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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Bootcheck Carries RailRiders to Taut Triumph

April 17, 2013 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Rochester, N.Y. - Making just his second stateside start since June 30, 2011, Chris Bootcheck came through for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A/New York Yankees) on Tuesday night. The team's oldest player at age 34 tossed six scoreless innings of three-hit ball as the RailRiders notched their first shutout win of the year with a 1-0 defeat of the Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota Twins). SWB's third consecutive victory lifted it to 4-6 while Rochester suffered a sixth straight loss that lowered the league's worst record to 2-10.

The game started 19 minutes late due to rain and saw both offenses struggle. The only score came on Dan Johnson's groundball double play that plated Corban Joseph in the opening inning. Bootcheck (1-0) and the bullpen made it work while dancing through some danger.

One of Rochester's most significant threats came in the second inning. Oswaldo Arcia, the Twins' third-ranked prospect according to Baseball America who singled in the big leagues on Monday, stood at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Bootcheck induced a routine fly to left from the 21-year-old phenom that quelled the threat.

Those were three of the nine men the Red Wings left on base including seven in scoring position. With runners in prime real estate, Rochester went a putrid 0-for-12. Leadoff men reached in the fourth and fifth against Bootcheck, but both times they were stranded 90 feet away when three straight outs followed.

Mark Montgomery gave up a leadoff hit to Eric Fryer in the seventh. Doug Bernier followed with a successful sacrifice before Montgomery rebounded with back-to-back strikeouts of Eric Farris and Arcia. In the ninth, Cody Eppley allowed a leadoff hit to Brandon Boggs before Brian Dinkelman's bunt pushed Boggs into scoring position. Eppley promptly followed Montgomery's script by whiffing the next two hitters in succession. Pinch hitter Chris Herrmann, whose lone career Major League hit came against Eppley last September, went down swinging. Another pinch-hitting lefty, Clete Thomas, went down looking at a 3-2 pitch as Eppley bolted down his first save.

Rochester right-hander Kyle Gibson (0-2) took the loss despite allowing just one run over six innings of four-hit ball.

The four-game set continues at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday night with right-hander Graham Stoneburner (0-1, 4.50) facing fellow righty Liam Hendricks, who just joined Rochester from the bigs this week. Pregame coverage gets underway at 6:35 p.m. on NEPA Sports Radio - The GAME, Northeast PA's largest sports radio network: 100.7 FM, 1340 WYCK-AM, 1400 WICK-AM, 1440 WCDL-AM and 106.7.

OFF THE RAILS:

Zoilo Almonte walked twice but saw his streak end at 12 straight plate appearances reaching base when he grounded out to first in the third. He was 8-for-8 during his string of success.

Both teams saw their skippers ejected in the later stages of the game. Rochester hitting coach Tim Doherty and manager Gene Glynn were each tossed before the start of the eighth shortly after Oswaldo Arcia struck out to strand the tying run in scoring position. SWB's Dave Miley later got the heave-ho as well for the first time this season. All three were tossed by home plate man Brad Myers.

Rochester is off to the franchise's worst start since at least 1967.

Before the game, it was announced that Chien-Ming Wang will join the RailRiders' rotation. He will toss Friday's homestand opener against Syracuse. It is not a rehab outing as Wang signed a minor league deal with the Yankees last month.

Also before the game, a roster move placed Cody Johnson on the temporarily inactive list. Catcher Jeff Farnham joined the team from Short Season-A Staten Island.

Melky Mesa, who launched the first home run of the RailRiders era on April 8 against the Red Wings, connected for the club's first triple. He launched a fly to right that eluded an off-balance Arcia in the third inning for his three-bagger.

Mesa, who also singled, combined with Thomas Neal for the team's only two multi-hit efforts on the night. Neal singled and doubled.

Fourteen of Rochester's 15 hits on the series have been singles.

Chris Bootcheck posted seven groundball outs against two in the air.

Chris Herrmann's only career big league hit was a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning off Cody Eppley on Sept. 26, 2012. Herrmann is 1-for-18 in seven career Major League games.

SWB notched its first shutout win in a true road game since a 6-0 defeat of the Red Wings at Frontier Field on Aug. 19, 2012.

The Red Wings put their leadoff man on base five times in nine innings. The RailRiders put their leadoff man on base once in their nine frames. That man, Corban Joseph, came around to score the game's only run.

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