IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Pigs Sweep & Leapfrog RailRiders

Published on July 2, 2014 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Moosic, Pa. - After completing their first road sweep of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) since 2011, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A/New York Yankees) got a taste of their own medicine. The RailRiders never led as they dropped a 3-2 finale to the Pigs and suffered their own broom-cleaning on the short two-game set. The result catapulted Lehigh Valley out of last place and thrust the RailRiders into the division's basement by a half-game.

Three Lehigh Valley doubles added up to two runs in the opening inning against Alfredo Aceves (0-1). Former RailRider and NEPA native Russ Canzler drove in the Leandro Castro while Jim Murphy's first-pitch swing then plated Canzler. Murphy doubled at the start of the fourth and later scored on Nate Spears' single through the right-side hole of a drawn-in infield.

SWB alumnus Greg Smith (7-5) carried a shutout into the sixth without allowing a man beyond first base. After striking out Jose Pirela to start the inning, he walked Rob Refsnyder on a full-count pitch. The switch-hitting Zoilo Almonte then stood in batting righty and against his own 3-2 delivery bombed an impressive home run to left. Almonte's first right-side homer of the year was his team-leading 12th of the season and made it 3-2.

It also chased Smith in favor of Phillippe Aumont who loaded the bases when Kyle Roller, John Ryan Murphy and Scott Sizemore all reached in succession. But a down-and-away off-speed pitch got Austin Romine to strike out swinging.

Aumont worked around a Pirela single in the seventh and Cesar Jimenez did the same with a Roller double in the eighth before Luis Garcia posted a 1-2-3 ninth for his 15th save in 16 tries.

The RailRiders hit the road for a short three-game, two-day journey to Buffalo to face the Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays). A Wednesday doubleheader gets underway at 5:35 p.m. with right-hander Shane Greene (5-2, 5.07) facing fellow righty P.J. Walters (2-0, 1.50). The nightcap features southpaws Nik Turley (0-1, 6.23) and Raul Valdes (3-1, 3.70). John Sadak will have the call on radio with the pregame show beginning at 5:05 p.m. on NEPA Sports Radio - The GAME, Northeast PA's largest sports radio network: 100.7 FM, 1340 WYCK-AM, 1400 WICK-AM, 1440 WCDL-AM and 106.7 FM. For ticket information or to book a group outing, call (570) 969-BALL (2255) or visit swbrailriders.com.

OFF THE RAILS:

The RailRiders trail the IronRail race, 8-4. They now must win the last four meetings including the Labor Day regular-season finale to defend their IronRail title. Last year's team won four of the final five to claim the rivalry trophy in the formal IronRail series' inaugural season.

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Zoilo Almonte entered the game hitting .153 (9-for-59) as a right-handed hitter. He had more homers as a lefty (11) than hits as a righty. He posted two right-side hits in the game, both against Greg Smith.

Robert Coello and Pat Venditte combined on 3.2 scoreless innings of relief with eight strikeouts. Each man stranded two inherited runners.

In his first trip back to PNC Field since he was released by the New York Yankees, former RailRider Russ Canzler went 4-for-10 with a double, a homer, four RBIs and three runs scored over the short two-game set.

Earlier in the day, Jose Pirela was named the IL's June Player of the Month. He then went 2-for-5 as the leadoff man.

The New York Yankees also promoted Jim Miller to the bigs before the game and optioned Jose Ramirez back to SWB. In 26 appearances, Miller went 4-2 with two saves in three tries as a RailRider. He posted a 2.85 ERA and struck out 43 men in 41 innings. He stranded eight of 14 inherited runners and held the league to a .227 batting average. Ramirez made eight appearances for the Yankees, going 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA. He struck out 10 men in 10 innings, but also allowed 11 hits and issued seven walks. He took the loss for the Bombers in a 12-inning loss to Tampa Bay on Monday.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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International League Stories from July 2, 2014


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