BUFFALO, N.Y. â?? For the second consecutive day, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees overcame a first-inning deficit to knock off Buffalo.
On Friday afternoon at Coca Cola Field, the Yankees trailed by three runs after two innings, but scored four runs in the fifth and didnâ??tâ?? trail the rest of the way in a 7-5 victory. On Thursday, SWB trailed 2-0 after an inning before winning 7-2.
Yankees starter D.J. Mitchell gave up two runs in the first on a two-run double by Vinny Rottino and another in the second when Lucas May homered to put SWB in an early 3-0 hole.
A run in the fourth by the Yankees on a groundout got them on the board at 3-1.
Then came the big inning in the fifth. Thatâ??s when Scranton/Wilkes-Barre batted around plating four runs on three hits. The team also capitalized on drawing two walks and one Bisons error.
Ramiro Pena smacked an RBI-double in the frame, Dewayne Wise plated two on a bases-loaded single, and the final run of the inning came home on groundout by Colin Curtis to open a 5-3 lead.
After Buffalo got the first two runners on base in the bottom half of the inning, right-hander Chase Whitley, who was called up from Trenton before the game, relieved Mitchell and only gave up a sacrifice fly.
Whitley, who replaced Manny Banuelos on the roster because he was placed on the seven-day disabled list, picked up the win in his Triple-A debut. The 22-year-old pitched four scoreless innings and only gave up one hit while striking out three.
A Brandon Laird sacrifice fly in the seventh increased the Yankees lead to 6-4 and Craig Tatum singled in Jack Cust in the top of the ninth.
Buffalo scored a run in the bottom of the ninth off Yankees closer Kevin Whelan and threatened for more with two on and no out, but Whelan induced a groundball out and struck out the final two batters for his first save of the season.
The Yankees will play their home opener this afternoon at 4 at Syracuseâ??s Alliance Bank Stadium against the Chiefs. SWB right-hander Adam Warren (1-0, 18.00) will take the hill against Syracuse lefty Zach Duke (1-0, 1.50)
All nine players in the Yankees starting lineup contributed with either a hit or run batted in. Wise finished 4-for-5, while Cust was 2-for-3 and scored three runs. Doug Bernier had a 2-for-4 afternoon, while Wise and Laird each had two RBI.