Balanced effort powers RailRiders past Syracuse

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The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated the Syracuse Mets 7-3 Friday night at PNC Field. Eight out of the nine batters in the RailRiders lineup had a hit and starting pitcher Yerry De Los Santos retired nine of the 10 batters he faced to help secure the victory.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had four consecutive runners reach base in the bottom of the third. Jose Rojas singled and Oswald Peraza reached on a fielder’s choice. Then, Carlos Narvaez hit an RBI single to score Rojas and Oscar Gonzalez followed with one of his own to plate Peraza. The RailRiders had an early 2-0 advantage.

A leadoff base hit from Greg Allen got the home team going in the fourth. Allen moved over to second on a balk from MLB rehabber David Peterson. After Brandon Lockridge walked, Peraza ripped a single to score Allen, making it 3-0 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Syracuse sent two home in the top of the fifth. Jose Iglesias doubled in Mike Brosseau and Luisangel Acuña to cut the lead to one.

The RailRiders extended the lead in the bottom half of the frame. Luis Torrens singled and back-to-back walks from Jeter Downs and Allen loaded the bases. With two outs, Lockridge scorched a single up the middle to score a pair, making it 5-2.

In the very next inning Scranton/Wilkes-Barre struck again. Narvaez drove a double to left field and Oscar González reached third on an error to push him home. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Torrens sent Gonzalez across the plate for a five-run advantage.

Mike Brosseau launched a solo shot in the ninth, but it was not enough as the Mets fell 7-3.

De Los Santos pitched three shutout innings, allowing only one base runner. Trent Sellers (W, 1-0) earned his first win in his RailRiders debut. He tossed 1.2 innings, letting up just two runs while striking out two.

Peterson (L, 1-1) worked 4.0 innings striking out six but allowing three runs. Scranton native Max Kranick made his second appearance in his hometown, throwing 25 pitches in 1.1 innings of clean work.

The RailRiders continue their homestand Saturday at 4:05 p.m. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will start Ben Shields who will make his RailRiders debut. He will face Syracuse’s Dom Hamel.