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IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - September 8, 2021

September 8, 2021 - International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Rochester Red Wings (43-62) vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (60-46)

RHP Luis Reyes (0-3, 6.48 ERA) vs. RHP Brody Koerner (3-4, 3.38 ERA)

| Game 107 | Home Game 55 | PNC Field | Moosic, PA | September 8, 2021 | First Pitch 7:05 p.m. |

JETER HEADS TO COOPERSTOWN: Yankees SS Derek Jeter will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today, and in doing so will be the first player to suit up for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make the Hall of Fame. Jeter played in seven games with the RailRiders on a rehab assignment in 2013.

WHILE THE GITTENS IS GOOD: RailRiders first baseman Chris Gittens launched his team-leading 11th home run of the season on Tuesday night against Rochester in only 111 at-bats, giving him an AB per HR ratio of 10.09 for the season. That pace is on par with MLB Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx's 1932 season, in which he hit 58 home runs in 585 at-bats, which sits as the 27th-best AB/HR season of all-time in major leagues. The best mark by a RailRiders player with at least 100 at-bats in 2019 belonged to Logan Morrison who hit 15 home runs in 152 at-bats (10.13/HR).

IT IS OVER: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders snapped a nine-game losing streak with their win over the Rochester Red Wings on Tuesday night. The nine-game skid is the second-longest losing streak in franchise history, behind only a 10-game losing streak posted by the 1990 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons from August 18-26. The RailRiders also had lost nine straight games at home, the longest home losing streak in SWB history, surpassing the marks of seven straight dubiously achieved by both the 1990 and 1991 Red Barons.

STOP THE STEAL: The Rochester Red Wings were 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts against the RailRiders on Tuesday night, continuing a troubling trend of teams running wild on the RailRiders. Opponents are an absurd 14-for-16 on stolen base attempts during the current homestand. Since the beginning of August, RailRiders opponents are a stunning 32-for-37 (86.5% success rate) when trying to steal against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That is slightly better than the career success rate of Carlos Beltran, ranks third all-time in stolen base success rate.

CLOSE CALLS & BLOWOUTS: The RailRiders have played an extraordinary number of close games this season, with 52 of SWB's 106 games being decided by one or two runs (49.1%). Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has performed perfectly average in these close contests, going 15-15 (.500) in one-run games and 11-11 (.500) in two-run games. However, 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 +115 in run differential this season, third-best in Triple-A East.

ONE OF THE BEST: Throughout the 2021 season, the RailRiders bullpen has been the backbone of the pitching staff, posting a 3.03 ERA as a unit and racking up 42 of SWB's 60 wins. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has the third-best bullpen ERA in full season baseball (minors and majors), trailing only Buffalo (2.77) and Somerset (2.81). The bullpen is posting impressive rates of 10.81 K/9, 4.05 BB/9, and has limited opposing batters to just a .204 AVG this season.

SWEET ESCAPE: Despite two consecutive losses to Lehigh Valley to end the last 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 as many wins away from home in Triple-A East, and in the Northeast Division, Worcester (29-22) has the second-best road record. In Triple-A baseball, only Reno (35-19) has more wins on the road than Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

CERTIFIED STRIKEOUT BOYS: RailRiders pitchers struck out a season-high 17 batters on Friday night in a 1-0 loss against the Buffalo Bisons. That was the highest strikeout total of the year for SWB, surpassing the 15 K mark accomplished three times, most recently on August 8 against Worcester. The 17 strikeouts recorded by the RailRiders on Friday was the most since the staff struck out 18 on May 5, 2019 against the Syracuse Mets. That contest was also notable for SWB scoring 14 runs (10 earned) against Mets starter Mickey Jannis, and a 7 RBI performance from Kyle Higashioka. The RailRiders followed that up with a 15-strikeout performance on Sunday, and are striking out 10.09 batters per-nine innings this season as a staff.

THE FINAL STRETCH BEFORE THE FINAL STRETCH™: Wednesday continues the penultimate series of the regular season across minor league baseball, with most teams having 11 games remaining on their regular season schedules. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hosts Rochester for five more games before finishing the season on the road at Lehigh Valley. Following that, the RailRiders return home for a five-game set with Syracuse to kick off the Triple-A Final Stretch, a 10-game, 2-week postseason "tournament" which is a tournament in the sense that a golf tournament is a tournament and less in the way it is traditionally used for postseason competition. The team with the best overall record over the 10-game period will be dubbed the Final Stretch Champion and receive a prize which is still TBA. Team and individual stats and records achieved during the Triple-A Final Stretch will be counted toward regular season numbers, as confirmed by MLB's statistics team.

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