The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders topped the Syracuse Mets 4-1 in Tuesday’s series opener. Edgar Barclay tossed a quality start while JC Escarra had a pair of hits and scored three runs.
Mets No. 12 prospect Luisangel Acuña led off the bottom of the first with a double to left field. Luke Ritter followed with a two-bagger of his own for a 1-0. From there Barclay shut down Syracuse by retiring the next 13 batters straight.
The RailRiders were able to tie it up off of Major League rehabber Paul Blackburn in the sixth. Escarra led off with a double and the rehabbing Jon Berti pushed him to third. On an infield single from Jasson Domínguez scored Escarra for a 1-1 ballgame.
Barclay (W, 7-9) kept firing, not allowing another hit until the seventh frame. He tied a season high seven innings while allowing just the one run on three hits. The lefty struck out three.
SWB broke the even score in the eighth. Escarra again started the offense this time by earning a free pass. Oscar González and Berti singled to load the bases. Domínguez worked a walk to plate the go-ahead run. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Oswald Peraza made it 3-1.
Yerry De Los Santos locked it up quickly setting down the side in order in the bottom half.
In the final frame, the RailRiders added an insurance run. Escarra smoked a home run into right center for a 4-1 advantage.
Nick Burdi (S, 1) pitched the bottom of the ninth clean to preserve the win.
The RailRiders continue their series against the Mets on Wednesday evening in Syracuse. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre returns to PNC Field for the final homestand of the season on Sept. 10 against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
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