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IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

July 21, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (52-44) vs. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (50-47)

LHP Justus Sheffield (3-3, 2.53) vs. RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (3-1, 4.66)

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| Game No. 97 | Saturday July 21, 2018 | Huntington Park | Columbus, OH |

| First Pitch 7:15 p.m. | Pregame Show 6:45 p.m. |

LAST TIME OUT: A flurry of early home runs by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders staked their pitching staff to all the support they needed in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Clippers Friday night.

Abiatal Avelino led off the second inning with a solo home run; his third of the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and thirteenth between two levels. In 2016 Avelino had set his previous career-high with 6 homers, and has more than doubled that in the same number of games in 2018.

The RailRiders added a pair of runs against Clippers starter Adam Wilk in the second on a Mike Ford single and a fielder's choice by Avelino for a 3-0 advantage. In the top of the fourth, Rey Navarro took Wilk deep to left for a 4-0 lead. The homer was Navarro's seventh of the season and his second in as many games in the series. Tyler Austin capped the scoring for the RailRiders offense when he added a solo home run in the fifth for a 5-0 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead. Columbus' starter Wilk lasted 7.0 innings on 103 pitches despite the early power displayed by SWB, but dropped to 4-8 with the loss.

All the offense was more than enough for RailRiders starter Luis Cessa who improved to 3-0 with the win. The right-hander struck out nine batters over 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits in the fourth and did not walk a batter. The 6.0 scoreless innings, including 53 strikes out of 69 pitches, lowered Cessa's earned run average to 1.42 over three Triple-A starts.

He passed the baseball off to Raynel Espinal and Joe Harvey who finished off the final three innings without allowing an earned run- one unearned run crossed in the 8th inning- to secure the win and move the RailRiders into sole possession of the International League Wild Card with the Indianapolis Indians falling to the Charlotte Knights Friday.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre continues a four-game set in Columbus Friday night at Huntington Park with a 7:15 p.m. scheduled first pitch. The RailRiders have LHP Justus Sheffield (3-3, 2.53) on the mound against RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (3-1, 4.65). Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with Adam Marco and Adam Giardino on NEPA Sports Radio The Game and the RailRiders Radio Network. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre returns to PNC Field on July 24 to open a six-game homestand with a three-game series against the Charlotte Knights.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: After taking 2-of-3 from the Toledo Mud Hens to begin the week and winning the first two games against the Columbus Clippers, the RailRiders are 11-8 overall this season against the I.L. West Division. Entering Saturday, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has outscored the Columbus Clippers 31-12 and have won 4-of-5 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), and it wasn't until Saturday (7/21) that they found themselves alone in control of the Wild Card.

ROLLING THROUGH THE BREAK: Over the last 36G the RailRiders have own a 25-11 (.694) 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 6-of-9 games 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 17G in July, the staff has thrown 151.0 innings and has allowed 46R/36ER for a 2.15 ERA. The next closest mark in the I.L. in that time is Pawtucket's 3.31 ERA and trails only Memphis (2.05 ERA) in all of MiLB.The team entered July with a 3.94 staff ERA and has lowered it to 3.61 despite one performance against Rochester where they allowed 9R/9ER on 16H. If you subtract one night July 13, in the other 15G the RailRiders have pitched to a 1.71 ERA (37R/27ER in 142.0 IP).

SLINGING IT: The RailRiders continue to get a strong performance out of its bullpen over the last month. In the last 28G since June 17, the bullpen arms have combined for 100.2 IP, 51 H (4.6 H/9) and 21R/16ER (1.43 ERA). Over the last 6G specifically, the bullpen has thrown 20.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H (3-for-61, .049 BAA) with 27 K (12.0 K/9). Over his last 5G individually, RHP Cody Carroll has thrown 5.0 IP without allowing a hit (0-for-15) and striking out 10 in the process.

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