IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - June 29, 2021

Published on June 29, 2021 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (32-13) vs. Worcester Red Sox (29-19)

RHP Luis Gil (0-0, 6.00) vs. RHP Tanner Houck (0-1, 4.66)

| Game 46 | Road Game 25 | Polar Park | Worcester, MA | June 29, 2021 | First Pitch 6:35 p.m. |

THEY'RE THE BEST, AROUND: With a 32-13 (.711) start to the season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre begins play Tuesday night with the best record in minor league 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 85-35 season, and roughly projects to a 100-40 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 .707 winning percentage is the best of any team in the majors or minors, with San Jose (33-15, .688) ranking second.

WOO HOO: This week the RailRiders start ther 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.

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 fourth Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Player to ever have an eight RBI game, and the first-ever in the Yankees affiliation (2007 - Present).

HERE'S THE DIETZ: When play began on June 6, SWB infielder Derek Dietrich was hitting only .119/.316/.237, and had endured an 0-for-27 skid to end the month of May. However, beginning with a 1-for-2 performance against Lehigh Valley that night, Dietrich has been on a tear at the plate in his last 16 games, batting .364/.541/.636 (16-for-44) with 11 R, 3 2B, 3 HR, and 16 RBIs. The run of success at the bat has improved his season batting line to .223/.416/.408, a 271-point leap in OPS. Dietrich ranks 4th among qualified Triple-A East hitters in OBP.

RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOK: 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 .364/.437/.651 during the now 35-game streak, with 28 R, 14 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 39 RBI, 15 BB, 35 K and 4 HBP.

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

+During the streak, Amburgey has only gone hitless two times (8/31/19 vs BUF; 6/15/21 vs SYR). In those games he has reached base on a walk and was hit by two 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 has hits in eight straight games since and has a hit in 28 of his last 29 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 Greg Allen is riding a season-long 21-game on-base streak into play on Saturday night, and infielder Hoy Park has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games. Allen has also played in two other games this season in which he did not record an official plate appearance, therefore not jeopardizing his streak, and spent time on the injured list in the middle of his streak. Park sports a .522 OBP during his streak, which has propelled him to the Triple-A East lead in OBP (.503) and OPS (1.134), second in the league in AVG (.360), and SLG (.631). The infielder also ranks second in Triple-A East in walks (30) behind Worcester's Marcus Wilson (31).

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 18 days, the bullpen has combined for a 1.76 ERA (15 ER/76.2 IP), while allowing just 49 hits, 21 walks and recording 91 strikeouts. The current stretch has lowered SWB's bullpen ERA to 2.86 on the season, the fourth-best in all of minor league baseball, and best in Triple-A. RailRiders closer Luis García leads all minor leaguers with 11 saves on the season, and is one of only four pitchers with double-digit saves this year.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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