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The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell 3-2 in their series opener against the Durham Bulls Tuesday afternoon at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Bulls rallied from a 2-0 deficit and Logan Driscoll drove in Gionti Turner in the bottom of the ninth as the RailRiders lost in walk-off fashion for the first time this season.
Luis Torrens opened the scoring with his first home run of the season in the top of the second. T.J. Rumfield doubled to start the frame and Torrens drilled a 2-1 offering from Bulls starter Mason Montgomery over the 32-foot-high left field wall for a 2-0 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre advantage.
RailRiders starter Yoendrys Gomez worked 3.1 shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out six and walking one. Phil Bickford followed with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, striking out four of the five batters he faced.
The Bulls broke up Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s shutout bid in the home half of the seventh inning. Alex Jackson’s solo home run off Oddanier Mosqueda cut the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead to one run.
In the bottom of the eighth, a Kameron Misner single off RailRiders reliever Yerry De Los Santos plated Ronny Simon to even the score at 2-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jackson singled to open the inning. With two outs and Turner in as a pinch-runner for Jackson at second, Driscoll singled to left, driving in the game-winning run.
De Los Santos (L, 1-1) was charged with his third blown save of the season in the loss. Enmanuel Mejia (W, 1-0) was the benefactor of the last run, notching his first win of the year.
RailRiders pitchers matched a season-high with 15 strikeouts. Durham’s staff, however, retired the final 21 batters it faced to hold Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to just the two runs on four hits.
The RailRiders continue this six-game set in Durham on Wednesday evening. Will Warren starts for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and will be opposed by the Bulls and Jacob Lopez. First pitch is slated for 6:35 P.M.