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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had already pulled off one minor miracle on Saturday. The RailRiders nearly did it twice in a seven-inning doubleheader split with Syracuse at PNC Field.
Resuming Friday’s rain-suspended game, newcomer Brad Miller tied the opener with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh and Cliff Pennington gave the RailRiders a 7-6 walk-off win in the 10th with a two-run shot of his own.
After erasing two deficits in the first game, the RailRiders nearly came back from a three-run hole in the nightcap before leaving the potential tying run stranded in the bottom of the seventh, falling 3-2.
It easily could have been a Mets sweep, as they took a 5-2 lead in the top of the seventh when Danny Espinosa hit a two-run double off of Drew Hutchison, who started on the mound when the game resumed in the top of the second.
The RailRiders (10-10) were down to their final out of the opener after a double play in the seventh. But Matt Lipka kept them alive with an RBI single to bring up Miller, who had signed a minor-league deal with the banged-up New York Yankees at the start of the week.
Miller sent an 0-1 pitch over the fence in right field to make it 5-5 and send the game to extra innings.
Syracuse again looked poised to win, however, when Carlos Gomez knocked in a run in the 10th. But J.P. Feyereisen got out of the jam from there, picking off Gomez for the second out and then struck out former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow to keep it a one-run game. Tebow went 0-for-5 in the first game and did not play in the second.
With one out in the home half, Cliff Pennington clubbed a two-run shot of his own for the victory.
Feyereisen got the win in relief. Miller, who was hitting leadoff, went 2-for-5 with a walk and three RBI while Gosuke Katoh and Zach Zehner each had three hits apiece.
In the second game, reliever Raynel Espinal got the start and gave up three runs (two earned) in 2.1 innings, including a two-run homer by Gregor Blanco in the third.
Miller again came through for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the late innings, however, as the 29-year-old veteran of nearly 700 Major League games doubled home a run in the fifth and then got a rally started with two outs in the seventh with a triple.
He scored on a Ryan McBroom single to pull the RailRiders within 3-2, but Katoh struck out to end the game.
Espinal took the loss and Miller finished the twinbill with four hits and four RBI. Katoh had five hits on the day.
The series with the Mets concludes at 1:05 p.m. Sunday in Moosic.
