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 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes

June 21, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS (41-30) @ SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (34-36)

LHP Cole Irvin (8-2, 2.50) vs. RHP David Hale (3-2, 4.50)

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| Game No. 71 | Thursday June 21, 2018 | PNC Field | Moosic, PA |

| First Pitch 7:05 p.m. | Pregame Show 6:35 p.m. |

LAST TIME OUT: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 5-3 in walk-off fashion on Wednesday night at PNC Field. The 2018 IronRail Series now stands at 6-5 in favor of the RailRiders.

With Kyle Higashioka aboard at first base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Zack Zehner curled a 1-1 pitch from Zac Curtis over the wall in right field for a walk-off two-run home run. It was the sixth walk-off win for the RailRiders in 2018, and the second time that such a win came via a home run.

The contest was deadlocked early but the IronPigs struck first in the top of the fourth. Joey Meneses and Trevor Plouffe hit back-to-back solo home runs against Josh Rogers to give Lehigh Valley a 2-0 lead.

The two solo shots were the only blemish against the southpaw in his start. Rogers allowed two runs on five hits, walking one and striking out four. Wednesday's start was the eighth quality start of the season for Rogers in 14 games.

Ben Lively was strong for the first six innings for the IronPigs, but got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh when he walked Mark Payton and Brandon Drury to lead off the frame. Tyler Austin then deposited the first pitch of his at-bat over the right field fence for an opposite field three-run home run to give the RailRiders a 3-2 advantage. For Austin, the round-tripper was his second of the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and his second in as many nights.

Giovanny Gallegos threw scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, but ran into two-out trouble in the ninth. Matt McBride snuck a single through the left side of the infield, and Danny Ortiz drove a double to left center to score him from first and tie the game at 3-3. Cody Carroll (3-0) was summoned from the bullpen to close out the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Curtis struck out the first two batters he faced before walking Higashioka. Zehner was summoned off the bench to pinch hit for Bruce Caldwell, setting the stage for his heroic blast.

WELCOME BACK: OF Zack Zehner was added back to the RailRiders roster Tuesday after a 21G stint away with the Double-A Trenton Thunder. He went an unceremonious 0-for-4 with 3K in his return to the lineup Tuesday, and was not in Wednesday's starting lineup. However, with LHP Zac Curtis on the mound for the IronPigs Zehner was called upon to pinch-hit for left-handed INF Bruce Caldwell with two outs in the 9th inning. He delivered a walk-off two-run homer, which was the second walk-off HR of the season for the RailRiders (INF Abiatal Avelino, 4/6 vs. Syracuse). It was also the 6th walk-off win for the RailRiders this season, the last three of which (5/15, 5/17, 6/20) have come against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

POWERING UP: In the blink of an eye, the SWB RailRiders are the leading HR-hitting team in the International League. At the end of April, the team had 15 HR in 23G (0.65 HR/G) which was good for 6th in the 14-team I.L. Since then, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has 57 HR in its last 47G (1.21 HR/G) including 24 in 18G so far in June (1.33 HR/G).

NEEDED SOME LENGTH: Due to Monday's off-day, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders bullpen was well-rested entering Wednesday's game even though the pitching staff has not been able to provide much depth at the start of games. RHP Chance Adams started Tuesday's game and lasted 4.0 IP while throwing 89 pitches, before a combination of four relievers tossed the final 5.0 innings. Over the last 7G, the only pitcher to throw at least six innings was LHP Josh Rogers who went 7.0 innings in Syracuse and followed that up with 6.0 innings Wednesday for the RailRiders.

SWEEPING AWAY THOSE THOUGHTS: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders woke up bright and early May 17 and completed their lone sweep of the season Thursday against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The last sweep by the RailRiders before that was completed 8/7/2017 - 8/9/2017 @ Gwinnett over the G-Braves, 61 games ago. It had also been a long time since the RailRiders swept a 3G or 4G series against Lehigh Valley, dating back to the first four games of the 2009 season, 4/9 - 4/12. Tuesday's series-opening loss immediately took the possibility of a second straight sweep off the table for SWB, but they'll try and take a second consecutive series from Lehigh Valley Thursday night after Wednesday's thrilling walk-off win.


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