Ali Sanchez homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders a 5-4 victory over the Durham Bulls on Thursday night at PNC Field in Moosic.
After squandering a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning, Sanchez’s 393-foot blast out to left field gave the RailRiders (8-3) their second straight win in the series and sixth in a row overall.
In the bottom of the first inning, the RailRiders jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Singles by Jasson Dominguez, Oswaldo Cabrera and walk to Max Schuemann loaded the bases. Spencer Jones had a RBI fielder’s choice and Seth Brown had a RBI groundout.
Brendan Beck, the New York Yankees’ No. 22 prospect, started for the RailRiders and retired the first 11 Bulls he faced, six by strikeout. But Durham got to him in the fifth. Jacob Melton led off with a ground-rule double and Blake Sabol singled. One out later, Cooper Bowman walked and Melton stole home on the play. Victor Mesa Jr. then hit a two-run double to put the Bulls in front, 3-2.
But the RailRiders regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Paul DeJong led off with a double and Jonathan Ornelas singled. Dominguez singled to score DeJong and advance Ornelas to second. A forceout sent Ornelas to third and Schuemann scored him with a single to make it 4-3.
Angel Chivilli retired all seven batters he faced with two strikeouts to keep it that way. But in the Durham ninth, Yovanny Cruz came on and walked leadoff batter Carson Williams. An errant pickoff attempt by Cruz allowed Williams to move to third. One out later, Williams scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice by Melton.
Chris Clark struck out the first two RailRiders in the bottom of the ninth before Sanchez hit his home run on a 1-1 pitch.
The series continues at PNC Field on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 4:35 p.m. No. 3 prospect Elmer Rodriguez is scheduled to start the opener for the RailRiders. No. 2 prospect Carlos Lagrange is slated to throw in the nigthcap.