Rochester, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings (Triple-A/Minnesota Twins) had one lead all Sunday afternoon. It came at the ideal time. The first-place Red Wings (31-24) plated a pair in the ninth to produce a 4-3 walk-off win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees) that kept the Red Wings in first place. It snapped the RailRiders’ 10-game road winning streak and marked the 11th time in 13 games that SWB (31-27) lost at Frontier Field.
Leading 3-2 entering the home ninth, reliever Branden Pinder (0-1) allowed back-to-back singles to pinch hitter Danny Ortiz and Reynaldo Rodriguez. A fly-out later, Kennys Vargas walked to load the bases. Oswaldo Arcia then skied a ball to the rim of the warning track in right-center that was caught by Mason Williams. Each runner tagged up and tried to advance. Ortiz scored while cut-off man Nick Noonan tried to nab Rodriguez at third, but errantly sailed his throw allowing Rodriguez to race home and plunge on top of the plate with the winning run.
SWB starter Jose De Paula fired a career-high-tying seven innings of two-hit ball. He struck out four and walked one while facing the minimum in all but one of his innings including five perfect frames. Rochester reliever Caleb Thielbar (4-2) logged a scoreless ninth on 15 pitches (six strikes) for the win.
The RailRiders travel to Buffalo to begin a three-game set with the Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays) on Monday at 7:05 p.m. SWB hands the ball to right-hander Bryan Mitchell (4-4, 2.86) while Buffalo is expected to start southpaw Daniel Norris (1-4, 3.31). SWB returns home to host the Red Wings from June 11-14. The four-game set includes two fireworks nights and a Derek Jeter bobblehead giveaway on Saturday, June 13 courtesy of Allied Services. For tickets or more information, call 570-969-BALL (2255) or visit the team’s website, www.swbrailriders.com.
OFF THE RAILS:
Both Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine homered in the eighth inning. Refsnyder lined his third of the season while Romine bombed his fourth. Each round-tripper cleared the wall in left field.
Mason Williams doubled on a 3-for-5 day. He is hitting .319 through his first 17 games at the Triple-A level.
SWB had not won 10 consecutive road games since taking its first 10 such affairs in 2009. The 10th triumph in that run was a 17-14 game that took 13 innings and 4:43 at Rochester on April 25. That road winning streak was snapped at 10 by the Red Wings on that April 26, also at Frontier Field.
NEPA’s team had won a season-high-tying five in a row overall. It also did so from May 14-18 when it swept Durham in four games on the road and took a home affair from Charlotte.
Branden Pinder has blown three saves in four tries with SWB this season.
The RailRiders went 1-for-9 with men in scoring position and stranded eight men on base.
Sunday marked the RailRiders’ third walk-off loss of the season and first since April 30 at Charlotte.
SWB entered the game 26-1 when leading after eight innings. The only other loss when leading entering the ninth came at Gwinnett on April 27 when Cedric Hunter hit a two-strike, two-out homer at Coolray Field for a walk-off finish.
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