IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on April 17, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The RailRiders dropped their first road game of 2015 at Syracuse on Thursday afternoon, 10-2. The RailRiders dropped their fourth straight affair while the Chiefs got back to .500.

TSUNAMI OF RUNS: Since besting Syracuse on Opening Night 8-3, the RailRiders have lost six of seven. In that time, SWB has been outscored 41-18.

MASTER CHIEFS: Eight of the nine men in Syracuse's lineup notched a hit. The lone exception, nine-hole hitter Josh Johnson, worked a walk on an 0-for-3 day. Seven different Chiefs had at least one RBI.

EIGHT? NOT SO GREAT: The Chiefs sent all nine men to the plate in the third inning and had eight take a turn at the dish in the sixth. The day before, Rochester batted around in the sixth and ninth innings at PNC Field. Entering today, opposing lineups have sent eight or more to the plate in four of the last 12 innings.

SLADE OF STEAL: Twice Slade Heathcott had a chance to rob Ian Stewart of a home run. He just missed grabbing Stewart's shot to right-center in the sixth. It cleared the wall for Stewart's first dinger of the year. But Heathcott's seventh-inning leap in true right saw him reach over the fence to bring a ball back for an out. Heathcott singled and drove in a run on Thursday.

NOT-SO-GENTLE BEN: Ben Gamel went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Through six games played he has gone 8-for-19 (.421) with two triples and a pair of walks (.522 OBP).

WHAT GOES UP: Tyler Austin hit third in the order for the first time with SWB on Wednesday, but he endured a rare bad day. Austin went 0-for-4 with a walk and wore the golden sombrero for the first time in his now 356-game pro career with four strikeouts. Usual three-hole hitter Rob Refsnyder got his first day off of the season. Austin has hit fifth most often through the RailRiders' early stage of the season, a spot he saw more than any other with Double-A Trenton last year (46 times in 105 games played). He was the regular three-hole stick for the Thunder in 2013 (76 times in 83 games played).

ROCKY START: SWB has not started seasons particularly well since adopting the nickname RailRiders. In 2013 the record stood at 2-6 through eight games en route to a fifth-place finish and a 68-76 mark. In 2014, the club was 3-5 through eight contests and again finished in fifth place at 68-76. But bad beginnings don't always lead to rough finishes. The 2012 SWB Yankees began the year 3-5 and rebounded to win the division at 84-60. A loss tonight would make for the team's worst start through nine games in the Yankees era and since at least 2004.

OUT OF BALANCE: For the first time in the RailRiders era, SWB plays an unbalanced schedule. The IL docket had seen the club face its divisional brothers 16 times (eight home/eight road) and its non-divisional foes eight times (four home/four road). This year proves uneven in an effort to aid travel. Here is the breakdown for the RailRiders' schedule against their divisional opponents: Rochester (20); Pawtucket (19); Lehigh Valley (18); Buffalo (17); Syracuse (16).

OFF THE RAILS: Jonathan Galvez doubled once, walked twice and scored a run...Rob Refsnyder was charged with his fourth error of the season when he made an off-line throw to first in the fifth inning...Former RailRider Rich Hill walked two and struck out two in the final frame for Syracuse...The RailRiders will be halfway through the Syracuse portion of their schedule after Sunday's road trip finale.

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International League Stories from April 17, 2015


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