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IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - September 25, 2021

September 25, 2021 - International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Syracuse Mets (48-70) vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (69-50)

G1: RHP Noah Syndergaard (MLB Rehab) vs. LHP JP Sears (5-0, 3.05 ERA)

G2: RHP Vance Worley (4-5, 5.14 ERA) vs. RHP Sean Boyle (2-0, 0.47 ERA)

| Games 120 & 121 | Home Games 62 & 63 | PNC Field | Moosic, PA | September 25, 2021 | First Pitch 2:05 p.m. |

NEW FACES: With both the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades and Double-A Somerset Patriots narrowly missing out on the playoffs in their respective leagues, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have received three of the Yankees Top 20 prospects heading into The Final Stretch. Infielders Oswald Peraza (#3) and Oswaldo Cabrera (#16) pack a powerful punch as a double play combination, and right-handed pitcher Hayden Wesneski (#15) finished second among Yankees minor leaguers (and t-22nd in all of MiLB) with 139 strikeouts (Ken Waldichuk, 163 K).

OFFENSIVE MARKS: At the end of the 2021 regular season, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders had a combined team on-base percentage of .352, which is the best mark in franchise history. It narrowly beats out the .351 OBP posted by the 2019 RailRiders, despite the team's batting average being 23-points lower in 2021. This is only the fourth time in the 31-year history of the franchise that SWB has posted a team OBP of greater than .345. Amazingly, despite playing only 119 games, the team's 137 home runs are the fourth-most in a season hit by the team, with only the 2019 (212), 1998 (164), and 2017 (153) clubs hitting more. For each home run hit this season by the RailRiders, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has pledged a $10 donation to the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank in Pittston.

HOMERS THAT HELP: As part of The Final StretchTM, Minor League Baseball has announced that it will be donating $50 for each home run hit by each club to a charity within that club's local community. The RailRiders are hitting home runs to benefit the Wyoming Valley Challenger Baseball. Through two games, the RailRiders have hit three home runs for a total donation thus far of $150.

RACING CLOSE TO A NEW RECORD: Through 119 games, the RailRiders have stolen 136 bases in 172 attempts in the 2021 season (79.0% success). The 2021 RailRiders are only four stolen bases shy of breaking the all-time franchise record for most steals in a season with only eight games to play (2000 SWB Red Barons, 139). The team has stolen an average of 1.14 bases per game this year, which puts them on pace to break the record during the Final Stretch series at Rochester. The thievery has ticked up in September, with SWB currently 29-for-33 in steal attempts in 19 games during the month (1.53 steals/game). Andrew Velazquez leads the team with 29 stolen bases in 76 games, and with one more can become the first SWB player with 30 steals in a season since Brett Gardner stole 37 with the 2008 SWB Yankees.

CLOSE CALLS & BLOWOUTS: The RailRiders have played an extraordinary number of close games this season, with 58 of SWB's 119 games being decided by one or two runs (48.7%). Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has performed approximately average in these close contests, going 15-16 (.484) in one-run games and 15-12 (.555) in two-run games. However, the RailRiders have also participated in their share of extreme blowout games, decided by eight-or-more runs. In 13 such contests, SWB is 11-2 (.846) on the season, and is part of the reason why the team is +135 in run differential this season.

SANDS STORM: After beginning the last homestand on a 1-for-17 (.058) slide, RailRiders catcher Donny Sands has been on a tear over his last 10 games played. Since September 5, Sands is batting .412/.474/.706 (14-for-34) with 4 2B, 2 HR, and 11 RBIs. The streak has raised his season OPS by 106 points, and 37.9% (11-of-29) of his season RBIs with SWB have come during it.

ONE OF THE BEST: Throughout the 2021 season, the RailRiders bullpen has been the backbone of the pitching staff, posting a 3.11 ERA as a unit and racking up 46 of SWB's 68 wins. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre own the fourth-best bullpen ERA in full season baseball (minors and majors), trailing only Buffalo (2.87), Somerset (2.89) and Gwinnett (3.10). The bullpen is posting impressive rates of 11.02 K/9, 3.99 BB/9, and has limited opposing batters to just a .206 AVG this season. No team in Triple-A East has asked for more innings out of the bullpen than SWB's 569.1 this season.

EYES ON THE FINAL STRETCHTM PRIZE...WHATEVER IT IS: Unlike all other classifications, Triple-A does not have playoffs this year, with instead every team playing 10 extra games in the Triple-A Final Stretch. The Triple-A Final Stretch is a 10-game, 2-week "postseason tournament" which sees SWB playing a home series with Syracuse and a road series at Rochester. The team with the best overall record over the 10-game period will be dubbed the Final Stretch Champion and receive a prize that MLB has unbelievably still not announced despite the fact that Triple-A's Final Stretch began on Tuesday. Team and individual statistics achieved during the Triple-A Final Stretch will be counted toward regular season numbers, as confirmed by MLB's statistics team, making The Final Stretch a Schrödinger's Cat paradox where it is both the postseason and the regular season at the same time.

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International League Stories from September 25, 2021


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