IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on July 22, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (52-45) vs. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (51-47)

LHP Nestor Cortes (4-3, 3.11) vs. RHP Adam Plutko (5-3, 1.94)

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| Game No. 98 | Sunday July 22, 2018 | Huntington Park | Columbus, OH |

| First Pitch 4:05 p.m. | Pregame Show 3:35 p.m. |

LAST TIME OUT: In a game that ended early Sunday morning, 5:07 after it was set to begin Saturday night, Eric Haase blasted a walk-off, two-run home run for the Columbus Clippers to take Game 3 of the weekend's four-game series against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

The RailRiders were an unblemished 43-0 when leading after seven innings entering Saturday night's game, but Columbus rallied in the 9th inning for an unearned run to tie it after entering the inning trailing 3-2. The game moved into the 10th inning, and the RailRiders stranded a runner at third base without being able to get the run across in the top of the inning. Though Columbus nearly squandered the pace-of-play runner at second base to begin the inning when Greg Allen was caught stealing with no outs, Haase delivered the heroics to send what was left of a sellout crowd of 10,100 fans.

Columbus took a 2-1 lead off Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starting pitcher Justus Sheffield in the bottom of the fourth. Greg Allen double and stole third. After a pair of strikeouts, Eric Haase walked. A double by Adam Rosales drive in Allen and a throwing error allowed Haase to score from first. Sheffield worked into the bottom of the sixth, working 5.2 innings with one walk and four strikeouts, with only one of the two runs he surrendered an earned run.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: After taking 2-of-3 from the Toledo Mud Hens to begin the week and winning the 2-of-the-first-3 against the Columbus Clippers, the RailRiders are 11-9 overall this season against the I.L. West Division. Entering Sunday, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has outscored the Columbus Clippers 34-17 and have won 4-of-6 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 37G the RailRiders have own a 25-12 (.676) 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 18G in July, the staff has thrown 160.2 innings and has allowed 51R/39ER for a 2.18 ERA. The next closest mark in the I.L. in that time is Norfolk's 3.42 ERA and trails only Memphis (1.99 ERA) in all of MiLB. The team entered July with a 3.94 staff ERA and has lowered it to 3.60 despite one performance against Rochester where they allowed 9R/9ER on 16H. If you subtract one night July 13, in the other 16G the RailRiders have pitched to a 1.78 ERA (42R/30ER in 151.2 IP).

SLINGING IT: The RailRiders continue to get a strong performance out of its bullpen over the last month+. In the last 30G since June 17, the bullpen arms have combined for 104.2 IP, 54 H (4.6 H/9) and 24R/18ER (1.55 ERA). Over the last 7G specifically, the bullpen has thrown 24.1 IP, 3R/2ER (0.74 ERA), 6 H (6-for-76, .079 BAA) with 31 K. Over his last 5G individually, RHP Cody Carroll has thrown 6.0 IP while allowing 1H (1-for-19), 1R/0ER and striking out 11 in the process.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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International League Stories from July 22, 2018


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