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ALLENTOWN — By the time it was 11 p.m. and the 11th inning, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ four runs through five innings felt like ages ago.
Time and time again the RailRiders escaped late-inning jams — in the eighth and 11th innings — before their tempting with fate came back to bite them. The IronPigs had loaded the bases for a second straight inning, and this time they would capitalize.
With the bases loaded and one out, Carlos Tocci hit a bloop single off of Tyler Jones to score Angelo Mora from third base as the RailRiders dropped Game 1 of the Governors’ Cup playoffs first round, 6-5 in 12 innings.
“Definitely a tough one going 12 innings. That’s a long game,” RailRiders outfielder Billy McKinney said. “I think we battled. So did they, though. They got the best of us today, but it’s just the first game. Big game tomorrow. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and try to take Game 2.”
While Lehigh Valley out-hit the RailRiders 12-10, the IronPigs didn’t record a single hit in the 12th prior Tocci’s walk-off single.
Mora and Dylan Cozens each worked one-out walks before a wild pitch from Jones advanced the runners and Herlis Rodriguez was walked intentionally. Tocci’s single was just the final blow.
While the RailRiders used an early stretch of innings to put together their first five runs, Lehigh Valley quickly erased a four-run deficit with a four-run sixth inning.
The four-run sixth inning took the wind out of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s sails completely. After that, the RailRiders didn’t register a hit until the 11th inning, when Jake Cave hit a single to left field, but was then out at second when Cito Culver unsuccessfully attempted to bunt him over the next at-bat.
“I felt, and still feel, good about this team. Tonight we just fell short,” RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. “We just didn’t execute the bunt. We left a lot of guys on bases and the one inning, Jones bounced a slider. There’s nothing you can do. It’s part of the game. I thought we battled. We just fell short in a couple of areas.”
Donovan Solano was impressive in both the field and at the plate for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The second baseman was 3 for 5 with a walk and run scored. Solano scored a run in the third inning, which at the time provided the RailRiders with a three-run lead.
However, his biggest play might have came in the field during the bottom of the third. The second baseman made a diving stop on a Logan Moore grounder into the shift. Solano threw out the IronPigs catcher from his back and saved a run.
With the loss, the RailRiders fell for the sixth straight time, and fifth consecutive against the IronPigs. They’ll look to bounce back on Friday when Chance Adams (11-5, 2.89 ERA) takes the mound.
“Tomorrow we have to come back out and be ready to go, be ready to compete,” Pedrique said. “With Adams on the mound we feel good, the same way we felt when (Domingo) German started the game. He was working the count. Working fast and we gave him an early lead. That’s what I was talking about earlier today — if we jump early against these guys we have a good chance to win games, so tomorrow we better be aggressive, turn the page and move on. Tomorrow’s another day.”
Lehigh Valley will have southpaw Elmery Garcia on the bump, who has a 2-1 record and 1.47 ERA in rookie ball and Double-A. Friday will be Garcia’s Triple-A debut.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
For other RailRiders stories, click here.
IronPigs 6, RailRiders 5, 12 innings
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Williams cf`5`0`1`0
Solano 2b`5`1`3`1
Choi dh`5`0`1`0
Payton pr-dh`0`0`0`0
Andujar 3b`6`1`1`1
Ford 1b`6`1`1`1
McKinney lf`5`0`1`0
Cave rf`5`0`1`0
Culver ss`4`0`1`0
E. Rodriguez c`5`1`0`0
Totals`47`5`10`5
Lehigh Valley`AB`R`H`BI
Kingery 2b`6`1`3`1
Marrero dh`4`0`1`0
Stassi 1b`5`1`0`0
Walding 3b`6`1`1`1
Mora ss`4`2`2`1
Cozens rf`5`0`1`1
Pullin lf`3`0`1`1
H. Rodriguez pr-lf`1`0`0`0
Tocci cf`6`1`3`1
Moore c`5`0`0`0
Totals`45`6`12`6
RailRiders`021`110`000`000`—`5
Rochester`001`004`000`001`—`6
E: Kingery 1, Pullin 1; LOB: RailRiders 10, Lehigh Valley 13; 2B:Marrero (1), Tocci (1), Pullin (1); HR: McKinney (1), Andujar (1); SF: Pullin; CS: Culver (1)
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
German`5.1`6`5`5`1`2
Mantiply (BS, 1)`0.2`1`0`0`0`0
Gomez`2.0`2`0`0`1`3
Holder`2.0`0`0`0`1`5
Feyereisen (L, 0-1)`1.1`2`1`1`2`0
Jones`0.0`1`0`0`1`0
Lehigh Valley`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Anderson`6.0`9`5`3`1`6
Ramos`1.0`0`0`0`0`0
DeNato`0.2`0`0`0`0`1
Mariot`0.1`0`0`0`0`1
Beato`1.0`0`0`0`1`1
Arano`2.0`1`0`0`1`2
Venditte (W, 1-0)`1.0`0`0`0`0`1
WP: Jones, Arano.
IBB: H. Rodriguez (by Jones).
HBB: Choi (by Venditte); Marrero (by Feyereisen).
Umpires: Dan Merzel, HP; Ryan Clark, 1B; Alex Tosi, 2B; Robert Moreno, 3B.
Time: 3:46; Att.: 3,515.