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MOOSIC — It’s been a long road back to .500 for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
After spending a month-and-a-half with a losing record, the RailRiders finally got back to even Friday night against the Pawtucket Red Sox. And in impressive fashion, no less.
Every RailRider reached base and all but one recorded a hit while Chance Adams was able to string together back-to-back strong starts en route to a 7-4 victory over the Red Sox. For the first time since May 17, when the RailRiders were 19-19, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is sporting a .500 record.
“(Bullpen coach Doug Davis) predicted it because he said we had to get back to .500 before the end of the month. That’s what we were aiming for,” RailRiders manager Bobby Mitchell said. “We kept getting close, close, close and then, yeah, we’re here.
“Guys did a great job, I thought tonight, again, two-out base hits. That one inning when we scored the runs, it’s like, you just keep getting those, you’re going to win a lot of ballgames.”
The RailRiders jump-started things with a five-run second inning.
Wilkin Castillo got Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on the board with a two-out, two-run single to score Zack Zehner, who led off the frame with a double, and Rey Navarro, who got aboard with a five-pitch walk. Clint Frazier would put the RailRiders up by four runs with a two-run double to deep center, scoring Castillo and Tyler Wade, who got aboard with his own five-pitch walk.
Billy McKinney finished the scoring with an RBI double to right center, bringing home Frazier.
“Bottom of the lineup, we have to get on base because those guys (at the top of the lineup), they’re really good,” said Castillo, the RailRiders’ No. 9 hitter. “Every time we get on base, we have a chance at producing, scoring some runs.”
“There’s really no break in our lineup,” added Wade, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s lead-off hitter, who reached base four times. “Guys like that at the bottom of our lineup can put competitive at-bats together. When they kind of turn the lineup over with one out, two outs, it sparks things. It gets us going.”
Five runs would be more than enough for Adams, who spun five one-run innings to pick up his third win of the season.
Even though he only retired the side once, the 23-year-old right-hander was able to pitch around trouble.
Pawtucket got the lead-off batter on against Adams twice and also had multiple base runners in a pair of innings. The only time the Red Sox did any damage against Adams was when Mike Olt hit a lead-off home run in the fourth inning.
Adams gave up five hits and walked a pair while striking out five, mixing in his slider nicely with his fastball.
“Defense made really good plays behind me and I was really clicking with Wilky behind me. So it was a good game,” Adams said. “It’s good because when you have that type of a lead, you just challenge hitters and just throw fastballs. like I did on that 3-2 when (Olt) hit a homer but it didn’t matter. I can just challenge and attack the zone a little more without being afraid to give up some runs.”
Injury report
RailRiders first baseman Tyler Austin was placed on the seven-day disabled list on Friday with a back injury suffered in Thursday’s game in Lehigh Valley. Austin had an MRI on Friday and the team received some relatively good news.
Austin only has some inflammation in his back and is going to take some anti-inflammatories and see a doctor on Monday “just to check it out,” according to Mitchell.
RailRiders 7, Pawtucket 4
Pawtucket`AB`R`H`BI
Tavarez lf`5`0`0`0
Sturgeon cf`5`0`1`0
Travis 1b`4`0`0`0
Lind dh`3`1`1`0
Olt 3b`3`2`2`1
Flores rf`4`1`3`0
Butler c`3`0`0`1
Miller ss`4`02`2
Lopez 2b`4`0`0`0
Totals`35`4`9`4
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Wade 2b`3`1`2`0
Frazier cf`5`1`1`2
McKinney rf`4`0`1`1
McBroom 1b`4`1`1`0
Zehner lf`4`1`2`0
Navarro ss`3`2`1`2
Caldwell 3b`3`0`0`0
Mazzilli dh`4`0`2`0
Castillo c`4`1`1`2
Totals`34`7`11`7
DP: Red Sox 1, RailRiders 1; LOB: Red Sox 8, RailRiders 7; 2B: Flores (7), Zehner 2 (10), Frazier (13), McKinney (5), McBroom (12); HR: Olt (10), Navarro (3).
Pawtucket`000`101`020 — 4
RailRiders`050`020`00x — 7
Pawtucket`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Beeks (L, 5-5)`2.1`6`5`5`3`1
Buttery`2`1`1`1`0`2
Jerez`1.2`2`1`1`1`2
Scott`1`0`0`0`0`2
Brasier`1`2`0`0`0`0
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Adams (W, 3-3)`5`5`1`1`2`5
Tarpley`1`2`1`1`1`0
Harvey`2`2`2`2`1`1
Coshow (S, 3)`1`0`0`0`0`1
WP: Beeks.
Balk: Beeks.
Umpires: Scott Costello, HP; Alex Tosi, 1B; Ryan Wills, 3B.
Time: 2:49; Attendance: 9,277.
