IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes

Published on May 3, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


PAWTUCKET RED SOX (12-11) vs. SCRANTON WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (12-13)

LHP Jalen Beeks (2-1, 1.37) vs. LHP Nestor Cortes (0-1, 9.64)

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| Game No. 26 | Thursday May 3, 2018 | PNC Field | Moosic, PA |

| First Pitch 6:35 p.m. | Pregame Show 6:05 p.m. |

LAST TIME OUT: Two Major Leaguers were on rehab and in the lineup for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Wednesday morning, and one major leaguer drove in the other for a walk-off 3-2 win at PNC Field. Tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the 9th inning, the RailRiders got a leadoff single by Brandon Drury in his seventh rehab game with the RailRiders following a groundout and a walk by Kyle Higashioka. Clint Frazier stood in the batter's box against Murphy Smith and delivered a line-drive to the left-centerfield gap which made it all the way to the wall, easily plating Drury from second base for the game-winning run.

In the top of the 9th inning, the RailRiders carried a 2-0 lead but couldn't hang on as the Bisons rallied. Cody Carroll walked Tim Lopes and then allowed a single to Rowdy Tellez with one out, but the situation became more perilous when a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Carroll induced an RBI groundout which scored Lopes and put Tellez' pinch-runner Anthony Alford to third base with two away. The next batter up, Reese McGuire, hit a ground ball to L.J. Mazzilli which was the potential final out of the game, but he mishandled it for an error and the Bisons tied it which forced the game into the bottom of the 9th inning.

Earlier in the game, both Frazier (2nd inning) and Mazzilli (3rd inning) homered to pace the RailRiders to a 2-0 lead. Those two hits stood as the lone hits off Buffalo starting pitcher Sam Gaviglio until a two-out double by Kyle Higashioka in the 7th inning. For Mazzilli, it was his second of the season with SWB- both at PNC Field-, and for Frazier it was his first on rehab with the RailRiders.

Starting pitcher Brody Koerner was outstanding for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, retiring the first 10 men he faced in the game before a Dwight Smith Jr. single in the 4th inning. He allowed only one other hit, getting pulled after a two-out single to Richard Urena in the 7th inning. All told, the righty went 6.2 inning with two hits, a walk and three strikeouts which lowered his ERA from 5.49 to 4.10.

RIVALRY, TRIPLE-A STYLE: In several decades of the Pawtucket and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchises going toe-to-toe, very little has been decided in the all-time series. Thursday night represents the 480th meeting between the two and SWB holds a slight 241-238 advantage. A season ago the RailRiders overtook the PawSox in the series by winning 13 of the 18 matchups.

TURNING THE PAGE: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders finish the month of April with a 10-13 (.435) record. The last time the team finished April three games under .500 was in 2003 (.440) and the last time they had a win percentage that low after the first month of play was 20 years ago (1998: 8-12, .400).

TRIPLE-A DEBUT: INF Thairo Estrada made his Triple-A debut for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders during the previous three-game series with the Buffalo Bisons and went just 1-for-13 with an RBI single in the top of the 3rd inning Tuesday night. During the offseason back home in Venezuela, the 22-year old sustained a gunshot wound to his hip and began this season on the DL. A year ago, Estrada was named both a Midseason and Postseason All-Star by the Eastern League and led the Trenton Thunder with a .301 AVG over 122 games played. He enters the season as the No. 9 prospect in the New York Yankees organization according to Baseball America.

LOOKING PRETTY HEALTHY: INF Brandon Drury is still with the RailRiders after being assigned to rehab with them starting April 25. He has reached base safely in all seven games in which he appeared before an 0-for-3 performance Tuesday. He batted .438 (7-for-16) with 2 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB, 2 HBP (.526 OBP) in the first five games in the RailRiders lineup and Wednesday afternoon scored on Clint Frazier's walk-off single. Speaking of...

ALSO LOOKING PRETTY HEALTHY: OF Clint Frazier (concussion) began his rehab assignment with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Tuesday night and finished 0-for-4 with 2 K. However, he was the hero Wednesday with a solo HR in his first AB in the 2nd inning and the walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th. He played four games with the Tampa Tarpons leading up to the transfer to the RailRiders and had started just 1-for-11 with them before going 2-for-4 with a HR Sunday in a 9-5 win.

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