IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB Game Notes

Published on May 25, 2019 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (24-19) @ SYRACUSE METS (24-22)

RHP Shawn Semple (Triple-A Debut) vs. RHP Casey Coleman (0-4, 4.21)

| Game No. 44 | NBT Bank Stadium | Syracuse, NY | May 25, 2019 | First Pitch 6:35 p.m. |

SYRACUSE, NY (May 24, 2019) -- Breyvic Valera crushed a grand slam in the 8th inning with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders behind, as a sleepy offense came to life in the latter innings to complete a thrilling comeback win over the Syracuse Mets, 6-5.

Syracuse starting pitcher Chris Mazza dazzled over 7.0 innings and scattered only four baserunners, three hits and a walk. He was called up from Double-A Binghamton prior to the start and was consistently sitting 93-94 MPH with his fastball as he weaved his way through the SWB lineup time and again. The one blemish came in the 2nd inning when Ryan McBroom hit the first of his two home runs in the game in the 2nd inning.

Later in the game with the RailRiders behind 4-1, McBroom blasted an opposite-field shot off P.J. Conlon to spark the rally. Five batters later, Valera came through with the heroics. He now has five home runs in 10 games with the RailRiders and has reached safely in 9-of-10 games since being claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.

Down the stretch, Joe Harvey entered for the final four outs and struck out the side in 9th inning to secure the win and notch his third save of the season. At 3:04 before a crowd of 6,310 fans, it was the fourth straight game that the RailRiders have played in over three hours. The win marked the third straight for the RailRiders and they are now at their high-water mark five games above .500 on the season. It also is the first time that the RailRiders are in possession of first place in the IL North Division.

TRAILED AFTER 7: The RailRiders entered the 8th inning Friday night trailing 4-1. The inning featured a leadoff home run by Ryan McBroom and then Billy Burns and Trey Amburgey singled before a walk to Mike Ford. Trailing 4-2, Breyvic Valera put SWB ahead with a grand slam, giving the RailRiders their first win of the season when trailing after 7 innings (Previously: 0-18).

TIM TEBO'FER: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders pitching has been strong against the Syracuse Mets this season. In winning 5-of-6 games, they've held them to just 3.33 runs per game (2.67 ERA) and a .217 BAA while striking out 80 batters in 54.0 IP (13.3 K/9). Of this group, OF Tim Tebow - the former Heisman Trophy winner- has had the toughest time entering the Memorial Day Weekend series. He had played 3G in the head-to-head matchup and was 0-for-12 with 7 K with a GIDP. In Friday's series opener however, Tebow was 1-for-3, BB.

ON-BASE STREAKS, BENCHED: On Wednesday, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders had three players entering play with on-base streaks of 10-or-more games, and all three got the night off. INF Brad Miller (15G streak), INF Mike Ford (12G streak), and C Ryan Lavarnway (11G streak) all found themselves out of the lineup, but the RailRiders were still able to prevail 8-6 over Pawtucket. All three players were in the lineup Thursday and Friday and have successfully extended their on-base streaks. Miller's 17-game on-base streak is the longest by an SWB player this season and the third-longest by a Yankees minor leaguer in 2019 (Diego Castillo, TAM -- 20G). It is currently the sixth-longest active streak in the International League (Travis Demeritte, GWI -- 26G).

WHAT A STRETCH: Early in the season, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders had their schedule broken up by a handful of postponements and suspensions due to weather -- seven over the first five weeks of the season. Though many of the games were made up the following day, its getting time to pay the piper over the next few weeks. Following Monday's day-off, the RailRiders began a stretch Tuesday night against the Pawtucket Red Sox that features 23 games over 20 days before their next scheduled off day. All 23 games come against each of their five IL North Division rivals. They are currently 3-1 on this stretch.

MAY-BE THEY'RE CATCHING ON: In the month of May, the RailRiders have received outstanding offensive contributions from their catchers. Both Kyle Higashioka (10G from 5/1-5/20) and Ryan Lavarnway (13G dating to 4/25) have carried long on-base streaks in May. In the month of May, the two catchers had combined to reach safely in the first 17G of the month before Higashioka failed to reach safely Tuesday: 23-for-71 (.324 AVG), 3 2B, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 15 BB, 2 HBP (.455 OBP)

TRUCKING AT THE TOP: INF Mike Ford had never batted leadoff in his career, but has now done so eight times in the last dozen games for the RailRiders. In the first eight games he has reached base safely to begin the game six-of-eight times with two singles, a double, a homer and two walks. In 24G this season, Ford has an OBP of .439 which is tops on the team among players who have played +5G (Kyle Higashioka, .397 OBP in 19G).

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