IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

RailRiders vs. PawSox - Game Notes - August 22, 2013

Published on August 22, 2013 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Brett Marshall (7-10) struggled to induce groundballs and the Pawtucket Red Sox claimed an early lead they would never relinquish en route to a 6-3 loss for the RailRiders last night. Marshall allowed five runs for a second straight start while posting a 2:5 groundout-to-airout ratio. Outside of Ronnier Mustelier, the rest of the RailRiders combined to go 3-for-27 (.111), all singles, with nine strikeouts and 0-for-7 with men in scoring position.

DEREK JETER, NO. 2: Tonight starts Derek Jeter's second go-round as a RailRider. He previously played four games during a July rehab assignment. In that time, he was 1-for-9 (.111) with four walks. The RailRiders posted a cumulative paid crowd of 38,080 for those four games (9,520/game). PNC Field has 7,115 fixed seats. When factoring in the NEPA Honda Homer Zone (lawn seats) and standing-room maximums, capacity for the first-year facility is 10,000.

TROUBLE AT HOME?: Last night's loss guaranteed the RailRiders of a losing home record in the inaugural season of the new PNC Field. Since the Yankees affiliation began in 2007, the SWB franchise had only posted a losing record at home once. The 2011 team went 34-38 at PNC Field and was the lone squad in the Yankees era to miss the playoffs. From 2007-11, the team averaged 43 home wins per season. The 2008 and 2010 teams co-led and led the IL in home wins. The 2007 team logged the loop's second-most home triumphs. In 2012, the squad had no true home games while the new PNC Field was constructed.

THE NEW MCCOY: The RailRiders' home woes began when Pawtucket swept the season-opening four-game series at PNC Field. With last night's result, the RailRiders are now 0-5 against Pawtucket at home, getting outscored 36-15 in that time. SWB pitching has amassed a 6.65 ERA in those clashes thanks in large part to 19 of the PawSox 50 hits in that span going for extra bases.

A TRUE MUSTY: Mustelier, SWB's lone entrant into MiLB's annual Moniker Madness contest for the best name in minor league baseball, has also been the team's best bat of late. Last night he went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI, a walk and a run scored. He has hit safely in 10 straight games and has multiple knocks in each of his last five. Over his longer string of success, he has hit .472 (17-for-36) with four doubles, five RBIs and six walks (.548 OBP). That makes for the IL's top average and second-best OBP in that time (Darin Mastroianni, ROC, .556). During his streak, his average has soared by 31 points (.233-.264) and his on-base percentage has shot up 39 points (.273-.312).

STANDINGS SNAPSHOT: Last night's loss dropped the RailRiders' elimination number in the division to four and five in the wild-card chase. Last-place Syracuse was among the IL's 10 idle teams yesterday and thus drew to within 1.0 game of the RailRiders in the IL North. The RailRiders have not sat in sixth since starting the year 1-5. Pawtucket's fourth straight win and its 10th in 11 games has it even in the loss column with first-place Rochester and 3.0 games up in the loss column on the wild-card field.

WALK ON: Dan Johnson went 0-for-1 to snap a seven-game hitting streak, but worked three walks to claim the outright league lead with 89 (8th in MiLB) on the season. After going 1-for-8 in SWB's franchise-record 20-inning win over Toledo on July 25, Johnson has hit .333 (31-for-93) with 14 extra-base hits and 17 RBIs in 26 games played. His 19 walks in that time buoy his OBP to .446, the IL's best such number in that span of time.

OFF THE RAILS: Manager Dave Miley was ejected in the sixth inning by home plate umpire Sean Barber...Jeremy Hazelbaker continued his season-long success against SWB pitching...He went 2-for-4 with a two-run double, a steal and a run scored...He has hit .353 (12-for-34) with five extra-base hits and nine RBIs in eight games against the RailRiders...He has hit .252 against every other IL team...Last night's game took 3:04 to play...Seven of the teams' 10 clashes have lasted at least three hours...The average 2013 SWB/PawSox game has taken 3:07.

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