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The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders battled back once again for a 6-5 victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Friday night in Allentown.
Jesus Bastidas drove in four runs, including two with his second homer of the season. Aaron McGarity took the win with 1.2 clean innings out of the bullpen and Greg Weissert recorded his third save of the season.
The IronPigs got on the board in the first inning. Three extra base hits including a triple from Dalton Guthrie to put them up 2-0 quickly.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre countered quickly in the second. Jamie Westbrook led off with a base hit. Bastidas followed with a two-run blast to deep left. Billy McKinney was hit by a pitch and Rodolfo Duran took a walk to reach. After a fly ball pushed McKinney to third, Wilmer Difo’s sacrifice fly brought him in to take the lead 3-2.
In the third, the RailRiders tacked one on with another sacrifice fly thanks to Bastidas for a 4-2 advantage.
Lehigh Valley came right back in the fifth when they loaded the bases with walks. And later a fourth walk pushed in a run to trail by just one.
The IronPigs took control in the seventh. Jim Haley singled to start the frame and then stole second. After Dustin Peterson reached on a fielder’s choice, John Hicks brought them both in with a two-run double as Lehigh Valley led 5-4.
The RailRiders were not done yet, bouncing back immediately in the eighth. Andres Chaparro drew a walk and Elijah Dunham singled to reach. Back-to-back RBI base hits from Bastidas and McKinney sent them both home, putting the RailRiders back on top 6-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, the IronPigs got the tying run to second base. A fantastic barehanded play from Bastidas at third helped seal the win for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Tanner Tully made his season debut for the RailRiders letting up just two runs on six hits. Tully handed the ball to D.J. Snelten with a runner on in the fourth. Snelten induced a double play to get out of the inning clean. He worked through the fifth walking four, but teammate Michael Gomez was able to get the final out stranding the bases loaded.
Gomez let up two runs in the seventh, but once again the bullpen had his back. McGarity (2-0) finished out the seventh and took down the eighth 1-2-3. Weissert was there for the save in the ninth, slamming the door shut.
Michael Plassmeyer got the start for the IronPigs allowing four runs on five hits. The lefty threw 70 pitches in four innings. Francisco Morales pitched a clean two frames and Ben Bowden had one of his own.
Junior Marte took the loss, tossing one inning and allowing two runs on three hits. Luis Ortiz struck out the side in the ninth on 15 pitches.
The RailRiders wrap up their road trip with a split doubleheader at Lehigh Valley on Saturday. First pitch for Game 1 is set to begin at 12:35 p.m. with RHP Mitch Spence getting the start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Game 2 will begin at 5:35 p.m.