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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre got plenty of energy from Wednesday night’s extra-innings victory, rallying after losing a late lead against Rochester.
Not that the RailRiders wanted to try and do it again.
Nursing another slim lead late in Thursday’s meeting with the Red Wings, the RailRiders managed to create a cushion with three runs in the bottom of the eighth before dusting off a quick top of the ninth for a 7-3 win at PNC Field.
The win pushed Scranton/Wilkes-Barre back up to .500 in the early season at 12-12 and salvaged a split of the four-game series with Rochester.
After falling behind 3-0 and surging ahead 4-3 after five innings, that score carried over into the eighth, where the RailRiders had just a man on first with two outs.
But Gosuke Katoh doubled and Ryan McBroom walked to load the bases. Ryan Lavarnway then delivered a two-run single and Mandy Alvarez doubled home another run for the 7-3 lead.
A night earlier, Rochester had whittled a 4-1 deficit down to 4-3 in the eighth before tying the game in the ninth and taking the lead on a two-run homer in the 10th. The RailRiders came up with an inspired response in the home half, tying the game before McBroom hit a two-run shot of his own for a walk-off 8-6 win.
This time, with a four-run lead, the RailRiders made sure Rochester went down quietly in the ninth as Jake Barrett finished off a two-inning save with two strikeouts sandwiched around a shallow pop-up.
Rochester had opened an early lead on a Tomas Telis sac fly in the top of the first. The Red Wings made it 3-0 in the fourth on RBI singles by Drew Maggi and Nick Gordon.
Katoh quickly got the rally started in the bottom of the fourth with his sixth home run of the season to get Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on the board. And the game was tied before the inning ended as Alvarez doubled in a run and then scored on a Zach Zehner single.
For the second straight night, it was McBroom who knocked in the game-winning run, bringing home Katoh in the fifth following a leadoff double.
Katoh and Alvarez finished with three hits apiece, combining for more than half of the RailRiders’ 11 hits.
Starter David Hale picked up the win, scattering eight hits with three runs (two earned) to go with two strikeouts and a walk in 5.2 innings of work.
The RailRiders now hit the road for a weekend series in Syracuse, opening with a 6:35 p.m. game on Friday.