Cessa, Big Bats Lead RailRiders to 5-1 Victory

July 20, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders pitcher Luis Cessa
(Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders)

COLUMBUS, OHIO. - A flurry of early home runs by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders staked their pitching staff to all the support they needed in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Clippers Friday night.

Abiatal Avelino led off the second inning with a solo home run; his third of the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and thirteenth between two levels. In 2016 Avelino had set his previous career-high with six home runs and has more than doubled that in the same number of games in 2018.

The RailRiders added a pair of runs against Clippers starter Adam Wilk in the second on a Mike Ford single and a fielder's choice by Avelino for a 3-0 advantage. In the top of the fourth, Rey Navarro took Wilk deep to left for a 4-0 lead. The homer was Navarro's seventh of the season and his second in as many games in the series.

Tyler Austin capped the scoring for the RailRiders offense when he added a solo home run in the fifth for a 5-0 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead. Columbus' starter Wilk lasted 7.0 innings on 103 pitches despite the early power displayed by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but dropped to 4-8 with the loss.

All the offense was more than enough for RailRiders starter Luis Cessa who improved to 3-0 with the win. The right-hander struck out nine batters over 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits in the fourth and did not walk a batter. The 6.0 scoreless innings, including 53 strikes out of 69 pitches, lowered Cessa's earned run average to 1.42 over three Triple-A starts.

He passed the baseball off to Raynel Espinal and Joe Harvey who finished off the final three innings without allowing an earned run- one unearned run crossed in the 8th inning- to secure the win and move the RailRiders into sole possession of the International League Wild Card with the Indianapolis Indians falling to the Charlotte Knights Friday.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre continues a four-game set in Columbus Friday night at Huntington Park with a 7:15 p.m. scheduled first pitch. The RailRiders have LHP Justus Sheffield (3-3, 2.53) on the mound against RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (3-1, 4.65). Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with Adam Marco and Adam Giardino on NEPA Sports Radio The Game and the RailRiders Radio Network. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre returns to PNC Field on July 24 to open a six-game homestand with a three-game series against the Charlotte Knights.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Record:

52-44

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders pitcher Luis Cessa

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