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Beyond the Byline, Melanie Mizenko: Please excuse my bad friendship

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La Festa Italiana continues in Scranton

MOOSIC &#8212; It&#8217;s going to be extremely hard to argue the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders might just be a team of destiny.And if you were at PNC Field Sunday, you&#8217;re probably a believer now.The RailRiders rallied for three runs in the final two innings, and won on an extremely-rare walk-off fielder&#8217;s choice in a 5-4 victory over Syracuse. It was the 11th straight walk-off win for the RailRiders, and it extends SWB&#8217;s winning streak to six games.It was also Scranton/Wilkes Barre&#8217;s 90th win of the season, the most in the Yankees era of the franchise. No International League team has won 90-plus games since the former Red Barons won 91 during the 2002 season. SWB has the best record in Triple-A and all of baseball.The RailRiders try for win No. 91 Monday as they close out the regular season against Syracuse, a team they&#8217;ve beat 12 of 16 times in 2016. SWB begins the postseason Wednesday at Lehigh Valley.&#8220;The hardest thing to do in this game is turn the switch back on. You have to do the best you can to keep it on the whole time,&#8221; RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;Any time you can win the last few games before the playoffs, it&#8217;s definitely going to help to carry the momentum forward. We know it&#8217;s going to be a tough series with Lehigh Valley.&#8221;The story isn&#8217;t that SWB rallied for three runs in the final two innings. It&#8217;s how they won, and to be honest, it&#8217;s probably not going to be seen again for a while.With the bases loaded and two outs, Kyle Higashioka sent a fairly-routine ball to Syracuse third baseman Matt Skole. The Chief cleanly fielded the ball, and made the decision to throw for the force at second. One problem, though. The second baseman thought his teammate would throw to first, and was late getting to the bag. Mark Payton, on first via four-pitch walk, broke hard on contact and beat Skole&#8217;s throw to second.Just like that, the comeback was complete.&#8220;I was just running as hard as I could. I wanted him to make a tough throw across the diamond,&#8221; Payton said. &#8220;I had no idea he was going to throw to second. I just got going, and I was lucky enough to beat the throw.&#8221;It was Payton that jump-started the rally in the eighth.In just his second game in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the left fielder ripped a Derek Self pitch that just tucked inside the right-field line to open the frame. He moved to third on Jonathan Diaz&#8217;s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Cesar Puello&#8217;s hot shot down the left-field line. SWB tied the game at 4-4 one batter later on Jose Rosario&#8217;s single down the left-field line.The ninth inning, which started out glorious, almost ended in a disaster.Pete Kozma drew a walk, and Cito Culver&#8217;s bunt went in between two Chiefs that charged the ball. A one-out, four-pitch walk to Payton loaded the bags, but relief pitcher Justin DeFratus struck out Diaz in three pitches for the second out.Higashioka, who was 0 for 4 entering the at-bat, did his job by putting the ball in play and keeping pressure on the defense &#8211; allowing the game-winner to cross home.&#8220;That&#8217;s why we tell the kids every day that you don&#8217;t take this game for granted,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;Anything can happen, and you need to play hard. Payton never assumed the third baseman would go across and he went hard all the way &#8211; although the second baseman was late getting there. I&#8217;m glad it happened that way so the guys on the bench realize that anything could happen.&#8221;Crestwood graduate Matt Wotherspoon made his first Triple-A start, and threw pretty well in the no-decision. He allowed two runs, both earned, in 2 2/3 innings &#8211; throwing 33 of 50 pitches for strikes.In what was scheduled to be a bullpen day for the RailRiders, Pedrique jogged out four different pitchers with Johnny Barbato picking up his third victory of the season after throwing a scoreless ninth.&#8220;I just tried to keep the same mentality I would coming out of the bullpen. I kind of shortened up my routine before going into the game. But it&#8217;s different to start a game,&#8221; Wotherspoon said. &#8220;Overall, it was a good experience for me. I knew I was only going three today no matter what because they want everyone fresh for that first game of playoffs. I thought I threw pretty well, although I would like to have some pitches back because I didn&#8217;t command the fastball today.&#8221;Syracuse jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but SWB answered in the home half of the third. After Rosario drove a one-out single to right, Jake Cave destroyed a pitch from Syracuse starter Aaron Laffey for his fifth home run of the season.The Chiefs scored three unanswered to take a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth before the RailRiders rallied for three runs and the walk-off.RailRiders 5, Syracuse 4Syracuse `AB`R`H`BIDen Dekker lf `5`1`2`1Ramsey rf `4`0`3`2Soto 1b `5`0`0`0Skole 3b `4`1`1`0Martinson ss `4`0`1`0Collier cf `3`0`1`1Jeroloman c `3`1`1`0Norfork 2b `3`1`0`0Lozada dh `4`0`1`0Totals `34`4`10`4RailRiders `AB`R`H`BIPayton lf `4`1`2`0Diaz 2b `4`0`0`0Higashioka dh-c `5`0`0`0Puello rf `4`1`1`1Rosario 3b `4`1`3`1Cave cf `4`1`1`2Kozma 1b `3`1`0`0Culver ss `4`0`2`0Rodriguez c `3`0`1`0Parmelee ph `1`0`0`0Totals `36`5`10`5Syracuse `011 `010 `100 &#8211; 4RailRiders `020 `000 `021 &#8211; 5E: Soto (1), Rosario (2). DP: Syracuse 0, Railriders 0. LOB: Syracuse 8, RailRiders 8. 2B: Skole (22), Payton (1), Puello (13). HR: Cave (5). SB: Den Dekker 2 (20), Martinson (11), Rosario (1). CS: Collier (1)Syracuse `IP `H`R`ER`BB`SOLaffey `5`5`2`2`0`5Self `2.2`4`2`2`0`0DeFratus (L, 2-3)`1`1`1`1`2`2RailRiders `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOWotherspoon `2.2`4`2`2`0`2M. Montgomery `2.1`1`1`1`2`2Webb `2.2`4`1`1`1`3Barbato (W, 3-2) `1.1`1`0`0`0`1HBP: none. Umpires: HP: Alex Tosi. 1B: Paul Clemons. 2B: Chris Segal. 3B: Ben MayT: 3:05. Att: 6,283<style>
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<div class="neCaption">RailRiders centerfielder Jake Cave gets under a ball hit by Syracuse batter Zach Collier in the second inning ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_rr_sy1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>RailRiders centerfielder Jake Cave gets under a ball hit by Syracuse batter Zach Collier in the second inning ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_rr_sy2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">RaiRiders Jake Cave finishes his run around the base after he hit a home run in the second inning against Syracuse ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_rr_sy2_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>RaiRiders Jake Cave finishes his run around the base after he hit a home run in the second inning against Syracuse ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_rr_sy3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Matt Den Dekker scores for Syracuse as RailRiders catcher Eddy Rodriguez waits for the ball to be thrown in during the third inning ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_rr_sy3_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Matt Den Dekker scores for Syracuse as RailRiders catcher Eddy Rodriguez waits for the ball to be thrown in during the third inning ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_rr_sy4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">RaiRiders second baseman throws to second base after fielding a ground ball to put out Chiefs Jose Lozada during the fourth inning ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_rr_sy4_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>RaiRiders second baseman throws to second base after fielding a ground ball to put out Chiefs Jose Lozada during the fourth inning ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 9-4-16</caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>SWB&#8217;s 90 victories best in Yankees franchise era</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom FoxFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>TL EXPRESS Up next: The RailRiders finish the regular season Monday at PNC Field against Syracuse. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. The RailRiders have won 12 of 16 against the Chiefs in 2016.Probable pitchers: Toeing the rubber for the RailRiders is scheduled to be Richard Bleier, who is 2-3 with a 3.83 ERA. Syracuse is slated to send out Joe Ross, who has a hefty 4.91 ERA.Fun for fans: It&#8217;s $1 day at the park. Lawn seats at $1 (walk-up only), while it&#8217;s also $1 hot dogs at the concession stand. And if you want to bring your furry friend to the park, it will cost only a buck for your dog to tag along.On deck: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre begins the International League Division Series mid-week as the RailRiders travel to Lehigh Valley for Game 1 on Wednesday and Game 2 on Thursday. Jordan Montgomery is slated to be the Game 1 starter, while left-hander Phil Coke is scheduled to start in Game 2.Home playoff games: SWB will host three games, if necessary, in the ILDS. Game 3 is 6:35 p.m. Friday night. If a Game 4 is needed, that is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Saturday. A fifth and final game is slated for Sunday with a first-pitch time of 1:05 p.m. if the series goes that far.On Radio: All RailRiders games can be heard live on The Game Radio Network (100.7-FM, 106.7-FM, 1340-AM, 1400-AM, 1440-AM) with John Sadak and Darren Headrick.How They Scored:SYRACUSE SECOND: Matt Skole leads off the inning with a ground-rule double to left-center. Moves to third on Jason Martinson&#8217;s fly to center, and scores on Zach Collier&#8217;s single just past second. SYRACUSE 1-0.RAILRIDERS SECOND: Jose Rosario drives a one-out opposite field single to right. Scores after Jake Cave destroys an Aaron Laffey pitch over the Allegiant Airlines sign in right center for a two-run homer. RAILRIDERS 2-1.SYRACUSE THIRD: Center fielder Matt Den Dekker hits a seeing-eye shot between first and second for a two-out single. Steals second on the next pitch, and scores on Caleb Ramsey&#8217;s RBI hit to center field. TIED 2-2.SYRACUSE FIFTH: Khayyan Norfolk draws a walk to start the inning. Jose Lozada&#8217;s check-swing single just over Rosario at third puts two out with no outs. Lozada is out at second on Den Dekker&#8217;s fielder&#8217;s choice, but Norfolk moves to third. He later scores on Ramsey&#8217;s sac fly to right. SYRACUSE 3-2.SYRACUSE SEVENTH: Brian Jeroloman&#8217;s bunt single down the third-base line starts the inning for the Chiefs as the catcher takes second on a throwing error. Jeroloman later scores on Den Dekker&#8217;s broken-bat single just past the reach of Rosario. SYRACUSE 4-2.RAILRIDERS EIGHTH: Lead-off batter Mark Payton drives a double that tucks just inside the right-field line. Moves over to third on Jonathan Diaz&#8217;s sac bunt, and scores on Cesar Puello&#8217;s double to right. Puello crosses home one batter later on Rosario&#8217;s hot shot to left. TIED 4-4.RAILRIDERS NINTH: Pete Kozma draws a walk to open the inning. Cito Culver follows with a perfectly-placed bunt between two Syracuse fielders. Moves to third on a Chris Parmelee&#8217;s deep flyout to center. Payton walks on four straight pitches to load the bases with one out. Justin DeFratus strikes out Diaz on three straight pitches for the second out. Kyle Higashioka follows with the game winner, a fielder&#8217;s choice to third where the Chief cleanly fielded the ball, threw the ball to second, but Payton beat the throw to the bag. RAILRIDERS 5-4.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</shirttailMeta></div>

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders win 6th straight on fielder’s choice