SWB Game Notes

July 16, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE (48-43) vs. TOLEDO MUD HENS (51-41)

LHP Nestor Cortes (3-3, 3.43) vs. RHP Kyle Funkhouser (Triple-A Debut)

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| First Pitch 7:05 p.m. | Pregame Show 6:35 p.m. |

LAST TIME OUT: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated the Rochester Red Wings 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at PNC Field. MLB rehabber Gary Sanchez caught seven innings and finished 1-for-3 with a solo home run at the plate. The RailRiders broke through in the bottom of the fourth against the Red Wings when Sanchez launched a monster solo home run to left field to put the Baby Bombers ahead 1-0. The mammoth blast came off fellow MLB rehabber Ervin Santana.

In the top of the fifth, the Red Wings struck back against Luis Cessa. Jon Kemmer drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Edgar Corcino lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, plating Kemmer and evening the ledger at 1-1. Cessa (2-0) was strong in seven innings of work, allowing just one run on four hits, walking one and striking out five.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth, when Billy McKinney cracked a tape measure home run down the right field line. The solo round-tripper was McKinney's team-leading 13th of the season. The next batter, Brandon Drury, was hit by a pitch, and after back-to-back strikeouts from Santana, Ryan McBroom walked. Abiatal Avelino then drove a double to left to plate Drury and extend the RailRiders lead to 3-1.

Giovanny Gallegos relieved Cessa and delivered scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth to earn a six out save, his second of the season.

...AND JUSTUS FOR ALL: LHP Justus Sheffield got the final start before the All-Star Break for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and went 5.1 IP, 5 H, R/ER, 7 K. Sheffield was selected to participate in the 2018 SiriusXM Futures Game Sunday at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. and pitched the second and third innings. Seuly Matias deposited his third pitch into the right field bullpen to tie the game before Sheffield struck out Luis Arias and induced two pop outs and a fly out. He was chased in the third inning after surrendering a single to Dawel Lugo. His final line was 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 K, 1 HR. Sheffield is the first RailRiders player to be tabbed for the Futures Game since OF Aaron Judge was selected to Team USA in 2015.

PITCHING STAYS HOT: The RailRiders pitching staff had turned a corner since the calendar flipped to July. In the first 12G in July, the staff had thrown 107.0 innings and allowed 35R/26ER for a 2.19 ERA and has given up 2R-or-fewer in 11-of-12G. The team entered July with a 3.94 staff ERA and has lowered it to 3.70 despite Friday's performance where they allowed 9R on 16H to the Red Wings. Saturday's 4-0 shutout win was the team's 6th shutout win of the season, and the first since a 7-inning shutout in Game 2 of a doubleheader June 12 vs. Rochester. It was the first nine-inning shutout since June 1 @ Indianapolis, 37 games prior.

ROLLING INTO THE BREAK: Over the last 31G the RailRiders have own a 21-10 record to bring them up to 2nd place in the International League North standings. The RailRiders are 7-0-3 in their last nine series and won 6-of-7 games leading into the All-Star Break before dropping the first two games coming out of the break against Rochester. SWB won the final two games of their series in order to earn a split of the four-game set. They still have not lost a series since dropping 2-of-3 games June 5-7 against the Durham Bulls.

WINGING IT: The RailRiders continue to get a strong performance out of its bullpen over the last two weeks. In 23G since June 17, the bullpen arms (not named RHP A.J. Cole) have combined for 82.1 IP, 48 H (5.2 H/9), 21R/16ER (1.75 ERA).

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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