SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Bryan Mitchell celebrated his 24th birthday with seven innings of three-hit baseball as his Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders bested the Syracuse Chiefs (Washington Nationals) on Sunday, 4-1. Mitchell (1-1) logged his first win of the season while southpaw Jacob Lindgren notched his second save with a pair of scoreless innings. The RailRiders’ (5-6) third straight win gave them the series over the Chiefs (4-7), 3-1.
Syracuse struck first when Jason Martinson bounced into a run-scoring 6-4-3 double play in the fourth inning. But that play ignited a fierce finish by Mitchell who retired 11 of the last 12 he faced including the final seven in succession. He struck out four and walked three on 94 pitches (59 strikes).
Rob Segedin began the home fifth with a single. Two outs later, the red-hot Ben Gamel scored him from second base with a first-pitch single up the middle to tie the game.
The game ultimately tipped in the sixth when the first three RailRiders reached and all three scored. Each of those runs went unearned on starter Taylor Jordan (1-1) thanks to a pair of Chiefs errors including one by Jordan himself. Nick Noonan and Eddy Rodriguez each notched an RBI in the inning that made it 4-1.
The RailRiders return home on Monday for a seven-game homestand. It starts with the first of three against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) at 6:35 p.m. on a Dollar Dog Monday. In a battle of right-handers, SWB will send Jaron Long (0-1, 7.59) out against Jason Berken (1-1, 12.79) for the first IronRail series of the season. For more information please call (570) 969-BALL (2255) or visit swbrailriders.com.

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