Click here to subscribe today or Login.
The RailRiders’ league-leading start to the season has featured contributions from all over the roster. Saturday’s win was no different.
Nine-hitter Josh VanMeter reached base three times and drove in what proved to be the winning run with an RBI double in the seventh as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre defeated Lehigh Valley 5-2 at PNC Field.
VanMeter finished 2-for-2 with walk to go with the RBI. Pitcher Cody Poteet delivered the longest outing by a RailRiders starter this season, going 6.1 innings while allowing one run on six hits while striking out four.
Poteet retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced before David Dahl gave the IronPigs a 1-0 lead with a single in the fourth.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre responded right away in the home half as T.J. Rumfield knocked in a run with a groundout and Carlos Narvaez made it 2-1 with a sac fly.
That score held until the seventh when VanMeter came up with his third double of the season to bring home a run. Brandon Lockridge followed it up in the next at-bat with a two-run single that gave the RailRiders firm control at 5-1.
Reliever Yerry De Los Santos hit a rough patch in the ninth, allowing two hits, including a home run to Jordan Luplow, before shutting the door.
The RailRiders will go for the series win on Sunday as the teams meet at 1:05 p.m. in Moosic. Edgar Barclay is set to take the mound.