits and one earned run. Ramirez (S, 4) pitched the top of the ninth with two hits, one earned run and one strikeout.
For Gwinnett, Perez and Kleinknecht were each 2-for-4, and Cunningham was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Peraza went 1-for-4 to up his hitting streak to five games. Adonis Garcia was 1-for-4 and is now riding a six-game hitting streak.
Heathcott was 2-for-4 with two RBIs to lead Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Flores, Noonan, Rodriguez and Rob Refsnyder were each 1-for-3.
The G-Braves and RailRiders will meet in the finale of the three-game series for a 6:35 p.m. contest Thursday at PNC Field. Right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon (1-0, 0.69 ERA) gets the start for Gwinnett. The RailRiders starter is yet to be determined. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Gwinnett’s next home game is May 11 at 6:35 p.m. against the Syracuse Chiefs. To purchase tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.
