Scranton hitters dominate, Bulls drop second straight

DURHAM, N.C. — The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated the Durham Bulls 7-2 in the third matchup of their six-game series on Thursday evening.

Despite losing these past two games, Durham still sits atop the International League East with a 2.5-game lead ahead of the RailRaiders. The Bulls extended their lead in the conference last week after winning five of their six games against the Charlotte Knights.

The Bulls bullpen gave up 15 hits and walked three batters as LHP Angel Perdomo received the loss on the night. In just two innings pitched, Perdomo struggled giving up three runs, five hits, and recording three errors.

Scranton infielder Armando Alvarez started things off for the RailRiders with a solo home run to right center field. After a couple of relatively uneventful innings, Scranton second baseman Anthony Volpe homered to right center field, giving the RailRiders a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth.

Durham got on the board in the bottom of the fifth after Shortstop Jim Haley grounded out at third, bringing in Catcher Rene Pinto for the score. Shortstop Alika Williams doubled on a ground ball to right field which brought in Tristan Gray for the score, tying the game 2-2. Williams was assigned to the Bulls from Bowling Green Hot Rods a few weeks ago.

It was all Scranton from there on out as the RailRiders would score a multitude of runs to finish the ballgame. Outfielder Ryan LaMarre scored on a sacrifice fly-out from Armando Alvarez in the top of the sixth. In the next inning, Anthony Volpe homered again to center field on a 0-1 count.

Volpe’s home runs today marked the first and second Triple-A home runs of his career — who was called up to the RailRiders on Sept. 2 after fellow prospect Oswald Peraza was promoted to the majors.

The RailRiders extended their lead to 7 following an RBI from Catcher Ben Rortvedt and a two-run bomb to left center field from Ryan LaMarre in the top of the ninth. Scranton RHP Mitch Spence recorded his second win of the season after striking out seven Durham batters in six innings.

The Bulls look to turn things around as they continue their series with Scranton tomorrow at 6:35 PM in Durham Bulls Athletic Park.