IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on August 21, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (65-59) vs. BUFFALO BISONS (58-65)

LHP Nestor Cortes (6-5, 3.48) vs. RHP Brandon Cumpton (2-3, 5.68)

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| Game No. 125 | August 21, 2018 | Coca-Cola Field | Buffalo, NY |

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

LAST TIME OUT: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell to the Norfolk Tides 7-6 on Sunday afternoon at PNC Field. The Tides jumped on the board in the top of the first as Mike Yastrzemski led off with a double. He advanced to third on an error by Tyler Wade and was later played on a groundout to second off the bat of Garabez Rosa. The RailRiders responded in the bottom half of the inning as Zack Zehner walked and Rey Navarro homered giving Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a 2-1 lead.

Norfolk tied it up in the third on a Jaycob Brugman home run. The RailRiders took the lead again in the fifth with an Abiatal Avelino solo shot. In the sixth, the Tides tacked on two runs as Garabez Rosa and DJ Stewart singled. Stewart was plated on a Pedro Álvarez double and Rosa came home on a Chance Sisco sacrifice fly giving Norfolk a 4-3 lead.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre responded in the bottom of the inning as Devyn Bolasky plated Navarro with an RBI single, but Norfolk added two more runs in the seventh Brugman led off with a walk and Rubén Tejada doubled. Yastrzemski plated Brugman with a groundout to second and Tejada scored on a single by Rosa. The Tides added one more in the eighth with a solo home run off the bat of Drew Dosch extending their lead to 7-4.

The RailRiders made a valiant comeback in the eighth. Zehner led off with a double and Francisco Diaz walked. Wade snagged an RBI base hit to plate Zehner and Luke Voit walked with the bases loaded to score Diaz, but the scoring ceased there when Mike Ford flew out to center to end the inning.

Navarro had a great day at the plate for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre going four-for-five with a home run and three singles. Avelino hit his fifth home run of the season and Bolasky was two-for-four with an RBI.

RAIN, RAIN...: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have been unable to catch a break at PNC Field this season. Not only have two games been cancelled (June 10 vs. Louisville; July 25 vs. Charlotte), but they have lost the most openings of any team in the International League this season. Five home dates remain over the final two weeks of the season, and the RailRiders have lost seven openings over the first 65 home dates of the year. In the rest of the league, 10-of-14 teams have lost four openings or fewer, including the Indianapolis Indians, Durham Bulls and Louisville Bats who have not lost any. Last season, the RailRiders lost only three openings and they have not lost more than four in any season since 2011 when the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees also lost seven openings.

...GO AWAY: Since the calendar turned to August, the RailRiders have had 10 home dates and 7-of-10 have featured a rain delay, postponement, cancelation or doubleheader. Dating back to mid-July, 10-of-16 home dates have featured some combination of weather-related alterations. The forecast for Tuesday night in Buffalo features rain.

RACE TO THE FINISH: The Wild Card race in the International League is heating up as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (65-59) hit the homestretch of the 2018 season. With 16G to go, SWB finds itself 1.0 GB of the Columbus Clippers (67-59) for the Wild Card lead. It's looking like a three-team race for the final playoff spot with the Norfolk Tides (65-59) also making a playoff push, tied with the RailRiders entering Tuesday night.

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 lately. In the 26G since he has hit .312 AVG (29-for-93)/.373 OBP (8 BB, HBP) to raise his season AVG to .252.

DOING THE MATH: SWB enters Tuesday against the Buffalo Bisons in 2nd place in the I.L. North, 9.0 games behind the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The RailRiders have 14G left in their season, and if they were to win out to reach 79 wins, they'd need Lehigh Valley to play no better than 4-10 (.286) in order to win the division title.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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International League Stories from August 21, 2018


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