IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on August 9, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: A pair of two-run homers accounted for all of the hosts' scoring as the RailRiders dropped a 4-2 decision to the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field on Saturday night.

MUDDYING THE HENS: SWB has cemented the season series against Toledo for the first time since the IL North champion SWB Yankees went 6-2 against the Mud Hens in 2012. Last night marked the RailRiders' first loss to Toledo this season. A win tonight would have SWB finish 5-1 against Toledo for its best showing against the Mud Hens as a Yankees affiliate (2007-Present).

ROAD WARRIORS: SWB owns Triple-A's best road record at 36-21 (.632). A victory tonight would lock down a winning record outside of NEPA for the first time in the RailRiders era. Only three teams in full-season MiLB entered today with a better road record: A Quad Cities (Astros) at 37-17 (.685) and both AA Corpus Christi (Astros) and A+ Visalia (Diamondbacks) at 38-19 (.667).

CLOSE CALLS: Eight of the RailRiders' last 17 games have been decided by one run. With last night's two-run tilt, 12 of SWB's last 17 games have come down to two runs or less.

TRIPLE THREAT: Ben Gamel tripled and scored. The team's usual leadoff man has belted an MiLB-best 14 triples on the year. He has posted multiple hits in eight of his last 14 games, hitting .396/.459/.698/1.157 in that time. He has lifted his overall contact clip to .295, good for the IL's eighth-best batting average. He also ranks fourth in runs scored (60).

FOR THREE!: No minor leaguer outside of Gamel (14) had more than 12 triples entering today. Gamel has a chance to match or exceed the SWB single-season record for triples. In 2005, Shane Victorino became the first Scranton/Wilkes-Barre player to win the International League's Most Valuable Player Award when he set the franchise record with 16 triples. At mid-season he was not even named to the All-Star team. However, a strong second half propelled him to the loop's highest honor and a place on the post-season All-Star team. Overall he finished 6th in batting (.310), 2nd in runs (93), 1st in triples (16), 2nd in total bases (264), 5th in extra-base hits (59), 5th in slugging (.534) and 8th in OBP (.377). In addition he slugged 18 homers and drove in 70 runs.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Aaron Judge doubled and drove in a run. He snapped an 0-for-14 slide with a homer on Friday and has connected on run-scoring extra-base hits in consecutive games. Gary Sanchez went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. After starting his Triple-A tenure 2-for-11 (.182/.286/.455/.740), he has gone 20-for-55 (.364/.429/.600/1.029). He enters tonight as a .333 hitter at Triple-A with nearly as many RBIs (17) as games played (18). Including his Double-A numbers, he co-leads the Yankees' farm in home runs with Judge at 16.

OFF THE RAILS: In six games played on his latest SWB tenure, Slade Heathcott has gone 1-for-23 (.043) with two walks and nine strikeouts...Kyle Roller went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout last night...The IL All-Star has gone 5-for-47 (.106) since the break with 18 strikeouts, lowering his average to a season-worst .223...A homerless Saturday snapped the RailRiders' season-high-tying run of consecutive games with a home run at four...Jose Pirela was ejected by home plate umpire Jon Byrne in the fifth after he followed a strikeout looking by breaking his bat with a two-handed tomahawk of home plate...Taylor Dugas entered in Pirela's place and went 0-for-1 to snap an eight-game hitting streak that began on June 8...The pitching threesome of Joel De La Cruz, Andury Acevedo and Johnny Barbato combined to post 10 strikeouts...Each team has won a game on the series and each time the victorious squad failed to get a hit with a man in scoring position...Starter Brady Lail turns 22 today.

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International League Stories from August 9, 2015


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