IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - August 27, 2021

Published on August 27, 2021 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (58-37) at Lehigh Valley IronPigs (43-54)

LHP JP Sears (1-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. LHP Cristopher Sánchez (4-5, 3.72 ERA)

| Game 96 | Road Game 50 | Coca-Cola Park | Allentown, PA | August 27, 2021 | First Pitch 7:05 p.m. |

THE OPENING ACT: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting rotation has turned in a series of great performances on the current road trip. In nine games, SWB starters are 3-2 with a 2.14 ERA (10 ER/42.0 IP). RailRiders lid-lifters have struck out 46 batters and walked only 17 while yielding just 20 hits in the duration of their work. From Game Two of Thursday's doubleheader through the second inning on Saturday, Sean Boyle, JP Sears and Deivi García combined to throw 14.2 consecutive hitless innings, walking four and striking out 13 in the process. The stretch has lowered SWB's starting pitcher ERA from 5.32 to 4.94 on the season.

LEGION OF DOOM: With Thursday night's win over Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders improved to 32-17 (.653) on the road this season, the best mark of any team in Triple-A this season. Only Jacksonville (31-20) can claim more than 28 wins away from home, and in the Northeast Division, Worcester (24-21) has the second-best road record. In Triple-A baseball, only Reno (35-19) has more wins on the road than Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

CREAM OF THE CROP: Throughout the 2021 season, the RailRiders bullpen has been the backbone of the pitching staff, posting a 2.97 ERA as a unit and racking up 42 of SWB's 58 wins. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has the second-best bullpen ERA in full season baseball (minors and majors), trailing only Buffalo (2.86). The bullpen is posting impressive rates of 10.77 K/9, 3.99 BB/9, and has limited opposing batters to just a .202 batting average this season. The bullpen has allowed only 5 ER in its last 29.0 IP (1.55 ERA) since August 18, a span of eight games.

THE FINAL STRETCH BEFORE THE FINAL STRETCH™: Including tonight's contest with Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have only 23 games remaining in the 2021 regular season. An incredible 39% (-of-23) of SWB's remaining games are on the road against the IronPigs. The remainder of the schedule consists of a 14-game homestand against Buffalo (8 games) and Rochester (6 games). The RailRiders begin play Friday 3.5 games behind the Durham Bulls (63-35) for first place overall in Triple-A East.

OUT OF THE RED, INTO THE BLACK: After the worst run of the season which saw the RailRiders go 6-13 in a 19-game stretch from July 25 through August 17, the RailRiders have seemingly turned a corner, going 6-2 in their last seven games. SWB has out-scored its opponents by a dominant 52-15 mark in those games. The run of strong play has helped the RailRiders erase a two game deficit in the Northeast Division standings to Buffalo and enter play Friday night with a two game lead.

CLOSE CALLS AND BLOWOUTS: The RailRiders have played an extraordinary number of close games this season, with 49 of SWB's 95 games being decided by one or two runs (51.6%). Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has performed roughly average in these close contests, going 15-13 (.536) in one-run games and 11-10 (.524) in two-run games. Not to be out-done, the RailRiders have also participated in their fair share of extreme blowout games, decided by eight-or-more runs. In 12 such contests, SWB is 10-2 (.833) on the season, and is part of the reason why the team is +132 in run differential this season, second-best in Triple-A East.

HITTING HERE IN ALLENTOWN: RailRiders OF Greg Allen has been on a tear in 14 games since being returned to the team from the Yankees. The switch-hitter is batting .429 (18-for-42) with 8 R, 4 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K, and 3 HBP. Allen had a 12-game on-base streak snapped on Saturday with an 0-for-3 performance, but during the streak his season batting line improved from .263/.402/.343 to .321/.440/.460, a 155-point jump in his OPS.

SEAN BOYLE RULES: On Monday RHP Sean Boyle was named Triple-A East Pitcher of the Week for August 16 through 22. In his one outing of the week, Boyle threw a complete game, 7-inning no-hitter at Polar Park against the Worcester Red Sox in his first career Triple-A Start. He became the third Triple-A East Pitcher of the Week Award winner for the RailRiders this season, joining Deivi García (May 10-16) and Luis Gil (July 19-25). Before this year, the RailRiders had not been honored with a league pitcher of the week award since August 22-28, 2016, when Jonathan Holder won International League Pitcher of the Week for his legendary 11 consecutive strikeout performance. However, on Tuesday Boyle was transferred to the Double-A Somerset Patriots.

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