Moosic, PA – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders authored a dominating team victory in a 7-0 triumph over the Norfolk Tides at PNC Field on Friday night. The RailRiders (26-23) notched their fifth shutout of the year and the second of their current four-game winning streak. A four-game winning stretch for the Tides (27-22) came to an end.
Bryan Mitchell (3-4) turned in a career night. The right-hander’s two-hit shutout included a personal-best eight innings pitched. He walked one and struck out four. Chris Jones (1-3) allowed three unearned runs on five hits across five innings in the loss.
A pair of walks and a throwing error aided the RailRiders in tallying the game’s first runs in the fourth. Rob Refsnyder worked the first of his two walks to begin the frame. With two out, Ben Gamel kept the inning alive by drawing another walk. Rob Segedin followed with a sharp bouncer off the mound. The grounder was played by second baseman Rey Navarro, but his rushed throw to first bounced to the dugout railing. Refsnyder scored on the error for a 1-0 lead.
Cole Figueroa followed with a two-run single to center that scored Gamel. Segedin came in right on Gamel’s heels and beat the tag on a play at the plate to push the advantage to 3-0.
Against reliever Steve Johnson, Figueroa drove in two more in the sixth inning on a double off the wall in the right field corner. After an intentional walk to Mason Williams and a base on balls to Jonathan Galvez, Refsnyder drew the third straight walk to force in Figueroa.
Trailing 6-0, the Tides turned to Ben Rowen. Rowen surrendered a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Kyle Roller for the second out. Williams crossed home to cap the scoring. Rowen retired Austin on a fly to center that ended the inning.
Figueroa finished the night with two hits and four RBI, giving the infielder nine RBI in his last two games. Refsnyder went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, a run scored and an RBI.
The RailRiders continue the series with the Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles) on Saturday night at PNC Field. Right-hander Jaron Long (3-3, 4.38) opposes southpaw T.J. McFarland (1-2, 4.44). The RailRiders will give away a Dellin Betances bobblehead, presented by NEPA Honda Dealers, to the first 2,500 fans through the gates on Saturday night. For tickets or more information, call 570-969-BALL (2255) or visit the team’s website, www.swbrailriders.com.
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