Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Giancarlo Stanton left on Monday. Aaron Judge was gone on Thursday.
Though the rehab stints are now over for the two New York Yankees sluggers, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is now benefitting from a very crowded outfield in the Bronx.
Clint Frazier made his 2019 debut for the RailRiders on Thursday night at PNC Field, batting third and playing left field. The 24-year-old went 2-for-5 with a home run and a double as the RailRiders erased a big deficit against Norfolk for the second straight night, beating the Tides 9-7.
Down 7-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the RailRiders roared back. They scored five in the bottom of the eighth, highlighted by Breyvic Valera’s go-ahead two-run homer with two outs.
Valera had won Wednesday’s game in the bottom of the 10th, bringing in the tying run with a double. He scored on the play when Tides right fielder Anderson Feliz tossed the ball into the stands, apparently thinking the game was already over when the first run came across.
On Thursday, Crestwood grad and Mountain Top native Matt Wotherspoon came on after Valera’s homer to try and stop the bleeding for Norfolk, but Frazier took him deep on a 2-2 pitch out to left-center for an insurance run.
J.P. Feyereisen earned the win after pitching a perfect eighth and ninth, getting five of six outs by strikeout.
Frazier was initially demoted by the Yankees to make room for Stanton on Monday. He did not report immediately and arrived in Moosic on Wednesday ahead of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s game against the Tides. He was available off the bench but did not play in the RailRiders’ come-from-behind win in extra innings.
It was Frazier’s first appearance for the the team since July 19 of last year, a season that was cut short by post-concussion-related issues.
Unlike Stanton or Judge, there is no timetable for Frazier to return to the big leagues. Judge is expected to be activated by the Yankees on Friday to join an outfield that includes Stanton, Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner. Cameron Maybin had been filling in for the injured players.
Judge was in the Yankees clubhouse ahead of Thursday’s game against the Houston Astros after playing five games for the RailRiders and hitting 2-for-16 (.125) with a home run on Tuesday.
“To see him walk through the doors earlier today and walk into the coaches’ room, really good seeing him knowing he feels really good,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters in New York.
Back in Moosic, it was another Major League veteran who led the offense in Logan Morrison. Batting seventh, Morrison went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs — RBI singles in the fourth and eighth to go with a solo home run in the sixth.
But that long ball only cut the deficit to 7-3 as the Tides pounded out 15 hits through the first six innings, seemingly breaking the game open with four runs in the top of the sixth.
Daniel Camarena had his second straight tough start on the mound, giving up six runs (all earned) on 12 hits in 5.2 innings. He struck out six and walked two.
Morrison closed the gap to 7-3 and Frazier tried to start a rally with a two-out double to center in the seventh, but McBroom struck out to end the inning. Morrison then hit the team’s third straight single in the eighth to make it 7-4 before Mike Ford brought home another run on a ground out.
Trey Amburgey made it a one-run game with an RBI single before Valera and Frazier hit back-to-back bombs.
The RailRiders (42-28) open a three-game series with league-leading Durham on Friday at PNC Field. Raynel Espinal is scheduled to start, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.