IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - July 2, 2021

Published on July 2, 2021 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (34-14) vs. Worcester Red Sox (30-21)

LHP Matt Krook (0-0, 1.42 ERA) vs. LHP Kyle Hart (3-4, 4.94 ERA)

| Game 49 | Road Game 28 | Polar Park | Worcester, MA | July 2, 2021 | First Pitch 6:35 p.m. |

THEY'RE THE BEST, AROUND: With a 34-14 (.708) start to the season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre begins play Wednesday night with the best record in baseball. The club set the RailRiders era (2013 - Present) record for best start through 40 games (29-11), shattering the previous best of 23-17 in 2017 and has already set a new mark for best 50-game start to the season. The RailRiders are on pace for an 92-38 season, and roughly projects to a 99-41 season in a normal 140-game schedule. The RailRiders finished a franchise best 91-52 (.636) in 2016, when SWB captured its first and only Triple-A National Championship. SWB's .708 winning percentage is the best of any team in the majors or minors, with Charleston (34-15, .694) ranking second.

ONE-NIL: Thursday night's rain-shortened 1-0 victory over Worcester in game two of the quasi-doubleheader was the first 1-0 triumph for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since April 22, 2017 at the Indianapolis Indians, a span of 452 games. The 1-0 win at Indy was the second-consecutive 1-0 win for the team, having also defeated the Indians by the same score the previous day. In the second game, Daniel Camarena, Tyler Jones and Ernesto Frieri combined for a 3-hit shutout. Thursday's five-inning win featured Reggie McClain and Trevor Lane combining to allow two hits. It was the third time this year that the RailRiders have held opponents to two-or-fewer hits in a completed game (2 H, 6/27 at LHV; 1 H, 5/27 vs BUF [7 inn.]).

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: In Tuesday's 9-7 win over Worcester, the RailRiders tied a franchise record by stealing seven bases in the game. It tied a 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. In the 2008 contest against Norfolk, Bernie Castro, Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom all stole two bases, while Alberto Gonzalez swiped one.

WOO HOO: This week the RailRiders start their first series of the season against the Worcester Red Sox, kicking off a season series comprised of 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.

ALL ABOARD THE TREY TRAIN: RailRiders outfielder Trey Amburgey made RailRiders history Thursday night, reaching base safely three times to extend his on-base streak to 33 games. In doing so, he passed Brandon Drury, who had a 32-game on-base streak in the 2018 season for the longest such streak in the RailRiders era (2013 - Present). Here is a look inside the numbers during Trey's incredible run:

+The streak began on August 26, 2019, when Amburgey went 1-for-3 with a HBP at the Pawtucket Red Sox.

+He has hit .343/.422/.613 during the now 37-game streak, with 29 R, 14 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 39 RBI, 16 BB, 37 K and 5 HBP.

+The streak has included 10 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games.

+During the streak, Amburgey has only gone hitless four times (8/31/19 vs BUF, 6/15/21 vs SYR, 6/29 & 6/30 @ WOR). In those games he has reached base on two walks and was hit by three pitches. He also has two RBIs in those hitless contests.

+Amburgey had a 20-game hitting streak from 9/1/19 to 6/13/21 as part of the longer on-base streak, snapped on 6/15 vs Syracuse. He then hit in eight straight games, and has a hit in 28 of his last 31 games played.

OTHER STREAKS OF NOTE: In addition to Trey Amburgey's impressive stretch, the RailRiders offense features two other players with double-digit on-base streaks. Outfielder Estevan Florial carries a 13-game on-base streak into play on Friday night, and infielder Hoy Park has reached base safely in 26 consecutive games. Park sports a .500 OBP during his streak, which has propelled him to the Triple-A East lead in OBP (.487) and OPS (1.105), second in the league in AVG (.350) and SLG (.618). Both Greg Allen (22 games) and Rob Brantly (10 games) saw their on-base streaks snapped in Thursday's quasi-doubleheader.

OH WHAT A RELIEF IT IS!: 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 19 days, the bullpen has combined for a 2.03 ERA (20 ER/88.2 IP), while allowing just 63 hits, 24 walks and recording 108 strikeouts. The current stretch has lowered SWB's bullpen ERA to 2.90 on the season, the third-best in MiLB (Harrisburg, 2.30).

WHILE THE GITTENS GOOD: INF Chris Gittens put up an historic performance for the RailRiders in Sunday's 19-1 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Gittens finished the game 4-for-7 with four runs scored, a double, two home runs and eight RBIs. He hit two homers in the third inning, including the first grand slam of the season for SWB. He became just the 4th SWB Player to ever have an eight RBI game, and the first-ever in the Yankees affiliation (2007 - Present).

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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International League Stories from July 2, 2021


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