SB Nation    •   8 min read

RailRiders pick up where they left off at the break

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MLB: Spring Training-New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers
T.J. Rumfield has 17 RBIs in his last 11 games to take over the team lead for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders with 63. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Not even the major league All-Star break could slow down the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

In their first game back after the four-day layoff, the New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate opened a three-game series in Worcester on Friday night with an 11-3 victory over the Red Sox at Polar Park in Massachusetts.

The victory was the ninth straight for the RailRiders (53-37 overall) and improved their record in the International League second half to 15-3, which is good for first place in the standings.

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The nine-game winning streak is the longest for the team since 2016, when they won the Triple-A National Championship.

Since May 29th, the RailRiders are 30-9.

Right-hander Brendan Beck made his fifth Triple-A start and threw five scoreless, no-hit innings with one walk and a career-high nine strikeouts. His previous best was seven with Double-A Somerset at Akron on May 8th. Beck retired the first 10 WooSox he faced before hitting Nate Eaton with a pitch with one out in the fourth. The only other base runner he allowed came on a leadoff walk to Jhostynxon Garcia in the fifth. He threw 79 pitches, 48 for strikes, improving his record to 2-0.

Center fielder Duke Ellis helped out Beck with a great defensive gem in the bottom of the second inning, robbing Vaughn Grissom of a hit.

Offensively, the RailRiders collected 16 hits. Jose Rojas, Everson Pereira and T.J. Rumfield each homered.

Rojas hit the second pitch of the game from Worcester starter Cooper Criswell out to right-center field for his 14th home run of the season to give the RailRiders a quick 1-0 lead. Pereira had a two-run shot in the seventh inning — his team-leading 16th — to make it an 8-0 game. Rumfield capped the scoring with a three-run blast in the ninth, his 11th of the year.

Rumfield’s three RBI on Friday night give him 17 in his last 11 games, enabling him to take over the team-lead in that category with 63. That also is tied for second with two other players in the International League. He also is 14th in batting at .302 (90-for-298).

Rojas, who had been the RailRiders’ RBI leader since his three-home run, eight-RBI game at Syracuse on May 1st, has 58, which ranks seventh in the league. He also is tied for sixth in the league with 23 doubles, while Rumfield is tied for eighth with 22.

On the mound, Allan Winans is tied with two other pitchers for the league-lead in wins with nine. He has a 1.19 earned-run average and 66 strikeouts in 13 games and 60.2 innings. Erick Leal ranks seventh in strikeouts with 88 and Sean Boyle is tied for 11th with 83. Boyle also is tied for sixth in wins with seven and 10th in innings pitched with 84.2.

Unfortunately, Boyle is on the seven-day injured list effective July 10th.

Finally, Spencer Jones, the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is tied for second in all of Minor League Baseball in home runs with 23. He hit 16 in 49 games at Somerset and has seven in 14 games with the RailRiders. Ryan Ward has 24 with Oklahoma City, top affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lazaro Montes also has a combined 23 at Single-A and Double-A in the Seattle Mariners system.

Friday’s victory over Worcester improves the RailRiders’ record against the WooSox to 9-4 this season. After this series concludes, the RailRiders head to Rochester for a six-game series against the Red Wings, top affiliate of the Washington Nationals.

This nine-game road trip is the longest remaining on the schedule.

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