By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Both in the field and at the plate, it was a night of firsts for Irondequoit High’s Cito Culver.
Playing in front of family and friends, Culver led the Scranton/WB RailRiders second inning with his first Triple-A home run when he turned on the first offering from Rochester Red Wings starter Jason Wheeler.
“He was up to the first couple of batters of the game and had a tough time getting his fastball down,” Culver said of the round tripper. “I was just trying to get a good pitch and put my A-swing on it.”
The 2010 first-round draft pick of the New York Yankees finished the night 2-for-5, and Scranton improved to 75-44 with a 12-7 win over the Red Wings.
“It’s always nice playing in front of family with all of the support behind me,” Culver added.
A scheduled day off for teammate Chris Parmelee, forced Culver into new territory as the middle infielder moved over to play first base for the night.
“I was a little nervous, not going to lie, playing a new position for the first time,” Culver commented. “It was different. I felt like I was going a hundred miles per hour over there on a couple plays. Trying to get to the base, trying to make sure I wasn’t late getting there. The footwork around the base could be better, but it was okay.”
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Culver’s dinger was one of four Scranton yard jobs as the two teams combined for eight long balls on the night.
“I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball,” Culver noted. “Got a good pitch to hit. Just put a good swing on it.”
Cesar Puello capped a four-run first inning with a three-run shot to give Scranton a lead it never surrendered.
Adam Brett Walker made it a 4-3 game in the home half with a three-run shot of his own, but the Red Wings could not overcome the first-place RailRiders.
After Culver’s blast gave Scranton a 5-3 advantage, Donovan Solano made it a 7-3 game in the third with a two-run shot.
Culver fought off a two-strike pitch and singled up the middle in his second at bat. He reached on an error in a three-run seventh. The multi-hit effort was his first in six Triple-A games this season. He went 4-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI against the Buffalo Bisons last September. He tripled and scored a run against the Red Wings on September 2nd of last season.
The RailRiders improved their lead in the International League’s North Division to four games over Lehigh Valley which lost to Indianapolis.
Rochester dropped 9.5 games off the pace.
“These guys are great, really supportive,” Culver said referring to teammates Ben Gamel, Aaron Judge and Jake Cave. “These guys are a really good group of guys.”
Brady Lail improved to 6-3 on the season. The right-hander allowed six runs on five hits over six innings. Jonathan Holder allowed one run on two hits over three inning for his third save of the season.
Wheeler took the loss giving up seven runs on seven hits over six innings. After allowing seven runs in his first three innings of work, the left-hander surrendered just one hit over his last three frames of work retiring the last seven batters he faced.
Rochester’s Byron Buxton finished 2-for-4 with a home run, stolen base and two runs scored.
Puello was 4-for-5 with four RBI.
Culver hit .320 over eight games with Scranton in 2015. Friday was his sixth game at the AAA level in 2016.
Attendance was 7,361.
The teams continue the three-game series Saturday night at Frontier Field. Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 1.25) is scheduled to start for Rochester.
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