The Erie SeaWolves opened their six-game series with the Harrisburg Senators with a back-and-forth victory at UPMC Park on Tuesday night, earning their fifth walk-off win of the season by a 6-5 final. Josh Lester swatted 11th home run in the month of August to tie the game in the seventh inning, while Yariel Gonzalez doubled to left field in the ninth inning to drive in the winning run.
Harrisburg took the early lead in the first inning after Armond Upshaw drew a walk and stole second base. K.J. Harrison lined a double to left field to plate the run.
Joey Wentz responded with a scoreless second inning for Erie, but let up an unearned run in the third inning after an error, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and finally a groundout by Harrison once again scored Upshaw. Wentz would go on to finish 4.2 innings in his start, striking out a season-high seven batters.
After Erie had taken the lead, Harrisburg lucked into some weakly hit balls in the sixth inning, sneaking a pair of base hits by third base, and an error at second base leading to three runs. All three runs were scored against Yaya Chentouf, but only one run was earned as Harrisburg took the 5-4 lead. Cale Coshow kept Harrisburg from adding to their run total to earn the eventual win, moving him to 4-1 on the season.
Erie threatened Harrisburg starter Tim Cate constantly, putting on four different base runners before Kerry Carpenter finally opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a solo home run, his 13th of the season. In the fifth, Erie scored a pair of runs on a messy defense from Harrisburg. After leadoff singles by Andrew Navigato and Eric De La Rosa, Cate balked to push both runners into scoring position. Erie took the lead when Yariel Gonzalez grounded a ball to third base, and a throwing error allowed Navigato and De La Rosa to score.
Josh Lester added his fifth triple of the season to score Gonzalez and chase Cate from the game. With Erie trailing by one run in the seventh inning, Lester clubbed his 25th home run to right-center field to tie the game at five. In the ninth, De La Rosa drew a one-out walk, and scored on a double by Gonzalez to left-center field, locking in the walk-off win. Harrisburg reliever Jhon Romero (2-4) took the loss by walking De La Rosa, while Carson Teel let up the game-winning hit.
Erie and Harrisburg continue their series on Wednesday night at UPMC Park. It’s another Bark at the Park night, where fans are welcome to bring their well-behaved, leashed dogs to the park to enjoy the game. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.