By MARC MALKOSKIE
Press Enterprise Writer
MOOSIC — The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ bats got hot early in front of a crowd of over 10,000 fans at PNC Field on Tuesday night.
With four home runs — including one in the fifth inning from Aaron Judge — the RailRiders defeated the Norfolk Tides, 8-4.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (40-28) belted three home runs in the bottom of the first, including a three-run shot from Mike Tauchman, to go along with solo home runs from Mike Ford and Kyle Higashioka.
“He’s really thriving in the leadoff spot and 2-hole this year,” RailRiders’ manager Jay Bell said of Ford, whose leadoff home run was his 16th of the season. “He always seems to get something going, so that was a huge at-bat.”
Tauchman, Ford and Higashioka have all spent time in the majors this season, particularly Tauchman, who was optioned to Triple-A late Monday to make room on the Yankees’ 25-man roster for Giancarlo Stanton.
The loudest long ball of the game came from Judge, who unloaded on an 0-1 pitch, driving it into the grassy knoll past the right field fence.
“It felt good to see some pitches,” Judge said. “I feel like if I swing at the right pitches, some good things will happen. It’s all about trying to attack pitches in the strike zone I can handle. I was just happy I could add another run to the RailRiders today, they were on fire today. It was fun to watch.”
‘Moved around well’
Judge finished 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, an RBI and two runs scored. In right field, he also flashed the leather.
The 6-foot-7 right fielder turned a 9-6 double play to end the top of the fourth when he charged in on a bloop fly ball and made a shoestring grab.
Judge also ran back a significant distance to make a nice catch at the wall for the first out in the third, robbing Norfolk’s Chris Bostick of an extra-base hit.
“It was really nice,” Bell said of Judge’s glovework. “He had the nice play ranging back to the wall, and I thought he did a good job on the double play as well. I thought he moved around really well out there, and it was encouraging. To watch him on TV is really enjoyable, but it’s much more enjoyable to see him in-person.”
‘Did a good job’
On the mound, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Randall Delgado (1-2) earned the win. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits in six innings despite having his start bumped up a day due to the granted release of Drew Hutchinson, who was originally slated to get the start.
“Getting those runs early certainly gave Randall an opportunity to settle into the game,” Bell said. “He had one hiccup in the fifth inning, but other than that, I thought he did a good job.”
Stephen Tarpley came on strong in relief, tossing 2 2/3 innings before running into a bit of trouble with two outs in the ninth. Kaleb Ort was eventually called upon by the to record the final out and pick up his second save of the season for the RailRiders.
Norfolk (28-40) failed to put multiple runners on base in each inning except the fifth and ninth, the only two frames in which the Tides scored.
With the win, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre holds a 6 1/2 game lead over the Syracuse Mets for the lead in the International League North Division.
Norfolk 000 030 001 — 4 11 0
Scranton/WB 500 110 01x — 8 11 0
Tyler Herb, Jay Flaa (5), Luis Gonzalez (8) and Jesus Sucre. Randall Delgado, Stephen Tarpley (7), Kaleb Ort (9) and Kyle Higashoka.
W — Delgado (1-2). L — Herb (4-5). S — Ort (2).
Top hitters: Norfolk — Sucre 2-4, double, run, 2 RBIs; Chris Bostick 2-3, RBI; Jace Peterson 2-3. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — Thairo Estrada 2-3, double, 2 runs; Tyler Wade 2-4, double; Mike Tauchman 1-3, home run, run, 3 RBIs; Aaron Judge 1-3, home run, 2 runs, RBI; Higashioka 1-4, home run, run, RBI; Mike Ford 1-5, home run, run, RBI.
Marc Malkoskie covers sports for the Press Enterprise. He may be reached at 570-387-1234, ext. 1314, or by email at sports@pressenterprise.net. Follow him on Twitter at @mmalkoskie.
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