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IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

August 30, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Veteran lefty Jeff Francis (6-3) tossed eight dominant innings and IL MVP candidate Matt Hague hit a towering tie-breaking home run as the SWB RailRiders fell to the Buffalo Bisons on Saturday night, 3-1.

THAT WAS EASY: At 1:49, last night made for the fastest nine-inning SWB game in its time as the Yankees' top affiliate (2007-Present). The franchise record of 1:38 was set by the Red Barons on a chilly Thursday in Ottawa on April 4, 2002 when a then-21-year-old Brett Myers lost an eight-inning complete game. The Opening Day hurler allowed one unearned run on three hits. An eighth-inning error by Chase Utley led to the lone score in a 1-0 game that sported a game-time temperature of 34 degrees. The Ottawa manager that game was Tim Leiper, now the first-base coach for Buffalo's parent club, the Blue Jays. The winning run was scored by Randy Knorr, a former Blue Jay who managed Syracuse in 2011 and is the current bench coach for the Washington Nationals.

DID YOU KNOW?: The quick-moving 2002 loss was part of an eight-year slide in Opening Day games for the franchise. MiLB's then-longest active drought of that ilk died on April 3, 2008 when the SWB Yankees bested the Phillies' new Triple-A club, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, in the first-ever game for the 'Pigs.

ROAD WOES: The IL's best road team (38-27) has lost six straight road games for the first time since the vagabond 2012 SWB Yankees lost six true road games from June 18-23 at the start of the Louisville/Indianapolis journey. The team has never lost seven straight road games as the top affiliate of the Yankees.

UP & DOWN: A night after SWB's 17 hits fell one shy of its season-high mark, it posted a season-worst two. The RailRiders had not been held to a hit total that slim since four Knights combined on a two-hit shutout July 19, 2014 at Charlotte.

THEY'VE GOT THE MAGIC IN THEM: The RailRiders have two games left against second-place Rochester and four versus third-place Buffalo. SWB has magic numbers of five and two with each club. Any combination of SWB wins and losses by each foe totaling to those figures would cement a higher finish for the RailRiders. SWB leads Rochester by 5.0 games with nine to play.

NEMESIS: After claiming the teams' first three meetings of 2015, the RailRiders have lost eight of 10 against the Bisons. SWB has a winning record against every other IL North team and does not have a record more than two games below .500 against any other IL squad. The RailRiders have outscored the Bisons 45-39, outhit them .255-.234 and outpitched them in ERA 2.72-3.39. Seven of the RailRiders' eight losses in the season series have come by two runs or less including three one-run games (mean average difference of 1.88/loss). Four of the RailRiders' five wins have come by four or more runs (mean average difference of 4.2/win).

ON A ROLL AGAIN: Kyle Roller's resurgence continued. He went 1-for-3 as the DH. The IL All-Star has slashed .378/.425/.649/1.074 by going 14-for-37 over his last 12 games with six extra-base hits and five RBIs. He entered this run in a 5-for-56 funk slashing .089/.235/.179/.414 with 24K (43% of his at-bats). He has his average up to .232, the best it has been since July 20.

WHO'S HOT: Slade Heathcott singled in Friday's win. He has hit safely in seven straight and nine of 10, going 12-for-38 (.316/.333/.368/.702) in the longer stretch. He has hit .308/.366/.367/.733 at PNC Field versus .198/.232/.274/.506 on the road. Over his last nine games, IL All-Star Austin Romine has hit .400/.438/.433/.871 by going 12-for-30 with eight RBIs. Since the All-Star break, Jose Pirela has hit .353/.424/.440/.864. His average and OBP in that time rank first and second respectively in the IL. At .332 and .396, his overall average and OBP would each rank second in the IL if he had enough plate appearances (2.7/team game).

THE DACK ATTACK: Dustin Ackley went 1-for-2 with his first MiLB homer since June 6, 2013 while with Triple-A Tacoma versus Las Vegas. In three games with SWB, the MLB rehabber has gone 4-for-10, 2B, HR, 2RBI, 3R.

OFF THE RAILS: SWB went a collective 2-for-29 (.069) with no walks and six strikeouts...Caleb Cotham had allowed just one homer in the minors this year before Hague's blow...It came in an April 28 loss at New Hampshire, the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate...That was also a tie-breaking blast, a seventh-inning shot by former SWB/New York Yankee Melky Mesa...Jeff Francis had lost three straight starts entering Saturday with a 7.71 ERA and .356 batting average against over that time...He improved to 2-0 in two starts against SWB with one run allowed in 15IP (0.60 ERA)...SWB has hit .125 against Francis.

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