The Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders won 8-4 against the Syracuse Mets on Friday night at PNC Field. The RailRiders made history with 15 walks in the game. Jose Rojas and Caleb Durbin each hit home runs in the game.
After Caleb Durbin and Carlos Narvaez walked consecutively in the first inning, Rojas hit a 342-foot home run to right field for his second home run of the year, putting the RailRiders ahead 3-0.
The Mets fought back in the second inning when Ben Gamel hit a two-run homer to right field. Narvaez ended the inning by throwing out Rylan Bannon trying to steal second base, keeping the score at 3-2.
In the bottom of the inning, Syracuse starter Dom Hamel faced eight Scranton/Wilkes-Barre batters, walking four in a row to score Jordan Groshans and Brandon Lockridge, giving the home team a three-run lead.
The Mets reduced the lead in the fourth inning to just one run. Gamel doubled to reach base, and Austin Allen hit a two-run home run off Phil Bickford, who was making his RailRiders debut.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre added some extra runs in the sixth inning. Greg Allen drew a walk and Durbin hit a two-run home run to left field, putting the RailRiders ahead 7-4. It was his first home run of the season.
Shortly after, Durbin started the eighth inning with a walk, then quickly stole second and third bases. Narvaez also got a walk, and Everson Pereira was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With their record-setting 15th walk of the evening, the RailRiders scored another run, resulting in an 8-4 victory, thanks to a walk from Rojas. Prior to this, SWB had 14 walks in a game back in August of 1998.
Caleb Durbin has achieved a five-game hitting streak in his initial games as a RailRider. The 24-year-old reached base in all five plate appearances tonight, marking nine consecutive at-bats where he reached safely.
The No. 18 Yankees prospect Yoendrys Gómez pitched three innings, giving up three hits, two runs, and recording two strikeouts. Cody Morris and Josh Maciejewski (W, 1-0) each had scoreless appearances. Ron Marinaccio closed the game in the ninth.
The RailRiders will continue their home series at PNC Field on Saturday with a seven-inning doubleheader against the Mets. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
