Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s road to the second-half title in the International League hit a bit of a speed bump.
The RailRiders were shut out in the final two games of their series with the Syracuse Mets at PNC Field in northeastern Pennsylvania. In the final 19.1 innings of the series, Syracuse pitching limited the RailRiders to no runs and seven hits with 25 strikeouts.
That scoreless streak extended another 5.1 innings in the opening game of a series in Worcester on Tuesday night until Jorbit Vivas’
groundout plated Braden Shewmake, who led off the sixth inning with a triple.
Worcester left-hander Connelly Early gave up a single to Austin Slater and a double to Vivas to open the game, then retired 15 straight before Shewmake’s triple. The No. 6 prospect in the Red Sox system according to MLB Pipeline struck out 10 in six innings and left with a 5-1 lead.
However, in the top of the seventh, the slumbering RailRiders offense came to life against the WooSox bullpen. Twelve batters came to the plate in the inning and seven scored. Jeimer Candelario had a RBI single and Shewmake a RBI groundout. Vivas delivered a two-run single, Spencer Jones a two-run double and Brennen Davis an RBI single to give the RailRiders an 8-5 lead. They held on for an 8-7 win.
While the RailRiders were rallying, Syracuse was busy in Buffalo squandering a 3-0 lead and losing, 4-3, to the Bisons. The third-place Toledo Mud Hens also blew a 3-0 lead and lost to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 10-3.
As a result, the first-place RailRiders lead the International League second-half standings with a 40-18 record, four games ahead of the Mets (36-22) and five games in front of Toledo (35-23). The Indianapolis Indians (34-24) are in fourth place, six games back and Lehigh Valley (32-25) is in fifth place, 7.5 games back.
Seventeen games remain in the regular season.
On Wednesday at 6:05 p.m., the RailRiders continue the six-game series at Worcester. They hold a 12-4 advantage in the season series over the WooSox.
Even though the RailRiders wound up losing the final two games to Syracuse and splitting that series, there were some positive performances.
In the penultimate game, the RailRiders got a quality start by Brendan Beck. The right-hander, who is the New York Yankees’ No. 11 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, allowed one run on one hit in seven innings with one walk and nine strikeouts, which tied a career high. Unfortunately, the hit he allowed was a solo home run to Yonny Hernandez in the top of the third inning. Syracuse won, 2-0.
Jose Rojas batted .471 (8-for-17) in five games in the series with three doubles, four home runs and nine RBI. He had 23 total bases and a 1.353 slugging percentage. Those numbers helped him earn International League Player of the Week honors for Aug. 26th-31st.
Rojas leads the International League and ranks third in all of minor league baseball with 93 RBI. He is second in the league with 27 home runs (5th MILB) and 34 doubles (T6th MILB). His 64 extra-base hits lead the International League and broke the previous team record of 62 set in 1998 by Marlon Anderson of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.
Joel Kuhnel has been a bright spot lately out of the bullpen. The veteran righty has not allowed an earned run (two total) in his last six outings covering 12 innings with three walks and eight strikeouts. In his last two games, he has retired all 13 batters he has faced.
Following the series with Worcester, the RailRiders face Lehigh Valley next week in their final six-game home series of the season. They then close the season with a six-game series in Buffalo on Sept. 16th-21st.
