RailRiders lose 13-12 slugfest as Worcester wins on walk-off homer in ninth

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Six runs in the first two innings weren’t enough. An even dozen through eight also didn’t get the job done.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had pulled off a late rally before ultimately falling 13-12 on a walk-off home run by Worcester on Thursday. Nick Sogard’s two-out blast in the bottom of the ninth — his second homer of the game — proved to be the difference.

The RailRiders had trailed 12-8 after six innings and clawed back to even in the eighth inning on a two-run double by Oscar Gonzalez and an RBI single from Jeter Downs.

But they couldn’t get one more hit with the bases loaded in the frame, and the RailRiders returned the favor in the home half.

Art Warren came on facing a bases-loaded jam with one out and got the job done, getting a fly out to right and a called strike three to keep the game tied.

It looked like it would go to extras from there as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre reliever Ron Marinaccio got two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth before Sogard parked an 0-1 fastball over the fence in right to end the game.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had opened with two runs in the top of the first thanks to a run-scoring groundout by T.J. Rumfield and a double by Taylor Trammell.

That 2-0 lead turned into a 4-2 deficit by the end of the inning before the RailRiders went back on top 6-4 in the second as Caleb Durbin singled home two runs and Carlos Narvaez doubled in two more.

Sogard tied it 6-6 with a homer in the fourth. The RailRiders grabbed the lead back in the sixth when Trammell singled in a pair of runs. But the Red Sox answered immediately with a six-spot, highlighted by a three-run shot by Pablo Reyes.

Narvaez had three of the RailRiders’ 14 hits on the night. Jose Rojas homered in the seventh to start the rally.