IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

RailRiders vs. PawSox - Game Notes - August 23, 2013

Published on August 23, 2013 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!: Derek Jeter returned to PNC Field last night and went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. But the sure-fire Hall of Famer's presence was not enough as the RailRiders lost an early lead before falling to the Pawtucket Red Sox, 5-2. Last night started Jeter's second go-round as a RailRider. He has now gone 3-for-12 (.250) with four walks (.438 OBP) in five games with the club.

THE FIX IS IN: The RailRiders posted their 22nd fixed-seat sellout of the season with last night's paid crowd of 9,185. Five of those games have come on nights when Jeter has rehabbed for a cumulative paid crowd of 47,265 (9,453/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. Last night's crowd brought the franchise's season-long attendance figure over 400,000 for the first time since 2008.

THE NEW MCCOY: The RailRiders' season-long home woes began when Pawtucket swept the season-opening four-game series at PNC Field. With last night's result, the RailRiders are now 0-6 against Pawtucket at home, getting outscored 41-17 in that time. SWB pitching has amassed a 6.05 ERA in those clashes thanks in large part to 20 of the PawSox 58 hits in that span going for extra bases.

A TRUE MUSTY: Ronnier 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. On Wednesday 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 both the division and wild-card chase to three. Thursday also saw Syracuse beat Charlotte, 8-5, to draw even with the RailRiders in the IL North's cellar. The RailRiders have not sat in sixth by their lonesome since starting the year 1-5. Pawtucket's fifth straight win and its 11th in 12 games has it back in first place in the division, leading Rochester by a half-game.

PLAYER PARADE: Last night, outfielder Neil Medchill became the 70th different RailRider this season. There have been 36 position players and 34 pitchers in the RailRiders colors in 2013. Last season, Norfolk set the IL record by using 75 different players, surpassing the 74 used by the 2003 Louisville Bats. The Tides also tied an IL record by using 25 different starting pitchers, and 15 different pitchers registered a save. Norfolk made 228 roster moves during the course of its 144-game season, and the Tides had just two players - outfielder Jamie Hoffmann and reliever Oscar Villarreal - remain active with the club throughout the year. By comparison, the RailRiders have seen 181 roster moves thus far, 19 different starting pitchers, and 14 different pitchers have registered a save. That does not include any moves that might be made today after press time of these notes. Only three men - Dan Johnson, Jim Miller and Bobby Wilson have been active RailRiders from Opening Day to date without interruption.

OFF THE RAILS: The RailRiders, who lead the IL with 122 home runs, have not homered in a season-high-tying four straight games...Jeremy Hazelbaker continued his season-long success against SWB pitching...He went 2-for-4 with a steal and a run scored...He has hit .368 (14-for-38) with five extra-base hits and nine RBIs in nine games against the RailRiders...He has hit .252 against every other IL team...Starter Graham Stoneburner saw two large splits widen all the more as he fell to 0-5, 5.81 at home compared to 3-0, 3.96 on the road...Brock Holt's homer was the seventh Stoneburner has allowed to a left-handed hitter against none to right-handed bats despite a similar number of at-bats (LHH 101; RHH 123).

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