Thursday, July 12, 2018

SCRANTON GAME NOTES

ROCHESTER RED WINGS (41-44) vs. SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (46-41)
LHP Adalberto Mejia (4-2, 2.68) vs. RHP Chance Adams (3-3, 4.82)
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|  Game No. 88  |  Thursday July 12, 2018  |  PNC Field  |  Moosic, PA  | 
|  First Pitch 7:05 p.m. |  Pregame Show 6:35 p.m.  |
 
LAST TIME OUT: (PAWTUCKET, RI (July 8, 2018)) On an afternoon where the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders match a dubious franchise mark, they earn a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox to take 2-of-3 games at McCoy Stadium and enter the All-Star Break on a high note.

After a scoreless first innings, Bruce Caldwell smacked an opposite-field solo home run off PawSox starter Fernando Rodriguez Jr. to lead off the second inning.  It was the infielder’s fifth homer of the year and RBI no. 18, providing the early 1-0 lead. Rodriguez- who was not expected to start the game before William Cuevas was summoned to the major leagues- tossed 2.1 innings in a spot-start and allowed just the one run, but he was tabbed with the loss as the PawSox never regained even footing.

With a 1-0 advantage in the top of the fifth, L.J. Mazzilli worked a walk and Tyler Austin hit a 3-0 offering from Williams Jerez over the left field wall for a 3-0 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead.  Austin’s home run, in his first day off the Disabled List, was estimated at 406 feet.

Pawtucket broke up the shutout bid in the bottom of the sixth against Justus Sheffield.  The southpaw had allowed four base runners over the first five innings, but Ivan De Jesus doubled to lead off the sixth.  Sam Travis singled in De Jesus and cut the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead to 3-1. He earned the win with 5.1 innings and one run allowed while striking out seven batters. He moves to 3-3 with a 2.53 ERA as he prepares for his next outing which will likely come at the Futures Game in Washington D.C. July 15.

A FAMILIAR FACE RETURNS: While the RailRiders were off on the All-Star Break, the New York Yankees made several moves affecting the roster. RHP Giovanny Gallegos was sent up and back to New York as the 26th Man on Monday’s doubleheader, RHP Luis Cessa made a spot-start against Baltimore Monday (6.0 IP, 0 R, 4 K) and has since been optioned back to the RailRiders (yet to report) and INF Brandon Drury has been optioned back to Triple-A (yet to report). In 48G with the RailRiders this season, Drury is hitting .314 with 5 HR and 29 RBI. In his 7G in New York this time around he went 3-for-22 (.136 AVG), 2B, 3 RBI.

...AND JUSTUS FOR ALL: LHP Justus Sheffield got the final start before the All-Star Break for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and went 5.1 IP, 5 H, R/ER, 7 K. It might be a while before he pitches for the RailRiders again because Sheffield was selected to participate in the 2018 SiriusXM Futures Game July 15 at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Baseball America ranked Sheffield as the No. 3 prospect in the New York Yankees system entering the season, trailing only INF Gleyber Torres and OF Estevan Florial. In 15 appearances this season (14GS), the southpaw is 3-5 with a 2.49 ERA and 88 K (10.0 K/9), 36 BB (2.4 K:BB) over 79.1 IP between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Sheffield is the first Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders player to be tabbed for the Futures Game since OF Aaron Judge was selected to the United States in 2015. The lone Yankees representative last season was RHP Domingo Acevedo who  allowed 3R/3ER on 4H in his one inning of work for the World Team.

ROLLING INTO THE BREAK: Over the last 27 games the RailRiders have owned an 19-8 record to bring them up to 2nd place in the International League North standings. The RailRiders are 7-0-2 in their last nine series and won 6-of-7 games leading into the All-Star Break. The RailRiders entered the series June 29 against Pawtucket trying to draw themselves back to .500 for the first time since being 19-19 May 17 (Game No. 38) and made it to five games above .500 for the first time all season Friday night.

WINGING IT: The RailRiders continue to get a strong performance out of its bullpen over the last two weeks. In 19G since June 17, the bullpen arms not named MLB rehabber RHP A.J. Cole have combined for 71.2 IP, 43 H (5.4 H/9), 19R/14ER (1.76 ERA).

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