IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on August 15, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (65-55) vs. SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (62-56)

Game One: RHP Mitch Keller (1-2, 6.67) vs. LHP Justus Sheffield (5-3, 2.16)

Game Two: TBA vs. RHP Raynel Espinal (7-2, 3.34)

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| Game No. 119 & 120 | August 15, 2018 | PNC Field | Moosic, PA |

| First Pitch 5:05 p.m. | Pregame Show 4:35 p.m. |

LAST TIME OUT: After a two-hour-forty-minute rain delay to start Tuesday's game, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated the Indianapolis Indians 7-3 on the strength of a last-gasp rally in a rain-shortened contest. The Indians scored first in the fourth as Ryan Lavarnway led off with a double. Wyatt Mathisen was hit by a pitch and Jerrick Suiter hit a three-run homer to give Indianapolis a 3-0 lead.

The RailRiders answered in the fifth as Giovanny Urshela and Zack Zehner had back-to-back singles. Wilkin Castillo then snagged a base hit of his own that plated Urshela. Tyler Wade singled to score Zehner. Abiatal Avelino walked and Ryan McBroom plated two more runs with a base hit to left. Mike Ford then smashed a three-run home run to put the RailRiders ahead 7-3.

The RailRiders batted around in the fifth. As Urshela was coming up for his second plate appearance of the inning, the umpires called the game due to heavy rains. Four and a half innings were played and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, before a crowd of 4,404 fans at PNC Field, had the lead making the game complete.

Every RailRiders batter reached base at least once in the fifth inning alone. Of the final 12 men to come to the plate, 11 reached base, which included 9-for-10 with a walk and a HBP. Ford was perfect at the plate going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and a HBP. Erik Swanson walked away with the victory allowing three runs on four hits, getting credit for a complete game while striking out six.

DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER: Tuesday night at PNC Field, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre begins a seven-game homestand against Indianapolis and Norfolk. The Indians hold down first place in the I.L. West with a 1.5-game lead over Columbus. Columbus holds the Wild Card lead over both Scranton/Wilkes-Barre who is 0.5 GB and the Norfolk Tides who are 1.0 GB. Following the homestand, the RailRiders finish the 2018 regular season against I.L. North teams- Buffalo (3G), Lehigh Valley (4G), Syracuse (3G) and Pawtucket (4G).

FORD REVVING UP: RailRiders INF Mike Ford began the 2018 season in Spring Training with the Seattle Mariners, and struggled out of the gate with SWB to start the year. He was batting .218 AVG/.299 OBP as of July 21, but has turned it around. In the 20G since he has hit .351 AVG (26-for-74)/.407 OBP (6 BB, HBP) to raise his season AVG to .258.

BUSINESS IS McBOOMING: INF/OF Ryan McBroom finished 4-for-13 in the most recent series @ Durham with 2 HR and 5 RBI. The 1B/OF was riding his third 8G hitting streak of the season into the series finale before finishing 0-for-4 with 3K Sunday evening. Over the hit streak- which fell one-game shy of matching the season-high by a RailRider in 2018- he was 14-for-32 (.434 AVG). During the road trip, McBroom went 11-for-25 (.440 AVG) with three different three-hit games to raise his season AVG from .292 to .304 entering Wednesday. He is one of five qualified players in the IL this season hitting above .300, but trails Pawtucket's OF Rusney Castillo (.323 AVG) by 19 points for the league lead in that category.

PLAYING FOR THE SPLIT: After winning the Norfolk series 2-1 to open the road trip, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre secured a win in the series finale to avoid having been swept at Durham and to earn a split of the six-game road swing. By coming away with a 6-3 win Sunday, the RailRiders still have not been swept in a series since May 18-20 at Buffalo.

DOING THE MATH: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders enter Wednesday against the Indianapolis Indians in 2nd place in the I.L. North, 9.5 games behind the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The RailRiders have 20 games left in their season, and if they were to go 16-4 (.800) down the stretch to reach 78 wins, they'd need Lehigh Valley to play no better than 5-14 (.263) in order to win the division title. Lehigh Valley is 73-48 entering play tonight.

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