SWB Game Notes

July 19, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (50-44) vs. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (50-45)

RHP Erik Swanson (1-1, 4.30) vs. RHP Shane Bieber (3-1, 1.38)

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

LAST TIME OUT: The Toledo Mud Hens avoid a sweep of a three-game series Wednesday as they knocked off the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 3-0.

Before a crowd of 8,015 at Fifth Third Field, five of the first eight batters reached base in the game for Toledo and that sparked an early lead that was all the offense needed in a winning effort. Toledo opened the scoring in the bot-tom of the first off starting pitcher Josh Rogers. MLB rehabber Leonys Martin doubled to begin the game and moved to third on when Jacob Robson reached on a bunt. Dixon Machado, the third batter of the inning, doubled home Martin and Robson scored on a groundout later in the frame for a 2-0 lead.

The Mud Hens added a run on a pair of walks and no hits against Rogers in the second. Mike Gerber scored on a fielder's choice to extend the lead to 3-0. That would be it off RailRiders pitching the rest of the way, but it was more than enough for Toledo's pitching.

Following the consecutive walks to begin the 2nd inning Rogers retired 12 straight betters, walked the leadoff man in the sixth and retired the final three batters in the inning to close his outing. J.P. Feyereisen entered and allowed one hit over the final two shutout innings, lowering his season ERA to 1.57. Over the final 27 outs (9.0 IP), Rail-Riders pitching allowed just one hit.

The offensive star on the night for the RailRiders was Tyler Austin who doubled twice to collect two of the three RailRiders hits.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: After taking 2-of-3 from the Toledo Mud Hens to begin the week, the RailRiders are 9-8 overall this season against the I.L. West Division. Entering Thursday's series opener, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre have outscored the Columbus Clippers 19-8 and have won 2-of-3 games head-to-head against Columbus this season.

GETTING IN POSITION: The RailRiders were 7-5 on April 17, marking the last day they would be on the inside of the playoff cut in the International League for quite a while. It wasn't until Wednesday morning that SWB found itself back in the playoff picture (Game No. 94), spanning 82 games and being as many as 6 games under .500 along the way (27-33).

ROLLING THROUGH THE BREAK: Over the last 34G the RailRiders have own a 23-11 record to bring them up to 2nd place in the International League North standings. The RailRiders are 8-0-3 in their last 11 series and won 6-of-7 games leading into the All-Star Break and have won 4-of-7 game since. They still have not lost a series since dropping 2-out-of-3 games June 5-7 against the Durham Bulls at PNC Field.

PITCHING STAYS HOT: The RailRiders pitching staff had turned a corner since the calendar flipped to July. In the first 15G in July, the staff has thrown 133.0 innings and has allowed 42R/33ER for a 2.23 ERA and has given up 2R-or-fewer in 12-of-15G. The team entered July with a 3.94 staff ERA and has lowered it to 3.66 despite Friday's performance where they allowed 9R/9ER on 16H to the Red Wings. If you subtract that effort from the month of July, in the other 14G the RailRiders have pitched to a 1.94 ERA (33R/24ER in 124.0 IP). Saturday's 4-0 shutout win was the team's 6th shutout win of the season, and was the first nine-inning shutout since June 1 @ Indianapolis, 37 games prior. It took just two days for them to record their next shutout in a 5-0 win Monday night @ Toledo.

SLINGING IT: The RailRiders continue to get a strong performance out of its bullpen over the last two weeks. In the last 26G (since June 17), the bullpen arms (not named RHP A.J. Cole) have combined for 93.0 IP, 50 H (4.8 H/9) and 21R/16ER (1.55 ERA).

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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