The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders line up for the national anthem before Tuesday’s home opener in Moosic.
                                 Fred Adams | For Times Leader

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders line up for the national anthem before Tuesday’s home opener in Moosic.

Fred Adams | For Times Leader

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<p>RailRiders starter Deivi Garcia turned in five scoreless innings, combining with a pair of relievers for a four-hit shutout on Tuesday.</p>
                                 <p>Fred Adams | For Times Leader</p>

RailRiders starter Deivi Garcia turned in five scoreless innings, combining with a pair of relievers for a four-hit shutout on Tuesday.

Fred Adams | For Times Leader

<p>Miguel Andujar was the RailRiders’ first batter of the season at the stadium in the bottom of the first.</p>
                                 <p>Fred Adams | For Times Leader</p>

Miguel Andujar was the RailRiders’ first batter of the season at the stadium in the bottom of the first.

Fred Adams | For Times Leader

<p>RailRiders second baseman Andrew Velazquez throws to first baseman Chris Gittens to retire Lehigh Valley’s Travis Jankowski in the third inning on Tuesday.</p>
                                 <p>Fred Adams | For Times Leader</p>

RailRiders second baseman Andrew Velazquez throws to first baseman Chris Gittens to retire Lehigh Valley’s Travis Jankowski in the third inning on Tuesday.

Fred Adams | For Times Leader

<p>The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders took the field for a game at PNC Field for the first time since Sept. 7, 2019, on Tuesday. They beat Lehigh Valley 5-0.</p>
                                 <p>Fred Adams | For Times Leader</p>

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders took the field for a game at PNC Field for the first time since Sept. 7, 2019, on Tuesday. They beat Lehigh Valley 5-0.

Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Pro baseball is back in Northeast Pennsylvania. And it comes with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre playing as well as anyone in the newly christened Triple-A East league.

In their first game at PNC Field in 612 days — a season-ending playoff loss to Durham on Sept. 7, 2019 — the RailRiders delivered with a 6-0 victory over Lehigh Valley on Tuesday night in an early battle for first place in the Northeast Division.

It was the sixth straight win for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which hasn’t lost since the season-opener on May 4. It came in front of a crowd of 2,910 fans as attendance limits will remain in effect at the stadium until June 1 because of COVID-19 protocols.

All six runs came in the bottom of the fourth, when the RailRiders sent 11 batters to the plate to break the game open.

Heralded pitching prospect Deivi Garcia rebounded from a tough first start to shine, throwing five scoreless innings for the win. He combined with Nestor Cortes and Albert Abreu on a four-hit shutout.

The RailRiders (6-1) only managed four hits as well. But they made them count.

The firepower that overwhelmed Syracuse in the final five games of last week’s series took some time to surface on Tuesday.

IronPigs starter Spencer Howard set down the RailRiders in order the first time through the lineup, issuing only a third-inning walk that was quickly erased by a double play.

It didn’t last.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre batted around in the fourth, breaking the scoreless tie with a bases-loaded double by Trey Amburgey that brought home two runs.

For Amburgey it gave him a division-leading 12 RBIs in just 22 at-bats. Unfortunately for the RailRiders, it was his last plate appearance of the night, as he exited the game with an apparent injury on the play.

His teammates didn’t let his absence stop the scoring in the inning. Socrates Brito scored on a wild pitch and Andrew Velazquez drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-0.

Armando Alvarez followed with a sac fly and Miguel Andujar, who led off the inning by reaching on an error, hit an RBI single in his second time up in the frame.

That was plenty of support for Garcia, who went one more inning after the RailRiders took the lead. He finished with five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out seven.

It was a major turnaround from Garcia’s 2021 debut in which he walked a career-high seven batters in just 3.1 innings.

This time, his command was on point, same as his teammates. Cortes struck out five while throwing three innings of one-hit ball without a walk. Abreu set down the side in the top of the ninth.

Amburgey had the lone extra-base hit for the RailRiders. Kyle Holder, Andujar and Brito all singled.

The series continues at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday.

Riding the rails

Prior to the game, infielder Luke Voit went back to New York after finishing his rehab assignment following knee surgery he underwent earlier this spring. Voit, 30, played five games and went 7-for-18 (.389) with three home runs and six RBI.

Voit was immediately inserted into the Yankees lineup at first base and batted fifth on Tuesday after missing the team’s first 34 games.

Andujar, who had briefly been called up to New York, and Abreu officially reported to the team Tuesday.