IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on May 21, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


LAST TIME OUT: A dominant pitching performance from Erik Johnson clinched the series for the Charlotte Knights with a 5-2 win over the RailRiders yesterday morning.

LET'S GET HIM ON: Rob Refsnyder singled twice, walked once and scored a run as he extended the IL's best on-base streak of the year to 21 games on Tuesday. His run started in game two of the April 25 doubleheader versus Pawtucket. In that time, he has hit .393 while posting an OBP of .469 and 13 of his 16 RBIs. No IL player has assembled a better on-base streak in 2015. Both Charlotte's Dan Black (Apr. 11-May 7) and Toledo's Daniel Fields (Apr. 17-May 12) had 20-gamers that halted earlier this month. On Monday, Refsnyder was named the IL's Batter of the Week for May 11-17. The second baseman hit .400 with a league-best six extra-base hits and 22 total bases.

HIT IT: Refsnyder entered today's tilt on a 10-game hitting streak to tie his own April 25-May 6 string as the longest by a 2015 RailRider. He stands a game behind the 11-game runs of Charlotte's Jason Coats (May 9-Present) and Rochester's Argenis Diaz (May 11-Present) for the IL's best active hitting streak.

UP, UP & AWAY: Slade Heathcott got his first call to the big leagues yesterday and appeared as a pinch runner for Mark Teixeira in the eighth inning. He then stayed in the game as the center fielder. Originally a first-round pick (29th overall) by the Yankees in 2009, Heathcott hit .285/.335/.358/.693 over 37 games in his first season of Triple-A baseball. The RailRiders' leadoff man delivered a pinch-hit single in the ninth two nights ago for his final at-bat with SWB. He led the team with five stolen bases and his 43 hits trailed only Refsnyder (44) for the team lead. This spring Heathcott won the James P. Dawson Award as the most outstanding rookie in spring training for the Yankees after hitting .333 in 23 games.

LORD I WAS BORN A GAMELING MAN: Ben Gamel lined a home run to right, his second of the season, as part of a two-hit day. His 14 multi-hit efforts on the year tie him for the team lead. The outfielder entered today ranked among the IL's leaders in batting average (7th, .339), slugging percentage (5th, .504) and triples (T-3rd, 4). Over his last eight games, Gamel has gone 13-for-33 (.394) with seven of his 18 RBIs while lifting his average by over 20 points (.318-.339).

GETTIN' FIGGY WITH IT: Cole Figueroa registered a season-best three hits. Since the start of last week's series against his former club, Durham, Figueroa has gone 8-for-19 (.421) with three doubles. He entered today as the IL's hardest hitter to strike out with a PA/K ratio of 22.5:1.

PACKED HOUSE: The crowd of 7,670 on a schoolkid special Wednesday made for the RailRiders' biggest home crowd of the season, trumping the Opening Day gathering of 7,493 on April 9.

LONG & WINDING ROAD: Starter Jaron Long (2-3) became the third RailRider to last seven innings this season. He also allowed a career-worst 10 hits. Two of his three losses have come in his two starts against Charlotte along with both of his home runs allowed, an 8.10 ERA, 1.90 WHIP and a .378 batting average against. Kyle Davies (once) and Bryan Mitchell (twice) are the other RailRiders that have lasted seven or more innings this season.

OFF THE RAILS: Erik Johnson's nine strikeouts for Charlotte marked the most by any opposing pitcher against the RailRiders this season...A double steal by Gamel and Ramon Flores made for SWB's second game of the season with multiple steals...The first also came against the Knights, at Charlotte on May 3...The RailRiders fell to 1-3 in rubber matches...The RailRiders lost the season series to the Knights, 4-3.

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International League Stories from May 21, 2015


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