IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on July 12, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The RailRiders rallied from a four-run hole, but saw the Bisons push home the difference-making run in a 5-4 final at Coca-Cola Field on Saturday night.

RAZOR RAMON: Ramon Flores smashed his seventh home run, a three-run job, to right field in the sixth. It was his first dinger since June 20 at Lehigh Valley.

BIRD IS THE WORD: Greg Bird bashed his first career Triple-A home run in the RailRiders' four-run sixth. Bird's shot, his seventh of the season including his time at Double-A Trenton, tied the game. He has hit safely in seven straight games.

DOWNARD SPIRAL: While Buffalo has won eight of 11, the RailRiders have dropped 13 of their last 17. The slide began with a 15-2 loss to the Louisville Bats on June 25 that saw a number of franchise records tied. The team has been outscored by a slim 68-62 combined margin since the lopsided loss to Louisville.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: After going 2-5 last homestand, the RailRiders stand eight games below .500 at PNC Field (21-29) and 11 games over on the road (26-13). The team has hit .280 on the road compared to a .262 mark at home. On the road, SWB has scored 215 runs in 41 games (5.2/game). At home, the squad has plated 182 runs in 50 games (3.6/game). The pitching has performed worse on the road (3.67 ERA) than at home (3.44 ERA). No IL team has a better road winning percentage than the RailRiders (.634), who had won 17 of 20 away from Moosic before dropping five of their last seven.

UP, UP & AWAY: Rob Refsnyder got the call to the bigs yesterday and made his MLB debut as the Yankees' second baseman and nine-hole hitter at Fenway. He left SWB as one of its hottest hitters, going 20-for-49 (.408) over his last 15 games including an active seven-game hitting streak. His 16 walks in that time tied for tops in the IL while his season-long .387 OBP ranked third. He had homered twice in his last four games played, both pull jobs hit with authority. His error total had also dropped dramatically month by month: April (7E in 20GP), May (4E in 24GP), June (2E in 27GP), July (0E in 10GP). He left with a .290 average, his best contact clip since he was at the same mark after play on May 30.

WHAT GOES UP...: All-Star first baseman/DH Kyle Roller leads the team in homers (12), RBIs (48) and shares the lead in walks (44) with Refsnyder, but finds himself in a 10-for-62 (.161) funk over his last 16 games played with 16 strikeouts and just two extra-base hits (.177 SLG).

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Bisons lead the season set with the RailRiders 7-4. The road team has won eight of the 11 meetings thus far. SWB lost four of its last five at Coca-Cola Field in 2014, but swept the Bisons in Buffalo from June 8-10 this season. The RailRiders must win five of the six remaining meetings to post the franchise's first winning record against Buffalo since 2012.

THAT'S A FIRST: Vince Conde went 1-for-3 to collect his first Triple-A hit in his second such game. A ninth-round pick in 2014 out of Vanderbilt, the infielder has played at all four full-season levels of the minors this year: Charleston (A, 38G); Tampa (A+, 17G); Trenton (AA, 6G) and SWB. After hitting .286 at Charleston with a .373 OBP, he has gone 8-for-78 (.103) with 31 strikeouts. He has played first, second, third and shortstop.

OFF THE RAILS: In a game that saw SWB charged with two errors and two passed balls, only two of the five runs allowed by the pitching staff were earned...The RailRiders have won just four times in their last 17 games and today's starter, Luis Severino, started half of those wins and tossed seven scoreless innings in the lone team loss he started over that time on June 26 vs. Buffalo...Today the Bisons seek their first winning record since they were 26-25 after a June 1 win at Indy...Buffalo's Matt Hague reached safely in three of his four plate appearances...His .436 OBP ranks second in all of full-season MiLB and best among all players above Advanced-A...Buffalo entered the series an IL-worst 10-22 (.313) in one-run games...It has won each of the first two games on the series by a 5-4 score.

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International League Stories from July 12, 2015


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