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Texas earns rematch in US championship of Little League World Series

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Longtime fans thrilled as Donny and Marie Osmond perform in Wilkes-Barre

<p>Well, that scoring drought didn&#8217;t last long.</p><p>And now, it shouldn&#8217;t be long before the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders once again become a playoff team.</p><p>Rehabbing New York Yankees infielders Starlin Castro and Greg Bird hammered back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning Thursday, snapping a 17-inning scoreless streak and fueling a seven-run rally that carried the RailRiders past Rochester, 8-3 at Frontier Field.</p><p>The victory reduced Scranton/Wilkes-Barre magic number to two for clinching an International League playoff spot. The RailRiders can wrap up a playoff spot by beating Syracuse at 7:05 p.m. tonight at PNC Field on Gary Sanchez Baby Bomber bobblehead night, combined with a Lehigh Valley loss.</p><p>Castro, who is hitting .333 over six games with the RailRiders, belted his first homer during his Triple-A recovery period. Bird immediately followed with his third homer in eight rehab games with the RailRiders and raised his Triple-A batting average to .375.</p><p>Their power display triggered a fourth-inning spree where all nine RailRiders hitters reached base before Rochester recorded an out.</p><p>For good measure, Ji-Man Choi openened the fifth inning for the RailRiders with his team-leading 15th home run.</p><p>The offensive outburst was a fast turn-around from Tuesday, when the RailRiders finished the final six ininngs of a game suspended on Tuesday without scoring, then were shut out in a 1-0 loss through the seven-inning game that followed.</p><p>They started quietly Thursday, also, as Rochester took a 1-0 lead into the fourth inning before the RailRiders&#8217; run-scoring eruption.</p><p>Castro, Mason Williams, Jake Cave, Eddy Rodriguez and Mark Payton all had two hits in the game.</p><p>Williams roped a two-run double in the fourth inning, while Cave drew two walks and finished with an RBI and a run scored.</p><p>Jordan Montgomery, who spent this season with the parent New York Yankees before he was recently sent to the RailRiders, pitched three innings in his first Triple-A appearance since he started and won the 2016 Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game last season.</p><p>Montgomery, who was moved to Triple-A to limit his innings, gave up one run on two hits. He walked none, struck out three and threw 47 pitches, 31 for strikes. Reliever Joe Mantiply (6-5) got the win by throwing four innings of two-run ball.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Montgomery </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Jordan-Montgomery.jpg</photo0><caption0>Montgomery </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

RailRiders erupt in Montgomery’s return