SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (46-32) @ LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS (35-41)

RHP Adonis Rosa (1-0, 5.51) vs. RHP Enyel De Los Santos (3-3, 3.28)

|  Game No. 79  |  Coca-Cola Park  |  Allentown, PA  |  June 28, 2019  |  First Pitch 7:05 p.m.  |

MOOSIC, PA (June 27, 2019) -- The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders split Thursday night’s doubleheader with the Buffalo Bisons at PNC Field. 
In game one, Domingo German set the RailRiders up for success early in the game when he retired the first six batters he faced and struck out five in four innings in a Major League rehab appearance. In the bottom of the first the RailRiders got on the board first with a solo home run by Breyvic Valera, his tenth of the season- which set a new career-high- and ninth with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since being claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees. He continued his big night with a stand-up double in the bottom of the second to score Erik Kratz and Billy Burns, giving the RailRiders a 3-0 lead over Buffalo.  
The Bisons took a 4-3 lead in the top of the third thanks to a pair of two-run home runs by Andy Burns and Socrates Brito off German. However, in the bottom half of the inning, Kratz blooped an RBI double into center field to tie the game at 4-4. The RailRiders grabbed the lead back on a Ryan McBroom groundout in the bottom of the fourth, and a Billy Burns RBI single in the fifth extended the advantage to 6-4. David Sosebee (3-0) turned in two scoreless innings of relief, and Joe Harvey struck out the side in the seventh to earn his sixth save of the season and seal the game one victory.  The RailRiders fell 1-0 in game two of the twin bill, getting shutout for the third time this season.
A DIFFERENT SITUATION: The RailRiders enter Friday’s series-opener against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs having to take on two of the top arms in the International League in RHP Enyel De Los Santos (3-3, 3.28) and LHP Cole Irvin (2-0, 2.50). SWB has faced De Los Santos once already this season, scoring four times in the bottom of the first inning, with Tyler Wade’s two-run homer capping the early barrage. Irvin appeared in games April 10th and 17th and the RailRiders did not have the same level of success in notching just 1 ER off the southpaw in 12.2 IP (0.71 ERA).This continues a dominating trend for the two starters from a season ago, when Irvin and De Los Santos appeared in a combined 10G/10GS against SWB and was downright stingy: 3-2, 56.2 IP, 57 H (.261 BAA), 15R/15ER (2.38 ERA), 49 K, 10 BB
HANDLED AT HOME: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders welcomed the Buffalo Bisons to town Wednesday night for a three-game, two-day set between the top two teams in the International League North Division. Entering play Wednesday, the RailRiders held a 5.0-game lead on Buffalo, but the lead could have gotten reduced to 2.0 games had Buffalo continued its play as the hottest team in the IL. Instead, the RailRiders took the first two games of the series before dropping the nightcap of Thursday’s doubleheader, 1-0 (7). The RailRiders and Bisons have now met 17 times this season entering Thursday’s doubleheader, with the RailRiders holding an 11-5 advantage (Home: 5-6 // Road: 6-0). The two teams will not meet again until the final four games of the regular season August 30 - September 2 at PNC Field.

WELL AHEAD OF PACE: The RailRiders have a number of players at the midway point of the season who are locked-in on setting a new career-high in home runs in a seasonMike Ford: 18 HR (Career-High: 20 HR, 2017)Ryan McBroom: 16 HR (Career-High: 22 HR, 2016)Trey Amburgey: 13 HR (Career-High: 16 HR, 2018)Breyvic Valera: 10 HR (Career-High)Gosuke Katoh: 7 HR (Career-High)