SWB Game Notes

May 5, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (14-12) @ SYRACUSE METS (17-12)

RHP Raynel Espinal (0-3, 9.00) vs. RHP Mickey Jannis (NR)

SYRACUSE, NY (May 4, 2019) -- The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders received a near-historic pitching performance from Nestor Cortes, and used an extra-inning rally to escape with a 4-2 win in 10 innings Saturday night.

The lefty carried a no-hitter into the 8th inning, but with one out it was broken up by Mets catcher Rene Rivera who had previously been 7-for-45 (.156 AVG) on the season and 0-for-2 in the game. He lined a single into left field for a clean base hit, and Cortes walked off to a standing ovation from an appreciative Syracuse crowd. His final line was 7.1 IP, H, 0R, 3 BB, 9 K - ultimately earning a no-decision.

The RailRiders, who scored twice in the top of the 2nd inning, took their 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning, but Carlos Gomez homered to left-centerfield to tie it up and force extra innings. Extra innings featured Kyle Higashioka as the pitch-saver runner, and one pitch into the frame he was doubled home by Mandy Alvarez for a 3-2 RailRiders lead. After the next two men were retired, Matt Lipka drilled a groundball inside the third base bag for a double and extended SWB's lead to 4-2.

Feyereisen returned in the bottom of the 10th inning and retired the first two men he faced. As he struck out Rene Rivera, his pitch count climbed over 40 and Jay Bell walked to the mound and replaced the righty with David Sosebee for the final out.

LOOK AT KATOH GO: INF Gosuke Katoh entered Saturday's game against the Mets with a four-game hitting streak that was snapped with an 0-for-4. Following Friday's 2-for-5 night where he hit a double and homered, he's was 4th in the International League with a .368 AVG. Thanks to his team-best 7th HR Friday @ Syracuse and ability to walk, he also entered the weekend 9th in the league in OBP (.435) and 4th in slugging (.697) which gave him the 3rd best OPS in the league at 1.133 -- just a smattering of points behind Louisville's Josh Van Meter for the league lead (1.189).

EXTRA INNINGS, EXTRA TIME FOR WINNING: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre won Wednesday's game over the Rochester Red Wings in thrilling fashion, walking off with an 8-6 win in 10 innings thanks to a Ryan McBroom 2R HR. Saturday night, they used a pair of runs in the top of the 10th inning to overcome Syracuse's homer from Carlos Gomez that gave the Mets momentum heading to extra. The RailRiders are now 5-1 this season in extra innings, and Manager Jay Bell is 22-10 (.688) in extra innings in 2+ seasons at the helm of Tampa/Trenton/SWB.

HOLD YOUR HORSES: The 2019 RailRiders are off to a torrid start out of the starting gates with stolen bases, having gone 21-for-24 (87.5%) over the first month of the season, well ahead of Charlotte (12-for-15, 80.0%) for best percentage in the league. However, entering their game on Kentucky Derby Saturday against the Syracuse Mets they too strayed out of their paths. Brad Miller was caught twice and Matt Lipka once in a combined 0-for-3 performance by the RailRiders who won despite not having their lucky horseshoes with the Saturday night.

TRUCKING AT THE START: INF Mike Ford had gotten out to an incredibly hot start to the 2019 season, and earned his promotion to the MLB when the Yankees purchased his contract April 16 with INF Greg Bird going on the Injured List. He picked up a hit in the first 9G of the season he played for the RailRiders. Entering that most recent game in which he appeared for the RailRiders, he ranked Top-10 in the International League in: AVG (.471, 3rd), HR (5, T-2nd), RBI (14, 1st), OBP (.525, 3rd), SLG (1.029, 1st), OPS (1.554, 1st), H (16, T-2nd), XBH (9, T-1st) and Total Bases (35, 2nd). In 10G with the New York Yankees, Ford batted .179 (5-for-28) with a double, home run (4/23 @ LAA off Chris Stratton) and 8 BB (.379 OBP).

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

International League Stories from May 5, 2019

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Red Wings, PawSox Postponed Sunday - Rochester Red Wings
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