RAILRIDERS WIN 6-3

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE

RAILRIDERS

GAME REPORT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OVERPOWERING: SWB STRIKES OUT SEASON-HIGH 18 BATTERS

Hale, Gallegos and Carroll dominate Durham batsmen in series opener

MOOSIC, Pa. (June 5, 2018) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders struck out a season-high 17 batters in a 6-3 win over the Durham Bulls on Tuesday night at PNC Field.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre got on the board in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with no outs against Chih-Wei Hu (1-5). Mark Payton lined a base hit to right field to score a run, and a misplay by Justin Williams allowed a second tally to come home on the play. Bruce Caldwell grounded out to plate another run, and Payton was chased home on a two-out single from Tyler Wade and provide the RailRiders with a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third against Durham reliever Andrew Kitteridge SWB struck for a run when Brandon Drury reached on an error to lead off the frame and later scored on a Billy McKinney RBI single.

The Bulls broke through against David Hale in the top of the sixth inning, when Brandon Snyder hit a two-run home run to narrow the RailRiders lead to 5-2. That was the only blemish against Hale in the contest, who lasted 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out eight.

The eight strikeouts set a season-high for Hale (2-2), and was the most he had struck out in a single game since Aug. 23, 2015 when he struck out nine New York Mets batters while pitching for the Colorado Rockies.

The RailRiders responded in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run from Caldwell, who tucked a line drive inside the foul pole down the left field line for his first round-tripper of the season. Caldwell finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and his first career Triple-A home run.

Giovanny Gallegos relieved Hale and was splendid in 2.2 innings of work, striking out an incredible seven batters. The seven whiffs tied a career-high for Gallegos, set in a start with Single-A Charleston on April 5, 2014.

Cody Carroll struck out three in the ninth inning to seal the victory for the RailRiders, but did allow a run to score on a Micah Johnson RBI double to bring the score to 6-3.

The 18 strikeouts set not only a new season-high for SWB pitching, but was the most that Durham batters had fanned in a single game this season. The final 10 outs of the game were recorded via the strikeout, and eight of the nine batters in the Bulls lineup struck out at least once in the contest.

The RailRiders continue their three-game series with the Bulls at PNC Field on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. RHP Erik Swanson (0-0, 5.06) toes the slab for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while Durham has not announced a starter. For tickets and more information, call (570) 969-BALL or slide to www.swbrailriders.com/tickets.