IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes - May 31, 2023

Published on May 31, 2023 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (26-26) at Lehigh Valley IronPigs (25-26)

Game 53 | Away Game 25 | Coca Cola Park | Allentown, PA | Wednesday, May 31, 2023 | First Pitch 6:45 PM

RHP Mitch Spence (4-2, 4.86) vs LHP Bailey Failey (2-0, 5.40)

EVENING OUT - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is back to .500 baseball with a win last night to boast a 26-26 record. It is the first time since April 16th that the team is even on the season since they were 7-7.

HOT IN THE LEAGUE - The RailRiders are third in the International League in offense batting a combined .266 on the season. Their pitching staff ranks fifth as a team with a 4.41 earned run average.

LAST TIME IN LEHIGH - When the RailRiders traveled to Allentown at the start of the season, the visiting team went home winners taking four of the games in the series. Elijah Dunham had a great series batting .300 in five games with six hits. Rodolfo Duran led the team in RBIs with five (.500 in 3 G), and Jesus Bastidas had four batting .294 in five contests. On the pitching side, Deivi Garcia tossed five innings out of the bullpen allowing just two runs.

SNAGGING BASES - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has swiped 63 bases this season, tied for fifth in the International League. Wilmer Difo leads the team with 12 steals and Estevan Florial has 11. Lehigh Valley has 73 snags as a team with Scott Kingery in charge with 14. Last summer, the RailRiders stole 172 bases which was a season-high record.

HOMER HEAVEN- The team is now first homers hit in all of Triple-A baseball with 90 to send Albuquerque into second with 89 hit this summer. Lehigh Valley has 68 as a team. SWB is also first in long balls in all of Minor League Baseball and tied for second in all of baseball. Tampa Bay leads the way with 103 in 56 games. The New York Yankees have totaled 87. The RailRiders have launched a half a dozen homers in two contests in this season. SWB homered 20 times against Charlotte, topping the 16 they hit last season against Omaha. Estevan Florial leads the team with twelve, placing him tied for 7th in the International League.

RUN SCORING RAMPAGE- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has topped opponents at the plate. The team has scored 294 runs while only allowing their opponents to plate 258. This makes their run differential +37. The RailRiders have scored the most runs with 47 touching home in the 5th inning. They have allowed the most runs to cross, 49, in the second.

KROOK'S CALLED UP- Reliever Matt Krook has been lights out for the RailRiders this season and just received his first call up to the big leagues. Krook has lowered his ERA down to 1.04 in 17.1 innings of work. The southpaw has tossed in 12 games, after spending a little bit of time on the injured list. Out of the bullpen, he has a reliever-high 34 strikeouts.

WHO'S ON FIRST -The RailRiders have had six different first basemen this season. Billy McKinney leads the way with twenty starts, while Andres Chaparro has made seventeen starts there. Mickey Gasper and Jake Bauers have also played their hands at first base this season. Rodolfo Duran has made just two professional starts in the corner infield position. Carlos Narvaez, in just his third Triple-A contest, got his initial start at first. He's now played their twice.

ANOTHER YEAR DOWN- On May 4, Andres Chaparro turned 24 years old and the RailRiders team will celebrate five birthdays to come this May. Mitch Spence turned 26 on 5/6. Deivi Garcia turns 24 on 5/19. DJ Snelten turns 31 on 5/29, while Elijah Dunham turns 25 the same day. Reliever Matt Bowman turns 32 on the final day of the month.

ATOP THE YANKS FARM - The RailRiders will showcase top prospect Elijah Dunham (#16 per MLB prospect rankings in the Yankees system) in his first Triple-A season. Will Warren (#7), Randy Vasquez (#12) and Sean Boyle (#28) are set to be essential parts of the starting rotation after also making their debuts with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

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International League Stories from May 31, 2023


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