IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on August 18, 2016 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The RailRiders surrendered a season-worst five home runs to the Norfolk Tides in a 10-6 loss on Wednesday night at PNC Field. The Tides salvaged a split of the de facto four-game series with the RailRiders.

MAGIC NUMBER: Despite a loss to the Tides, the RailRiders' magic number dropped to 10 thanks to Rochester's loss at Buffalo earlier in the day. SWB paces Lehigh Valley by three in the loss column for the division. However, the top three teams in the wild-card chase all reside in the North with Lehigh Valley (74-50) leading the way followed by Rochester (68-57) and Pawtucket (65-59). Playing just above .500 ball down the stretch at 10-9 would guarantee at least the wild-card spot for Al Pedrique's club.

GETTIN' HIGGY WITH IT: Catcher Kyle Higashioka launched his eighth home run with SWB last night. In 24 Triple-A games, "Higgy" has slashed .326/.375/.674/1.049 with seven doubles and 22 RBIs. Coupled with his numbers with Double-A Trenton, Higashioka has 19 round-trippers and a .917 OPS. Additionally, SWB is 17-6 when Higashioka catches. Higashioka has caught nine shutouts in his 23 starts behind the dish.

A PALE LAIL: Starter Brady Lail shouldered the defeat after yielding a career-worst nine runs, all earned, on 10 hits in only 3.2 innings. Norfolk's four homers off the right-hander was also a career worst. Lail has allowed a combined seven home runs in his last two starts (9.2IP) and eight in 32.2IP since coming off the disabled list.

SOL MAN: Donovan Solano continued his torrid August pace with two more hits and two RBIs on Wednesday night. In 16 August games played he has slashed .397/.410/.586/.996. His 61 RBIs on the season trail only Aaron Judge (65) for the team lead. Solano's .304 average ranks sixth in the IL and his 135 hits trail only SWB alumnus/current Buffalo Bison Jesus Montero (137) and Gamel (136).

BACK AT IT: Refsnyder smashed an RBI-double in the third inning and finished 2-for-5. In six SWB games since his return from the bigs, Refsnyder has gone 8-for-19 (.421) with four RBIs and four walks for a .500 OBP. He has hit safely in 24 of his last 26 Triple-A games, hitting .381 with eight doubles and two homers in that time. The run has shot his average up from .190 to .310.

BLACKJACK: The RailRiders' 4-0 win in Sunday's doubleheader opener marked their franchise-record 21st shutout of the season. SWB owns the most shutout wins in MiLB. The old SWB single-season record for shutouts, 16, was set by the 2009 SWB Yankees. The 21 shutouts also match the IL's modern-era record set by the 1975 Tidewater Tides and matched by the 2015 Rochester Red Wings. The RailRiders (2.95) are Triple-A's only team with a sub-3.00 ERA.

I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME GADGET, NEXT TIME: The RailRiders posted more wins against Pawtucket (13-6) than any other team in 2015. They went 5-3 in the Ocean State and 8-3 at PNC Field. At 7-6 against the PawSox this season, they have taken 20 of 32 and 31 of 48 in the series going back to 2014. However, Pawtucket has won four of five, including a three-game sweep at McCoy Stadium.

OFF THE RAILS: The 10 runs scored by the Norfolk Tides marked only the third time SWB pitching has allowed 10+ runs in 2016...The RailRiders walked-off Charlotte 11-10 on June 7 and won 15-12 at Columbus on June 11...Pete Kozma followed Higashioka with a round-tripper in the second inning for his second of the year...The last time SWB hit back-to-back homers came against the Buffalo Bisons on July 6 when Tyler Austin and Cesar Puello left PNC Field in consecutive at-bats...Solano, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez homered in three straight at-bats in an 8-5, 10 inning win at Pawtucket on June 24.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from August 18, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central