Moosic, PA- The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (19-17) were unable to push a tying run across from the fifth inning onward as they lost to the Durham Bulls (22-17) by the score of 2-1 at PNC Field.
With Chase Whitley starting the game after being scratched yesterday, the right-hander tossed just a scheduled one inning and retired the three batters he faced. In came the game-day starter Brian Gordon in the second inning and he cruised as well, setting down the first three Bulls he faced.
In the fourth inning, Gordon would allow a solo home run to Wilson Betemit that landed in the right field seats for a 1-0 advantage in favor of the visitors. Mike Mahtook followed with a double but Gordon retired the next three batters to finish the inning.
The Bulls would add another tally in the top of the fifth. Cole Figueroa hit a one-out double to give Durham a runner in scoring position. After Gordon surrendered a walk, Betemit followed with his second base hit and scored Figueroa on a single to right field to make it 2-0.
The RailRiders would get a run back in the bottom half of the inning. Austin Romine reached first on an infield single. Antoan Richardson then drew a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. After a pop out, Scott Sizemore hit a broken bat single over the second baseman Mike Fontenot into right field to allow Romine to score making it 2-1.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a prime opportunity to tie the game or take the lead the next inning as Adonis Garcia and Zealous Wheeler set the table with a single and double respectively, putting runners in scoring position with no one out. However, reliever Jake Thompson then struck out side to leave the two runners stranded and preserve the lead. t come close to tying it after that, as the last twelve batters went down in order, seven up them in the fashion of a strikeout.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will begin an eight game road trip tomorrow starting with their International League North rivals, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Zach Nuding (1-1, 10.13) will be on the hill for the RailRiders as his counterpart will be David Buchanan (4-0, 3.12) for the IronPigs. The game is scheduled to start at 7:05 at Coca-Cola Park.
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