NOW WALK IT OUT: The RailRiders posted their second walk-off win of the series against the Norfolk Tides on Tuesday night. Ben Gamel
smacked the game-winner to right in the bottom of the ninth of the
RailRiders' 3-2 triumph over the Tides. The RailRiders pace the IL North
by 4.5 games with 20 to play.
MAGIC NUMBER:
SWB's magic number to clinch a playoff spot sits at 11. The RailRiders
pace Lehigh Valley by four in the loss column for the division. However,
the top three teams in the wild-card chase all reside in the North with
Lehigh Valley (73-50) leading the way followed by Rochester (68-56) and
Pawtucket (65-58). Playing just above .500 ball down the stretch at 11-9 would guarantee at least the wild-card spot for Al Pedrique's club.
DRAMATIC FLAIR: Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Mason Williams laced a leadoff single to right off reliever Garrett Cortright (0-1). Cesar Puello used a sacrifice bunt to push Williams to second. After a walk to pinch hitter Jake Cave,
Gamel delivered a hard roller through the right side. Williams raced
home and beat the throw from right fielder Dariel Alvarez for the
thrilling finish.
HOLD ON: Jonathan Holder (2-0)
took home the win in relief after firing two perfect frames with three
strikeouts. He has fired more than an inning in five of his eight SWB
appearances. Over his 13.1 innings, IL hitters have amassed just five
hits (.111 BAA) and zero walks (0.38 WHIP) while whiffing 17 times
(11.48/9 IP) against Holder. He has also stranded each of his five
inherited runners at Triple-A this season.
SOL MAN: Donovan Solano
lined his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot to right for a 1-0
third-inning lead. Norfolk scored a run in the fourth and seventh
innings to claim a 2-1 advantage, but Solano came through again in the
eighth. Rob Refsnyder worked a one-out walk and moved to second on a Chris Parmelee
groundout. Solano knotted the score at 2-2 on his third hit of the
night, a single to center that plated Refsnyder. Solano's three-hit
performance was his third over his last seven games played. In 15 August
games played he has slashed .389/.404/.593/.996. His 59 RBIs on the
season trail only Aaron Judge (65) for the team lead. Solano's
.302 average ranks sixth in the IL and his 133 hits trail only SWB
alumnus/current Buffalo Bison Jesus Montero (137) and Gamel (133).
EIGHT IS GREAT: The
RailRiders have a Triple-A best 78 victories on the season. Eight times
they have won a game in walk-off fashion this season. Three of those
thrilling conclusions have come thanks to Gamel. He delivered a
10th-inning walk-off single against Durham on July 22, a ninth-inning
sac fly on Aug. 9 versus Lehigh Valley and yesterday's heroics. Gamel
also played hero in arguably the most exciting walk-off of the
RailRiders era when he sprinted for an inside-the-park homer against
Pawtucket on Aug. 10, 2015. Gamel ranks among the IL's best in average
(5th, .310), hits (2nd, 134), steals (5th, 19) and runs scored (1st,
71).
BACK AT IT:
Refsnyder crushed a ground-rule double to right-center, walked and
scored the game's tying run in the eighth. In five SWB games since his
return from the bigs, Refsnyder has gone 6-for-14 (.429) with three RBIs
and four walks for a .526 OBP. He has hit safely in 23 of his last 25
Triple-A games, slashing .380/.426/.522/.947 in that time. The run has
shot his average up from .190 to .307.
BLACKJACK:
The RailRiders' 4-0 win in Sunday's doubleheader opener marked their
franchise-record 21st shutout of the season. SWB owns the most shutout
wins in MiLB. The old SWB single-season record for shutouts, 16, was set
by the 2009 SWB Yankees. The 21 shutouts also match the IL's modern-era
record set by the 1975 Tidewater Tides and matched by the 2015
Rochester Red Wings. The RailRiders (2.90) are Triple-A's only team with
a sub-3.00 ERA.
YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!: Norfolk
manager Ron Johnson was ejected in the eighth inning. All three games
on the series have been decided in walk-off fashion and the losing
manager has been tossed in the eighth inning of each game.
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