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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - July 15, 2021

July 15, 2021 - International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (39-21) vs. Worcester Red Sox (35-26)

LHP Matt Krook (1-0, 3.21 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin McCarthy (1-1, 6.08 ERA)

| Game 61 | Road Game 33 | Polar Park | Worcester, MA | July 15, 2021 | First Pitch 6:35 p.m. |

TREY DAY: After months of anticipation and literally thousands of reply tweets sent to the RailRiders social media accounts begging for such a move, the New York Yankees today announced the signing of OF Trey Amburgey to a major league contract and his addition to the Yankees 26-man roster ahead of Thursday's game with Boston. In parts of two seasons with the RailRiders, Amburgey hit .283/.341/.514 with 29 home runs and 97 RBIs in 162 games. From August 26, 2019 through July 10 (G2), 2021, the slugging outfielder had a franchise-record 42-game on-base streak. Amburgey was a 13th round pick of the Yankees in the 2015 MLB Draft out of St. Petersburg College in Lake Worth, Florida.

IT'S THE FINAL STRETCH (DA NA NA NA): In lieu of a traditional playoff in Triple-A Baseball, Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday that all Triple-A teams will compete in a 10-game postseason tournament called the Triple-A Final Stretch from September 22 through October 3. Each league will have a regular season champion, crowned for having the best record across 120 games, and a Final Stretch champion, crowned for having the best record in the added 10 games. Unlike any tournament you may be familiar with, the Triple-A Final Stretch has a set schedule of opponents and you continue to play even if you are eliminated from contention. MLB announced the RailRiders will play Syracuse from 9/22-26 at PNC Field and finish the Final Stretch at Rochester from 9/28-10/3. MLB also announced it will give a prize to the winners of the Final Stretch.

SPLITSVILLE: Yesterday's doubleheader with the Worcester Red Sox was the fourth twin bill of the season for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Thus far, the RailRiders have split them all, winning the first game thrice (6/10 at Buffalo, 7/7 vs Syracuse, 7/14 at Worcester) and the second game once (7/10 vs Syracuse). Last night's doubleheader also marked the third double feature for the RailRiders in the past eight days (7/7 and 7/10), completing a rough stretch of nine games in eight days. Overall, because of back-to-back seven-game series, SWB is in the midst of a stretch of 14 games scheduled in 13 days. The RailRiders are 5-5 through the first 10 games of the run.

WOO HOO: The RailRiders continue their second series with the Worcester Red Sox tonight, playing games two and three in a seven-game, six-day set. This is the second consecutive such series for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The season series with the WooSox is condensed into 24 games in a span of 54 days. SWB travels to Polar Park for 18 contests, with the WooSox heading to PNC Field only once. Worcester is tied with Syracuse for the second-most frequent opponent of the RailRiders this season after the club's 36 games with Lehigh Valley. Worcester took three of five games in the first matchup of the year with SWB.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE HOME RUNS GONE?: After hitting 64 home runs in the first two months of the season, the RailRiders offense has collectively seen a power outage in the month of July. The team has hit only five home runs in the month, but managed one in each game of Wednesday's doubleheader in Worcester. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has a team .343 SLG in the month, and sports a paltry .099 isolated slugging percentage (calculated by subtracting AVG from SLG). The RailRiders have allowed 10 home runs on the month, and their opponents have a .135 ISO.

HIGHWAY ROBBERY: After stealing just 39 bases in their first 45 games, the RailRiders have been on a roll since the start of the last series at Worcester. In its last 15 games, SWB is 25-for-32 (.781) in stolen base attempts, including a team-record tying seven on 6/29 at Worcester and another five on 7/6 vs Syracuse. Seven steals in a game tied a franchise mark set by the SWB Yankees on June 6, 2008 against the Norfolk Tides. Andrew Velazquez accomplished the rare feat of stealing three bases in one inning, while Estevan Florial (2), Hoy Park and Ryan LaMarre (1 each) all stole bags against the Red Sox. The barrage has SWB up to 64 steals on the year, fourth in Triple-A East, with Worcester leading the way with 75. Velazquez is tied for the Triple-A East lead with 17 steals on the season.

BULLS ON PARADE: Since Kyle Barraclough relieved Albert Abreu in the sixth inning of the RailRiders game at Buffalo on Friday, June 11, the SWB bullpen has performed at an amazing clip. In the last 29 days, the bullpen has combined for a 2.26 ERA (35 ER/139.1 IP), while allowing just 104 hits, 48 walks and recording 167 strikeouts. The current stretch has lowered SWB's bullpen ERA to 2.83 on the season, the third-best in MiLB (1st, Somerset, 2.58). The bullpen's 31 wins are tied for second-most in the minors behind only Tampa's 39.

HERE COME THE YANKEES: Around the halfway point of the season, the Yankees minor league system still stands alone across minor league baseball as the most successful. Not only are all four full season affiliates currently in first place in their respective divisions, but they have an average divisional lead of nearly four games. Each affiliate has won at least 39 games entering play on Thursday night, and as a whole, the Yankees have an organizational record of 170-87 (.661). That is 2.5-games better than second-place Tampa Bay's 167-89 (.652) organizational record.

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