IL1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes

Published on August 16, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


NORFOLK TIDES (63-57) vs. SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (63-57)

RHP Matt Wotherspoon (2-7, 4.76) vs. RHP Chance Adams (3-5, 4.97)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

| Game No. 121 | August 16, 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 split a doubleheader with the Indianapolis Indians Wednesday night at PNC Field, falling 7-3 in game one and winning game two 3-1.

In Game Two of the doubleheader, the RailRiders jumped on the board in the third inning as Wilkin Castillo led off with a single and Ricky Surum doubled. Castillo scored on a wild pitch after advancing to third on the double. Surum scored one pitch later on a passed ball giving Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a 2-0 lead.

Indianapolis responded in the fourth as Mathisen homered, but that would be the only Indians' run of the game. In the fifth, Tyler Wade hit a solo shot of his own to extend the RailRiders lead to 3-1.

Nestor Cortes (6-5) got the complete-game victory throwing seven innings allowing only one run on four hits. He struck out three and only walked one. Wade paced the RailRiders by going two-for-three with the home run. Castillo also went two-for-three with two singles.

RACE TO THE FINISH: The Wild Card race in the International League is heating up as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (63-57) hit the homestretch of the 2018 season. With 18 games to go, SWB finds itself 1.0 GB of the Columbus Clippers (65-57) for the Wild Card lead. It's looking like a three-team race for the final playoff spot with the Norfolk Tides (63-57) also making a bid for the postseason, as the Baltimore Orioles affiliate comes tok PNC Field for a four-game series starting Thursday night.

FORD REVVING UP: RailRiders INF Mike Ford began the 2018 season in Spring Training with the Seattle Mariners, and struggled out of the gate with SWB to start the year. He was batting .218 AVG/.299 OBP as of July 21, but has turned it around. In the 22G since he has hit .338 AVG (27-for-80)/.391 OBP (6 BB, HBP) to raise his season AVG to .256.

BUSINESS IS McBOOMING: INF/OF Ryan McBroom finished 4-for-13 in the series to end the most recent roadtrip @ Durham with 2 HR and 5 RBI. The 1B/OF was riding his third 8G hitting streak of the season into the series finale before finishing 0-for-4 with 3K Sunday evening. Over the hit streak- which fell one-game shy of matching the season-high by a RailRider in 2018- he was 14-for-32 (.434 AVG). During the road trip, McBroom went 11-for-25 (.440 AVG) with three different three-hit games to raise his season AVG from .292 to .304 entering Wednesday. He is one of five qualified players in the IL this season hitting above .300, but trails Pawtucket's OF Rusney Castillo (.323 AVG) by 19 points for the league lead in that category. He was given the night off in both games of Thursday's doubleheader.

DOING THE MATH: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders enter Thursday against the Norfolk Tides in 2nd place in the I.L. North, 9.0 games behind the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The RailRiders have 18 games left in their season, and if they were to go 15-3 (.833) down the stretch to reach 78 wins, they'd need Lehigh Valley to play no better than 5-13 (.278) in order to win the division title. Lehigh Valley is 73-49 entering play tonight.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from August 16, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central