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IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - August 29, 2021

August 29, 2021 - International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (59-38) at Lehigh Valley IronPigs (43-56)

RHP Nick Nelson (2-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. RHP David Paulino (4-3, 4.13 ERA)

| Game 98 | Road Game 52 | Coca-Cola Park | Allentown, PA | August 29, 2021 | First Pitch 1:35 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 4-2 with a 3.01 ERA (17 ER/50.2 IP). RailRiders lid-lifters have struck out 64 batters and walked only 24 while yielding just 32 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 4.99 on the season.

LEGION OF DOOM: Despite Saturday night's loss over Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are still to 33-18 (.647) on the road this season, the second-best mark of any team in Triple-A this season. Only Jacksonville (32-21) can claim more than 28 wins away from home, and in the Northeast Division, Worcester (26-21) 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 2.93 ERA as a unit and racking up 42 of SWB's 59 wins. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has the second-best bullpen ERA in full season baseball (minors and majors), trailing only Buffalo (2.90). The bullpen is posting impressive rates of 10.72 K/9, 4.00 BB/9, and has limited opposing batters to just a .202 batting average this season. The bullpen has allowed only 7 ER in its last 41.1 IP (1.52 ERA) since August 18, a span of 10 games.

THE FINAL STRETCH BEFORE THE FINAL STRETCH™: Including tonight's contest with Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have only 21 games remaining in the 2021 regular season. A whopping 33% (7-of-21) 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 Sunday 3.5 games behind the Durham Bulls (64-36) 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 7-3 in their last 10 games. SWB has out-scored its opponents by a dominant 71-28 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 Sunday afternoon with a three game lead.

CLOSE CALLS AND BLOWOUTS: The RailRiders have played an extraordinary number of close games this season, with 50 of SWB's 97 games being decided by one or two runs (51.5%). Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has performed roughly average in these close contests, going 15-14 (.517) 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 +138 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 16 games since being returned to the team from the Yankees. The switch-hitter is batting .457 (21-for-46) with 9 R, 4 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 4 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.

HIGHER GROUND: With last night's loss to Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders sit at 21 games over .500, two games shy of their high-water mark for the season of 23 games over .500. The RailRiders have previously been 23-games over twice this season, after play on July 24 and July 29. Thanks to the suspended game from July 17 (which ended up in a SWB victory) the RailRiders were actually 24-games over .500 on those days in the official record, but at the time the games were played the game was not complete, so they were 23 over as far as we're concerned.

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