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IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - August 31, 2021

August 31, 2021 - International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Buffalo Bisons (57-41) vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (59-39)

Game 1: RHP Bowden Francis (7-4, 4.26 ERA) vs. RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-0, 2.84 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Kyle Johnston (0-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. RHP Brian Keller (1-1, 2.70 ERA)

| Games 99 & 100 | Home Games 47 & 48 | PNC Field | Moosic, PA | August 31, 2021 | First Pitch 5:05 p.m. |

THE OPENING ACT: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting rotation turned in a series of great performances on the recent road trip. In 12 games, SWB starters were 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA (18 ER/52.0 IP). RailRiders lid-lifters struck out 64 batters and walked only 24 while yielding just 33 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 5.00 on the season.

LEGION OF DOOM: Despite two consecutive lossed to Lehigh Valley to end the road trip, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are 33-19 (.634) on the road this season, the second-best mark of any team in Triple-A this season. Only Jacksonville (33-21) can claim more than 29 wins away from home, and in the Northeast Division, Worcester (26-22) 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 3.02 ERA as a unit and racking up 42 of SWB's 59 wins. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has the third-best bullpen ERA in full season baseball (minors and majors), trailing only Buffalo (2.85) and Somerset (3.02). The bullpen is posting impressive rates of 10.76 K/9, 4.02 BB/9, and has limited opposing batters to just a .203 batting average this season.

THE FINAL STRETCH BEFORE THE FINAL STRETCH™: Including tonight's doubleheader with Buffalo, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have only 20 games remaining in the 2021 regular season. A whopping 70% (14-of-20) of SWB's remaining games are at the friendly confines of PNC Field. The lone six games on the road consist of a return trip to Lehigh Valley for the final series of the year. The RailRiders begin play Monday 4.5 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 7-4 in their last 11 games. SWB has out-scored its opponents by a dominant 76-38 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 Tuesday night with a two game lead.

CLOSE CALLS AND BLOWOUTS: The RailRiders have played an extraordinary number of close games this season, with 50 of SWB's 98 games being decided by one or two runs (51%). 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 +133 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 17 games since being returned to the team from the Yankees. The switch-hitter is batting .420 (21-for-50) with 10 R, 4 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, and 4 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 consecutive losses to Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders sit at 20 games over .500, three 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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