IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Johnson's Blast Gives RailRiders 2-1 Win

Published on April 23, 2013 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Moosic, Pa. - Dellin Betances pitched set season highs with seven innings pitched and seven strikeouts while Dan Johnson homered for the first time as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A/New York Yankees) defeated the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians) on Tuesday night, 2-1. The win moved the RailRiders above the .500 mark for the first time this season at 9-8.

Betances (1-2) showed no signs of the control issues that have plagued him in the past. He issued just two walks and only conceded three hits. He outdueled former Major League star Daisuke Matsuzaka, who pitched well until the Johnson home run. Juan Cedeno tossed a scoreless eighth, and Preston Claiborne received a groundball double play to end the game and record his second save of the season.

After allowing a lead-off base hit to Tim Fedroff, Betances retired the next nine batters until the top of the fourth. With one out, Luis Hernandez doubled down the left-field line. Cord Phelps followed with a double down the right-field line, bringing Hernandez around to score and giving the Clippers the 1-0 advantage.

The RailRiders needed just one swing to score all of their runs, and that swing came in the sixth. Corban Joseph led off with a double that went off the glove of the second baseman Phelps. Thomas Neal then hit a comebacker to Matsuzaka, who threw out a surprised Joseph at second base, but Neal reached on the fielder's choice. Johnson followed by walloping a Matsuzaka curveball to right field, giving the RailRiders the 2-1 lead.

Betances issued both of his walks in the top of the seventh, but when he got Omir Santos to sky a ball to right field, Neal ran it down for the final out of the inning. In the ninth, Claiborne got Jeremy Hermida to ground to short, but Addison Marusazk's throw went errantly wide of the bag at first. Adam Abraham followed with a single to move Hermida to second, but Cedric Hunter hit a hard grounder to third baseman David Adams who started the 5-4-3 double play.

Matsuzaka (0-2) allowed two runs over six and one-third innings of work, striking out eight SWB batters and issuing just two walks.

Neal was not able to record a hit in his four at-bats, which ended his hitting streak at nine games. Despite the hitless night, Neal is hitting .328 on the season.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Columbus will play game two of their four-game series at a special time on Wednesday morning. First pitch at PNC Field is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. The RailRiders will send Ryan Pope (1-0, 2.25) out for his first start of the season. The Clippers will counter with a highly-touted prospect in Trevor Bauer (1-0, 2.08).

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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International League Stories from April 23, 2013


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