PAWTUCKET EDGES SCRANTON, 2-0

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE

RAILRIDERS

GAME REPORT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bats Pawsed II: RailRiders Limited to four hits in 2-0 loss

Justus Sheffield’s Triple-A debut features six strikeouts over 4.2 innings pitched

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (May 6, 2018) – For the second straight day, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell to the Pawtucket Red Sox 2-0, this time spoiling the Triple-A debut of LHP Justus Sheffield.

Sheffield is the No. 3 prospect in the New York Yankees organization according to Baseball America and is a consensus Top-50 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball according to the major prospect publications. He entered his start Sunday with a 1-2 record and 2.25 ERA over five starts with the Trenton Thunder to begin the season, but took a handful of batters to settle into the game.

Pawtucket opened the scoring in the home half of the first against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starting pitcher Justus Sheffield. The southpaw, making his Triple-A debut, allowed the first three batters to reach on a single, a walk and a single to load the bases. A Jordan Betts sacrifice fly brought in Rusney Castillo for the game's first run.  Clint Frazier caught a foul pop by Dan Butler down the left field line, but Ivan De Jesus tagged from third to score on a sac fly for the two-run lead. 

Sheffield found his groove, starting in the second inning, striking out the side.  The left-hander worked 4.2 innings in his first RailRiders appearance, striking out six and walking four.

Justin Haley limited the RailRiders to three hits, two walks and a hit batter over five-plus innings of work before turning the ball over to the PawSox bullpen. The combination of Brandon Workman and Bobby Poyner limited the RailRiders to one hit over the final four innings in the shutout. 

The four hits collected by SWB were notched by Tyler Wade (1-for-4), Thairo Estrada (1-for-4, 2B), Adam Lind (1-for-4, CS) and Shane Robinson (1-for-3).

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre opens a three game series in Syracuse on Monday evening.  Daniel Camarena (1-1, 4.50) gets the call for the RailRiders against the Chiefs and Erick Fedde (1-0, 3.60).  First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre returns to PNC Field on Thursday night for a seven-game, eight-day homestand against Rochester and Lehigh Valley.