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MOOSIC — Victor Robles was a thorn in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ side all afternoon on Saturday. And he made the most of his advantageous play in the ninth inning with the game on the line.
With Syracuse Chiefs No. 2 hitter Andrew Stevenson at the plate, Robles, who reached on a one-out, full-count walk, was like a mosquito while standing at first base. The talented center fielder had already tried to steal second base once. Even though we was picked off and tagged out, he had already set a precedent.
So during Stevenson’s at-bat, Robles forced RailRiders reliever Anyelo Gomez to throw over to first baseman Mike Ford five times. It never worked and Stevenson ended up flying out for the second out of the inning.
But after Jose Marmolejos dug into the batter’s box, Robles didn’t even give Gomez a chance to throw over.
He went to second on a delayed steal, RailRiders catcher Kyle Higashioka rushed the throw, an underthrown ball that shortstop Gleyber Torres couldn’t handle and ricocheted to the outfield. Robles used his speed, took a chance once he reached third and ran home on the play, scoring what would prove to be the game-winning run as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre fell to Syracuse 4-3.
“Speed kills, obviously, and he knows how to use it,” RailRiders manager Bobby Mitchell said of Robles. “You have to kind of make him earn his way on and when we walked him with two outs, it creates problems obviously. Somehow we have to keep him off second base. We tried to, tried to and he does a delayed steal, which I’ve seen guys that are fast use that, that works really well. He’s just so fast.
“Got to keep those guys off base as much as possible and they did a good job scoring that run.”
Robles, who reached base in all five plate appearances, mixed things up with the delayed steal after Gomez did a good job keeping him in check. And then again when he didn’t stop running when he got to third base.
Both decisions by the Washington Nationals top prospect caught the RailRiders by surprise.
“I definitely give him credit for that one,” Higashioka said of Robles delayed steal. “I think he got the jump on all of us that play, but you could definitely see the speed. When he came second to home, that was pretty impressive. I don’t think anybody expected him to go all the way around in that instance, but credit to him. He used it to his advantage and took advantage of our mistakes — mine mainly.”
The RailRiders would make things interesting in the bottom half of the frame for a second straight game.
With the bottom of the lineup due up in the ninth, Zack Zehner and Abiatal Avelino both got aboard with a lead-off single followed by a walk, respectively. The No. 8 and 9 hitters were both moved over a base when Shane Robinson laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.
The bunt set up Torres, who hit a two-run homer earlier in the game, with two men in scoring position and no outs, but he quickly fell behind 1-2.
After watching the fourth pitch of the at-bat go past him from Syracuse closer Austin Adams, Torres hit the next pitch he saw, but it resulted in a grounder to Syracuse third baseman Chris Dominguez.
Zehner was running home on the play and got caught in a rundown. While he made it safely back to third base, Avelino was also standing on the bag. Avelino was tagged out, but it allowed Torres to move to second and keep two runners in scoring position.
But that would be all the excitement the RailRiders would be able to muster as Cody Asche popped out to the shortstop to end the game.
“The goal is putting the ball in the game,” Torres said of his at-bat. “Try to (get) two more RBI, but I (didn’t) take good (pitches).
“When I said it five days ago, everybody’s on the same page. Everybody wants to win. Everybody’s ready,” he added. “We’re waiting for any opportunity when we (can grow) and try to win the game.”
RailRiders spot starter Josh Rogers did a nice job filling in for Luis Cessa, who was called up by the New York Yankees Saturday morning.
After surrendering a two-run first inning, the southpaw was able to settle down and retire 13 of the final 17 batters he faced. Rogers pitched five innings of two-run baseball while giving up six hits and three walks and striking out five.
“The first inning was obviously not great,” said Rogers, who was making his Triple-A debut. “Trying to nibble a little too much and really be perfect right there, right off the plate. I guess in this league you’re not going to get that. I’m going to learn quickly. But I did make an adjustment in the second inning and tried to keep the ball down as much as possible, tried to get early contact and continue to mix it up, get some early swings and try to get through five (innings) to help the bullpen out and just keep the team in it.”
Syracuse 4, RailRiders 3
Syracuse`AB`R`H`BI
Robles cf`4`2`3`1
Stevenson lf`5`0`0`0
Marmolejos 1b`5`1`1`1
Sierra rf`2`0`1`0
De Aza dh`3`0`0`0
Dominguez 3b`3`0`0`1
Kieboom c`3`0`0`0
Sanchez ss`4`0`0`0
Gonzalez 2b`0`0`0`0
Totals`32`4`7`3
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Robinson cf`4`1`1`0
Torres ss`5`1`1`2
Asche dh`5`0`1`0
Ford 1b`4`1`1`0
Higashioka c`2`0`1`0
McBroom rf`4`0`2`0
Fleming 3b`4`0`1`1
Zehner lf`4`0`1`0
Avelino 2b`3`0`0`0
Totals` 35`3`9`3
E: Gonzalez (1), Torres (1), Avelino (1), Higashioka (2); DP: Chiefs 1, RailRiders 0; PO: Chiefs 0, RailRiders; LOB: Chiefs 8, RailRiders 9; 2B: Fleming (1); HR: Torres (1); SAC: Robinson; CS: Robles (1); SB: Sierra 2 (2), Gonzalez (1), Robles (2).
Syracuse`200`001`001 — 4
RailRiders`010`002`000 — 3
Syracuse`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Milone`5.1`7`3`3`0`6
Cordero`0.2`0`0`0`1`2
Simms (W, 1-0)`2`1`0`0`1`1
Adams (S, 1)`1`1`0`0`1`0
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Rogers`5`6`2`2`3`4
Lail`2`1`1`1`2`1
Gomez (L, 0-1)`2`0`1`0`1`1
WP: Cordero.
Umpires: Jansen Visconti, HP; Chris Graham, 1B; Travis Godec, 2B; Jeremy Riggs, 3B.
Time: 2:45; Att: 3,488.