Sports stats



IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

August 24, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (66-61) vs. LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS (77-52)

RHP Michael King (2-0, 1.74) vs. RHP Tom Eshelman (2-12, 5.61)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

| Game No. 128 | August 24, 2018 | Coca-Cola Park | Allentown, PA |

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

LAST TIME OUT: Needing a win to fend off a series sweep at the hands of the Buffalo Bisons, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders bats came alive in the middle innings to take a 7-3 win Thursday afternoon.

Before a day-game crowd of 10,516 fans, the RailRiders fell behind after one inning of play. Buffalo opened the scoring with a run on two hits it in the bottom of the first against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Adonis Rosa. Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. singled to plate Dwight Smith, Jr. for a 1-0 edge.

That would be the lone blemish off Rosa in his second RailRiders start this season, and fourth Triple-A start in his career. The right-hander went 6.1 innings and allowed just the one run. He scattered four hits and walked three while striking out a pair. Over the four starts in his Triple-A career he has allowed four earned runs in 23.1 innings pitched- good for a 1.54 ERA.

After falling behind on the early run, the RailRiders tied the game in the top of the fourth when Zack Zehner doubled to drive in Mike Ford with two outs. Over the next two innings, the RailRiders put six more runs on the board to open up the score. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored three runs in the top of the fifth off Buffalo starting pitcher Jacob Waguespack. Wilkin Castillo walked, advanced to third on a pair of groundouts and scored on a wild pitch. With two outs, Ricky Surum walked and Ryan McBroom doubled. Both Surum and McBroom scored on a single through the right side of the infield off the bat of Ford.

The RailRiders added three runs in the sixth off reliever Luis Santos to extended the lead to 7-1. Zehner walked and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Castillo singled to drive in Zehner and then later crossed on a single by Devyn Bolasky and a pair of errors. Surum singled to left to plate Bolasky for his first Triple-A RBI and put Scranton/Wilkes-Barre up by six.

Buffalo scored twice in the bottom of the 8th inning and brought the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded, but Joe Harvey worked out of the jam and ultimately picked up his seventh save of the year.

SHEFF SERVES UP NEW ROLE: The top pitching prospect in the Yankees organization, LHP Justus Sheffield, made his bullpen debut for the RailRiders Tuesday night. In comments leading up to Tuesday's game Yankees GM Brian Cashman said "You'll see him pitching in New York whether it's as a rotation guy or out of the bullpen at some point I would expect in 2018. The stuff's electric. The ceiling and the upside is exciting and just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't diminish what we think of him. That's just timing is everything and when do we unwrap that and deploy that. Is it going to be before September. It just depends on how things shake out." In the his first relief outing he tossed 2.0 innings and allowed 2 H, R/ER, 0 BB, 2 K.

RACE TO THE FINISH: The Wild Card race in the International League is heating up as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (66-61) hit the homestretch of the 2018 season. With 11G to go, SWB finds itself 2.0 GB of the Indianapolis Indians (68-60) and Columbus Clippers (68-60) for the Wild Card lead. It's looking like a three-team race for the final playoff spot with the Norfolk Tides (67-62) also making a playoff push, tied with the RailRiders entering Thursday.

EXTRA INCENTIVE: The playoff race is enough of a reason for the RailRiders to be motivated down the stretch, but the Lehigh Valley IronPigs enter the series against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre needing just one win to clinch the IL North title. Anything short of a four-game sweep and the RailRiders will have to watch as Lehigh Valley celebrates some franchise history. Though Lehigh Valley has made the postseason each of the last two seasons as the International League Wild Card, they are looking for their first division title in the 11-year history of the team since moving from Ottawa before the 2007 season. They have made the postseason three times as the Wild Card in 2017, 2016 and 2011.

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE: With RHP J.P. Feyereisen heading to the Disabled List, the RailRiders have only one player who was on the SWB Opening Day roster and has not been on the DL or played with another team in the Yankees organization -- RHP Raynel Espinal, who is in his first season of Triple-A. RHP Cale Coshow was on the Opening Day roster but was on the DL from July 13-20 and the same can be said for INF Mike Ford who was on the DL from June 8 - July 12 (but player 6G on rehab with SS-A Staten Island).

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics



International League Stories from August 24, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central