RAILRIDERS 11 - STRIPERS 1

RAILRIDERS

GAME REPORT

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre  11     Gwinnett   1

 

MOOSIC, Pa. (July 28, 2018) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated the Gwinnett Stripers 11-1 Saturday night at PNC Field.

 

The Stripers jumped on the board in the top of the first when Luis Marte led off with a double. He moved to third on a ground ball hit to short and was plated on a sharply hit ball to the backhand side of third baseman Bruce Caldwell whose only play was to first.

 

The RailRiders wasted no time in responding as Bruce Caldwell led off the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run. Mark Payton followed with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Abiatal Avelino then plated Payton with a base hit of his own. Devyn Bolasky snagged a single, Zack Zehner walked, and Francisco Diaz also reached base on four balls which brought Avelino home and gave Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a 3-1 lead.

 

In the bottom of the second, the RailRiders added to their total as Payton led off with a solo home run. After Tyler Austin doubled, Mike Ford hit a 3-2 pitch from Stripers starter Lucas Sims over the right-centerfield wall to push the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead to 6-1.  It was Ford’s 12^th home run of the year. He is twelve-for-twenty-eight (.429 AVG) in his last seven games and now has 36 RBIs on the season.

 

In the third, Diaz doubled home Zehner for a 7-1 lead.  Two frames later, Payton singled in Caldwell.  The RailRiders added an additional run on a double play ball in the seventh for a 9-1 edge. In the eighth, Austin, Ford, and Bolasky walked to load the bases. Zehner hit into a fielder’s choice to score Austin and Diaz singled to plate Ford to give Scranton/Wilkes-Barre an 11-1 lead.

 

Justus Sheffield threw well for the RailRiders going five and two-thirds innings allowing only one run on three hits and striking out three. Payton had a great night at the plate going four-for-five with three RBIs including a home run. Eight of the nine Scranton/Wilkes-Barre batters recorded at least one hit.

 

The team will continue their home stand with Gwinnett tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. LHP Nestor Cortes (4-4, 3.98) heads to the mound for SWB. The Stripers counter with LHP Kolby Allard (6-4, 2.80). For tickets and more information, call (570) 969-BALL or slide to www.swbrailriders.com/tickets.

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Record:

55-47