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IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

August 15, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Without a hit through six innings, the RailRiders more than made up for it. Championed by crushed home runs from Rob Refsnyder and Aaron Judge, SWB sent all nine to the plate in a five-run seventh en route to a 5-3 series-opening win over the Red Wings on Friday night. The RailRiders have won a season-high-tying six straight games. Rochester (61-60) has lost four of five. SWB stands 17 games above .500 for the first time since the then-SWB Yankees won the division in 2012 at 84-60.

BEST SEASON EVER: At 69-52, the RailRiders have surpassed the efforts of the first two RailRiders teams. Both the 2013 and 2014 RailRiders went 68-76 and each unit finished in fifth place in the IL North.

JUDGE, JURY & EXICUTIONER: Judge delivered the game's biggest blow, a towering go-ahead three-run homer to left-center in the five-run seventh. He leads the Yankees' farm in overall home runs (18) while the next three spots are all occupied by men with SWB time in 2015: 2. Gary Sanchez (16); 3. Kyle Roller (13); T-4. Greg Bird (12). Judge also paces the farm with 68 RBIs. Ten of his last 17 hits have gone for extra bases including five home runs. His five stolen bases in 39 Triple-A games trump the two he had in 194 pro games before his SWB stay.

R&R: The Twins' top-ranked pitching prospect, Jose Berrios, had allowed just one man to reach base through six no-hit innings. That changed when Refsnyder bashed a no-doubt home run to left to spark the seventh. It stalled a string of 17 straight men retired since Refsnyder was hit by a pitch in the first. It also ignited a run of seven straight clean baserunners including the majestic Judge homer.

THE DEATH BLOW: IL All-Star Austin Romine rounded out the SWB scoring with an RBI single to right that scored Slade Heathcott and chased Berrios (3-2).

ALL GOOD THINGS: Ben Gamel went 0-for-4 to conclude the IL's longest active hitting streak at 12 games (21-for-49, .429/.472/.776/1.247). He leads the IL with 12 outfield assists and co-paces all of MiLB with 14 triples, two shy of the single-season franchise record set by Shane Victorino in his 2005 IL MVP season. Gamel had posted multiple hits in 12 of his last 19 games entering last night, hitting .413/.471/.760/1.231 in that time. He entered today with the IL's fourth-best batting average (.301). He ranks among the IL's best in hits (3rd, 127), runs (T-2nd, 68), slugging (4th, .476), extra-base hits (T-4th, 42) and total bases (3rd, 201).

CLOSE CALLS: Half of the RailRiders' last 24 games have been decided by one run and 17 have come down to two runs or less. SWB has gone 18-6 (.750) over that longer span and owns the IL's best record in one-run games at 24-14 (.632).

PIRELA POP: Jose Pirela singled and scored in a 1-for-4 night with a line-drive out to deep center. Since the All-Star break, he has hit .373/.441/.471/.911 while lifting his batting average to .337. If he had enough plate appearances to qualify (min. 2.7/team game), he would trail only Buffalo's Matt Hague (.349) in the IL.

BIRD IS THE WORD: Greg Bird singled the eighth inning of today's 4-1 win at Toronto for his first MLB hit. He narrowly missed an upper-deck homer in the sixth with a just-foul mash to right that was challenged by the Yankees, but upheld. The reigning IL Batter of the Week (Aug. 3-9) left SWB with hits in 12 of 13, slashing .370/.379/.630/1.009 to lift his Triple-A batting average to .301. The 22-year-old played in just 34 Triple-A games after his Fourth of July debut.

IT FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME: In his Triple-A debut, Cesar Vargas struck out the side in a perfect ninth for the save. The game ended when he whiffed the man named baseball's No. 1 prospect entering the season, Byron Buxton.

68 & COUNTING: Vargas became the 68th different 2015 RailRider and SWB's 41st pitcher. The team has had 15 men earn a save and 22 different starters.

HOME-ROAD SPLITS: Fifty (64%) of the RailRiders' 78 home runs have come on the road. SWB has hit better on the road (.282/.347/.417) than at home (.259/.332/.362) while scoring 5.2 runs/road game against 3.8/home game. At 38-21 (.644), SWB has Triple-A's best road record. The 2002 Red Barons set the franchise record with a 45-27 (.652) mark outside of Moosic. It also won a franchise record 91 overall games.

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