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MOOSIC — Mark Payton stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday. It was the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders second extra-inning game in three days.
For Payton, the approach was easy. He just wanted to put the barrel on the ball and put it in play. But executing it was another story.
Facing a 1-1 count against Rochester reliever D.J. Baxendale and the game on the line, the 25-year-old outfielder delivered.
He drove a cutter over the head of Red Wings right fielder Niko Goodrum. The ball rolled to the wall and would have been extra bases, but it didn’t matter. With the bases loaded, Rob Refsnyder — standing on third base — was the winning run and scored easily to deliver the RailRiders (23-17) a 5-4 victory over the Red Wings (19-18).
As Refsnyder was crossing the plate, Payton was getting mobbed by his teammates in the infield. The RBI single was Payton’s first hit with the bases loaded this season.
“You make things simple, don’t put any pressure on yourself and just take it like an any other at-bat,” Payton said. “It’s a cool team to be a part of. We go out there trying to put together good at-bats, play good defense and obviously have great pitching. We’re young so nothing really bothers us. We just go out and play and try to win. We have fun playing with each other, so hopefully this carries on to tomorrow and the road trip.”
Payton was just one of two RailRiders to record multiple hits Saturday. Going 2 for 5, he laid down a perfect bunt single to start the fifth, but was stranded at first base.
After recording the final out in Friday’s series opening loss, Payton wasn’t sent back to the dugout Saturday. In fact, he didn’t even let the count get to two strikes after seeing back-to-back cutters to start the at-bat.
“It’s always cool, and that’s the good thing in baseball. You’re always going to get another opportunity like that,” Payton said. “I was lucky to get that opportunity (Saturday) and help my team win.”
As the RailRiders’ fourth outfielder this season, Payton has played his way into the starting lineup on a daily basis.
The Texas alum is second on the team in batting average and has been impressive in the outfield. Payton ran 30-plus yards from right field to foul territory to save a run in the fourth inning.
“It’s always nice to have a guy like Mark Payton — that you can use him anywhere in the outfield, he can hit anywhere in the lineup and he can pinch-hit,” RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. “That’s the makeup of this team. The guys that know they’re going to be in the lineup every day, they go after it the right way. The extra guy — the backups — those are the most important guys because when they get a chance, they have to be ready for them to contribute.”
Pedrique called RailRiders reliever Tyler Webb the player of the game.
Webb entered in the seventh inning with men on first and second and no outs. The Red Wings had scored three unanswered runs and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre bats had fallen silent back in the third inning. The RailRiders needed a shot in the arm or they would be in danger of dropping the three-game series to their International League North Division foe.
While Webb did see an inherited run cross the plate, on an error by Cito Culver, he stopped the bleeding and allowed the RailRiders to rally in the 11th inning. He went three strong innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six and walking none.
“I thought Eddy (Rodriguez) called a good game and I executed most of the pitches where I wanted,” Webb said. “Coming in, in that situation, it’s just as much damage control as possible and then going back out there, just trying to go as long as I can as well as I can.”
Injury report
First baseman, Ji-Man Choi, was out running and taking ground balls from Pedrique before Saturday’s game. He even took batting practice for the first time.
Choi said he expects to come off the 7-day DL during the RailRiders’ upcoming road trip. He’s been on the DL with an hamstring injury since May 14.
However, Pedrique said after the game that he didn’t think Choi was close to returning.
“Him and (Donovan) Solano both need to run the bases before we make a decision before they will be back,” Pedrique said, with Solano also being on the DL.
New York Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin was called-up to Double-A Trenton Saturday after Friday’s High-A Tampa game was rained out. He batted cleanup as the designated hitter.
Up next
The RailRiders will look to take the three-game series against Rochester on Sunday. The game’s a matinee with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
RailRiders 5, Rochester 4
Rochester`AB`R`H`BI
Granite cf`4`0`1`0
Hague 1b`5`0`1`0
Palka lf`5`1`2`0
Park dh`5`1`1`2
Goodrum rf`5`0`0`0
Field 3b`5`0`0`0
Reginatto 2b`4`0`1`0
Murphy c`5`0`1`1
Vielma ss`4`1`1`0
Totals`42`4`10`3
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Wade ss`4`1`1`0
Fowler cf`5`1`1`2
Frazier dh`5`0`1`0
Ford 1b`4`1`1`1
Refsnyder pr`0`1`0`0
Tejada 3b`5`0`1`0
Williams lf`4`0`0`0
Rodriguez c`4`0`0`0
Payton rf`5`0`2`1
Culver 2b`4`1`2`1
Totals`40`5`9`5
Rochester`010`002`100`00` —`4
RailRiders`310`000`000`01—`5
E: Wade (7), Culver (5); LOB: Red Wings 8, RailRiders 7; 2B: Hague (5); HR: Fowler (6), Ford (4), Culver (6); CS: Granite, Reginatto.
Rochester`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Tepesch`6.0`5`4`4`1`2
Wimmers (BS, 2)`2`0`0`0`3
Baxendale (L, 0-1)`2.2`2`1`1`3`3
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Smith`5.2`8`3`3`1`5
Graham (H, 1)`0.1`0`1`0`2`0
Webb (BS, 1)`3.0`2`0`0`0`6
Heller (W, 2-3)`2.0`0`0`0`0`2
IBB: Williams (by Baxendale).
Umpires: Blake Carnahan, HP; Mike Wiseman, 1B; Jeremy Riggs, 3B.
Time: 3:28; Att: 7,024.