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IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Two Neal Home Runs Not Enough as SWB Drops Opener

May 31, 2013 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Durham, N.C. - Two Thomas Neal home runs were not enough for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A/New York Yankees) on Friday night, as they fell to the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays) by a score of 8-4. Durham has now taken four of the first five meetings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

After two strikeouts from RailRider starter Chris Bootcheck to begin the game, Jason Bourgeois tripled to left-center field. Wil Myers followed with a single to right field, which advanced Bourgeois home from third.

Neal leveled the score in the third. He hit a liner of a home run over the left-center field fence, giving Neal his first home run of the season.

The Bulls poked answered quickly with a run in their half of the third. Rich Thompson led off with a single, stole second base, advanced to third on a bunt single by Brandon Guyer, and came around to score when Wil Myers reached on a fielder's choice.

The triple hurt SWB again in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Tim Beckham slapped a triple down the right field line, and scored when Cole Figueroa hit a triple in a similar spot in right. The Bulls led 3-1 after four innings of play.

Neal gave fans a case of déjà vu when he hit a two-out solo home run in the fifth, his second of the contest, which cut the Durham advantage to 3-2. The two homers were Neal's first of the 2013 campaign.

Durham had an answer to every offensive move by SWB, and they plated two more runs following Neal's round tripper. With one out, Bourgeois reached on an error by second baseman Corban Joseph. After he stole second base, Myers reached on an infield single to advance Bourgeois to third base. Shelley Duncan followed with a single to right field, which drove home Bourgeois and moved Myers to third base. Myers scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Mike Fontenot.

The long ball added two more runs for Durham in the sixth. With Juan Apodaca aboard, Guyer hit a towering home run to left field, giving the Bulls the 7-2 edge.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre refused to go away, and brought back two runs in the seventh. Zoilo Almonte led off the frame with his fifth home run of the season. Ronnier Mustelier followed with an infield single. He advanced to second on a single by Dan Johnson, to third on a hit by Neal, and came home when Jeff Farnham reached on a fielder's choice.

The RailRiders would get no closer, and Durham scored one more run in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Beckham doubled to left field, and came home on a single by Figueroa.

Neal's home runs were his first of the 2013 campaign, and he finished the night with three hits and was not retired. That effort raised his season batting average to .359.

Jim Paduch (2-3) made a spot start for Durham, and picked up the win. He tossed six and one-third innings, and allowed four earned runs.

Bootcheck (5-1) was handed his first loss of the season on the final day of May, he allowed four runs, three of them earned, over four and one-third innings of work. His six strikeouts fell just one shy of his season high.

The RailRiders will try to bounce back against the Bulls Saturday evening, as they play game two of a four-game series. It's part of an eight-game road trip that ends Monday. Chien-Ming Wang (3-4, 2.65) entered play Friday with the fourth best earned run average and he'll start for SWB on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., pregame coverage will get 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 FM.

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