RailRiders Dominate Lehigh Valley

August 24, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders pitcher Michael King
(Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Credit: Todd Hiller)

ALLENTOWN, PA. - The pitching was so good, the explosive early offense was nearly an afterthought for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders as they jumped all over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in a 9-1 series-opening victory Friday night.

Before a sellout crowd of 10,100 fans at Coca-Cola Park, the RailRiders got another strong start from Michael King in his fourth Triple-A outing. The right-hander pitched six no-hit innings before allowing a hit to begin the seventh inning. King bounced-back from the leadoff double from Collin Cowgill to strike out Mitch Walding for his seventh strikeout of the night before he was removed from the game.

The strong crowd was out to see the Lehigh Valley IronPigs try and clinch their first I.L. North championship in the 11-year history of the franchise, but early on the RailRiders wanted to delay that possibility for at least one more night. SWB gained an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first just a handful of batters into the night. With Giovanny Urshela on first following a one-out single, Mike Ford drilled a 3-1 pitch from Tom Eshelman over the high wall in right. It was Ford's team-best 15th of the year and gave him a team-best 47 RBI.

King retired Lehigh Valley in order in the bottom of the first, walked Dylan Cozens but induced a double play ball to face the minimum in the second before going three-up and three-down in the third and fourth.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre added five runs on five hits over nine batters in the fifth. With one out and the bases loaded, Ryan McBroom singled in Rey Navarro and Tyler Wade. Ford followed with a double to plate Urshela for a 5-0 advantage. The RailRiders added their sixth run on a groundout and took a 7-0 lead when Ford scored as Mark Payton reached on a throwing error.

The RailRiders scored a run in the top of the sixth inning and then the teams traded harmless runs down the stretch as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre cruised to a 9-1 victory.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barrecontinuese its seven-game road trip Saturday night against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs with Game 2-of-4 in the wraparound weekend series. RHP Erik Swanson (2-2, 4.50) gets the start for SWB and goes up against Lehigh Valley's rehabbing RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-0, 2.35). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. with pregame coverage featuring Adam Marco and Adam Giardino beginning at 6:05 p.m.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Record:

67-61

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders pitcher Michael King
(Todd Hiller)

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