IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on August 10, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Backed by an explosive effort from his offense, right-hander Brady Lail celebrated his 22nd birthday with his first Triple-A win as his RailRiders crushed the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers) in a rain-shortened series finale on Sunday evening, 9-1. The RailRiders recorded the SWB franchise's best record against the Mud Hens (47-68) as a Yankees affiliate at 5-1.

WHO OWN DA PAW SOX?: The RailRiders have more wins against Pawtucket (9-3) than any other team this season, including a 5-0 mark in the Ocean State. In fact, they have taken 14 of the last 17 meetings going back to last season.

ROAD WARRIORS: SWB owns Triple-A's best road record at 37-21 (.638). Last night's win locked 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).

TRIPLE THREAT: Ben Gamel went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of RBIs. He also picked up his IL-best 12th outfield assist to snap a tie with Pawtucket's Bryce Brentz. The team's usual leadoff man, Gamel has belted an MiLB-best 14 triples on the year, two shy of the franchise record set by Shane Victorino in his 2005 IL MVP season. Gamel has posted multiple hits in nine of his last 15 games, hitting .414/.470/.724/1.194 in that time. He has lifted his overall contact clip to .299, good for seventh in the IL. He ranks among the IL's best in hits (T-4th, 120), runs scored (4th, 63) and total bases (4th, 186).

BIRDMAN: Greg Bird went 1-for-2 with three RBIs including a sac fly and a walk. In 12 home games, Bird has slashed .188/.235/.271/.506. He has all of his six home runs and 23 RBIs in 19 road games while slashing .365/.424/.676/1.099.

Earlier today, he was named IL Batter of the Week (Aug. 3-9) after hitting .348 while pacing the circuit in RBIs (10) and slugging (.783).

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Gary Sanchez doubled twice in a 3-for-4 showing with three RBIs. After starting his Triple-A tenure 2-for-11 (.182/.286/.455/.740), he has gone 23-for-59 (.390/.448/.644/1.092). He enters tonight as a .357 hitter at Triple-A with 20 RBIs in 20 games played. Including his Double-A numbers, he co-leads the Yankees' farm in home runs with Judge at 16.

LET'S GET HIM ON: Rob Refsnyder walked and scored three times. He has tied Kyle Roller for the team lead in walks at 51. Refsnyder's .374 OBP ranks fourth in the IL and he has scored 58 runs, good for fifth in the loop. Since the start of July, he has hit .300 (30-for-100) with a .393 OBP.

PIRELA POP: Jose Pirela went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Since the All-Star break, he has hit .388/.443/.506/.949 while lifting his batting average to .342. If he had enough plate appearances to qualify (min. 2.7/team game), he would trail only Buffalo's Matt Hague (.349) in the batting title chase.

TOUGH TIMES: In seven games played on his latest SWB tenure, Slade Heathcott has gone 2-for-27 (.074) with two walks and 11 strikeouts. Kyle Roller went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout on Saturday. The IL All-Star has gone 5-for-47 (.106) since the break with 18 strikeouts, lowering his average to a season-worst .223. Gregorio Petit enters tonight in a 1-for-17 (.059) slide with five strikeouts, lowering his average to a season-worst .239. He hit .297 with 19 doubles and 10 homers as a PCL All-Star for Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2014.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: The RailRiders went 17-10 against the IL West: Columbus (3-3), Indianapolis (4-3), Louisville (5-3), Toledo (5-1).

KINGS OF THE NORTH: The first-place RailRiders will play only divisional foes from now until the end of the regular season. The remaining 28 games will be evenly split home and road, but 11 of the squad's last 15 games will be played outside of NEPA. The number of games remaining against each foe: Rochester (8), Pawtucket (7), Buffalo (5), Lehigh Valley (5), Syracuse (3). SWB has gone 35-27 in divisional play. Its only losing record has come against Buffalo (5-7).

PLAYOFF PROJECTION: Buffalo and Rochester enter today tied for second in the North at 59-56, 4.5 out. If either team played .650 baseball down the stretch, it would finish 78-66. The RailRiders would need .500 play (14-14) to match that.

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International League Stories from August 10, 2015


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