Pereira’s ninth-inning homer lifts RailRiders to walk-off win over Rochester

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The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders walked-off the Rochester Red Wings 5-3 on Wednesday in a STEM school day matinee at PNC Field. Down a run in the ninth, the RailRiders tied things up and then Everson Pereira launched a home run for the win.

Both pitchers had just about the same first inning to start off the ballgame. They each had a pair of walks, a pair of flyouts, and a strikeout in the frame. A quick and quiet second kept the game scoreless.

The Red Wings struck first in the third. Nationals No. 2 prospect James Wood launched a two-run shot for an early lead.

SWB countered in the bottom half. Brandon Lockridge led off with a walk and Caleb Durbin smacked the RailRiders first hit of the game. Carlos Narvaez earned a free pass to load the bases. Back-to-back walks issued to Luis Torrens and Jeter Downs tied the game up at two apiece. Rochester’s Robert Gsellman got a strikeout to end the inning leaving three aboard. Gsellman went on to throw 3.1 scoreless frames keeping the home team silent.

In the seventh, Wood broke the tie with his second homer of the game. His long ball off of Cody Morris gave Rochester a 3-2 advantage. Wood knocked in all the runs for his team.

The RailRiders never gave up and fought to the end in the ninth inning. Brandon Lockridge singled to reach for just the team’s third hit of the game. Durbin followed with a double deep to left field and Lockridge raced home to tie things up at three. With heads up base running, Durbin moved to third on the throw home. Yankees No. 5 prospect Everson Pereira was next up and cranked a home run to walk things off. The two-run shot gave SWB a 5-3 victory for their 24th win of the season.

Beeter finished after 90 pitches in five innings. The righty allowed just two runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out six, including Joey Gallo twice, the player he was traded for back in 2022. Oddanier Mosqueda and Phil Bickford (W, 2-0) each had shutout outings.

Amos Willingham (L, 2-1) allowed the tying and go-ahead runs in the ninth to take the loss for Rochester.

The RailRiders continue their homestand Thursday at PNC Field with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch. Southpaw Tanner Tully will get the start for SWB while righty Thaddeus Ward takes the ball for Rochester.