IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on May 25, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


SILENCED BY THE SECOND: Down nine runs at one point, the RailRiders fought back to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth. The comeback fell short, however, in a 13-10 loss to the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays). Sunday's effort tied or set season-high marks for runs and hits allowed in a game and for runs allowed in an inning after a seven-run second.

YOU DOWN WITH OBP?: Rob Refsnyder walked in the opening inning to extend the IL's best on-base streak of the year to 25 games. His run started in game two of the April 25 doubleheader versus Pawtucket. In that time, he has hit .347 while posting an OBP of .426 and 14 of his 17 RBIs. Buffalo's Matt Hague also has a 25-gamer currently that began on April 29.

STONE COLD MASON: Mason Williams finished a homer shy of the cycle. In his fourth career Triple-A game, the Pawtucket native went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple and three runs scored. The outfielder lived in Pawtucket until he was 13 years old. His father, Derwin, drew interest from the Reds after his college days at New Mexico, but followed a path to football and saw time in 42 games at wide receiver for the New England Patriots from 1985-87 (14 rec., 228 yards, 0TD). Baseball was in the blood even a generation earlier. Mason's great uncle (grandfather's brother), Walt "No Neck" Williams, played Major League Baseball from 1964-75 with the Houston Colt .45's (1964), Chicago White Sox (1967-72), Cleveland Indians (1973) and New York Yankees (1974-75). He later worked as the White Sox first base coach (1988) and managed in the minor leagues including a two-year tour with a team Mason later played for, the Charleston RiverDogs (1993-94). Walt's last career big league game came versus Boston (Sept. 22, 1975).

PITCHING PROBLEMS: Starter Matt Tracy (0-2) was hit hard in the loss. The lefty allowed seven runs on six hits in 1.2 innings. His successor, Eric Wooten, gave up another six scores on nine hits including four homers over his 5.1 frames.

SIMPSON SIR, SECTOR 7G: Wooten became the first SWB hurler to allow four homers in a game since Bryan Mitchell surrendered four at Charlotte on July 17, 2014. It has only happened two other times in the RailRiders era and all three total times before Sunday it had occurred on the road: Caleb Cotham on May 19, 2013 at Columbus; and Brett Marshall on June 2, 2013 at Durham.

WHAT GOES UP: After a season-best five-game winning streak, Dave Miley's RailRiders have lost five of six to fall back under .500. The team had not owned a losing mark since it was 17-18 after the first win of the five-game run May 14.

ARE YOU TOO GOOD FOR YOUR HOME?!: The RailRiders stand five games below .500 at PNC Field (11-16) and four games over on the road (11-7). The team has hit .279 on the road compared to a .247 mark at home. On the road, SWB has scored 90 runs in 18 games (5.0/game). At home, the squad has plated 90 runs in 27 games (3.3/game). The pitching has performed better at home (3.40 ERA) than outside of Moosic (4.03). No IL team has a better road winning percentage than the RailRiders (.611) and no IL squad has more home losses than SWB (16).

RUNNING OF THE BULLS: Durham bested SWB for the third time in as many tries. The RailRiders had outscored the Bulls 30-11 in claiming the first five clashes. Even with yesterday's setback, the RailRiders outhit Durham .270-.251 and owned the better ERA at 3.24 against the Bulls' 4.94 mark. SWB posted its first season-series victory over Durham since the 2012 squad went 5-3.

MEANWHILE, IN THE BRONX: Earlier today, Slade Heathcott slugged his first career big league home run, a two-run job off of Greg Holland in the seventh inning. Southpaw Jacob Lindgren also appeared in relief for his big league debut and became the first Yankees' draft pick to make his MLB debut within one year of being drafted since Deion Sanders, a 30th-round pick in 1988, debuted on May 31, 1989 versus Seattle. Lindgren struck out two over the game's final two innings. He did not allow a hit or a run in the team's 14-1 blowout of Kansas City.

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International League Stories from May 25, 2015


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