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Two home runs by the team’s oldest player and five no-hit innings by the youngest weren’t enough to end the slump.

Neither was a one-run lead in the 10th inning. Nor a two-run edge in the 11th.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will eventually win again this season. But the RailRiders are in need of something extraordinary right now after Saturday’s 11-inning, 8-7 loss in Gwinnett.

They have now lost six in a row, including 10 straight away from PNC Field. They are 3-12 overall in August. And their lead atop the IL North has now dwindled to just one game over Buffalo, with Syracuse and Rochester also pulling back within striking distance with 16 games to go.

Ryan McBroom’s two-run homer in the top of the 11th put the RailRiders up 7-5. But the bullpen blew a lead for the third time on the night against the league-leading Stripers.

Brady Lail, just returned from New York earlier in the day, gave up three-straight hits with one out to tie the game back up in the home half. Lail hit the next batter to load the bases and then walked Andres Blanco to bring home the winning run and extend the misery. It was Blanco’s second RBI via walk in extra innings.

And the evening had started as well as the RailRiders (65-59) could have hoped.

After six innings, the RailRiders were throwing a no-hitter and led 4-1 thanks to two homers by 39-year-old backup catcher Erik Kratz.

Ben Heller opened on the mound as he began his rehab stint for the Yankees, then gave way in the second inning to 20-year-old Deivi Garcia. He struck out seven over the next five frames and walked five, allowing a run only when Pedro Florimon managed to score from second base on a sac fly.

Newly signed veteran reliever David Hernandez promptly gave up the game’s first hit against the first batter he faced — a home run to Blanco. Gwinnett tied the game later in the seventh on a ground out and an RBI single.

The game stayed knotted at 4-4 until the 10th as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre struck first in extras. With Billy Burns opening the frame on second base, he took off on a full-count pitch to Clint Frazier, who swung and missed for the second out.

But the throw by Stripers catcher Alex Jackson was off the mark, allowing Burns to steal third and come around to score thanks to the error.

J.P. Feyereisen couldn’t close out the victory, but he did manage to extend the game into the 11th. Gwinnett loaded the bases with no outs against the All-Star reliever and then tied the game on a bases-loaded walk by Blanco.

But the Stripers couldn’t push the winning run across. Feyereisen battled back by getting a foul out and a strikeout before inducing a grounder to short to end the threat.

After McBroom’s go-ahead homer, the top of the 11th ended with Mandy Alvarez caught stealing at second, which led to the infielder’s ejection.

Reserve catcher Francisco Arcia was forced into duty at third base in place of Alvarez, and the first ball put in play in the bottom of the 11th found him for a 5-3 put-out. It was the last out the RailRiders recorded.

The road trip concludes Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. start in Gwinnett.

Riding the rails

A slew of moves before the game saw Heller begin his rehab assignment while Lail and Joe Mantiply were outrighted down from New York.

Adonis Rosa also reported back to the team after being optioned from the Yankees earlier in the week.

To make room, pitchers Will Carter and Josh Maciejewski returned to Double-A Trenton and Single-A Charleston, respectively. Breyvic Valera was placed on the temporary inactive list.

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By Derek Levarse

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