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LOUISVILLE, KY. — The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders rode a wave of extra-base hits to a 6-4 victory over the Louisville Bats on Wednesday night at Louisville Slugger Field.
SWB (5-6) logged its first road victory of the year while Louisville (5-7) lost its fourth straight home game. The RailRiders finished the game with 12 hits, including six extra-base knocks.
The RailRiders grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning and owned the advantage for the rest of the night. Dustin Fowler doubled Tyler Wade home for the opening-inning advantage.
Ji-Man Choi’s sac fly increased the RailRiders’ lead to 2-0 in the fourth. Louisville responded in the bottom half when Jesse Winker doubled home Tony Renda.
In the fifth, SWB’s Clint Frazier blasted a no-doubt homer to left, his first of the year. The Bats drew within a run again in the sixth with Renda’s RBI single.
Both teams plated runs in the seventh and eighth.
Donovan Solano doubled Rob Refsnyder home in the top of the seventh and Juan Perez’s double sent Seth Mejias-Brean across the plate in the bottom of the frame. In the eighth, the RailRiders hung the game’s lone crooked number with a two-spot thanks to a Wade RBI single and Frazier’s sac fly. The Bats’ lone run in the home half of the inning came on Phil Ervin’s double.
SWB starter Brady Lail (1-0) tossed five-plus frames of two-run ball for the win. Rob Wooten (1-1) surrendered three runs on nine hits over his five-plus innings to take the loss. Chasen Shreve fired a perfect ninth for his first save.
The three-game series continues at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday night as SWB southpaw Caleb Smith (0-0, 1.80) faces right-hander Jackson Stephens (1-0, 8.38). The RailRiders return home on May 25 to host Louisville at PNC Field at 6:35 p.m.