RailRiders' Refsnyder working toward callup

Rob Refsnyder has watched Scranton/Wilkes-Barre teammates Jose Pirela, Ramon Flores and Mason Williams earn stints with the Major League club. On Friday night, the 24-year-old second baseman made a case to get his opportunity.

The Yankees' No. 5 prospect tied a career high with four hits, drove in four runs and fell a triple shy of the cycle in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's 13-3 thumping of visiting Rochester.

It was the second four-hit game of Refsnyder's career and first since Aug. 12, 2013 for Class A Advanced Tampa. The four RBIs were two shy of the career high he set for Tampa on July 23, 2013.

Refsnyder got off to a hot start by launching a three-run homer to left field in the first inning off Red Wings starter Lester Oliveros. After Kyle Roller followed Refsnyder's fourth long ball of the season with a solo shot, Oliveros hit RailRiders catcher Austin Romine in the head with a pitch and was ejected by plate umpire Seth Buckminster. Both benches and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown and Romine was able to walk off the field with assistance after several minutes.

The incident seemed to serve as an emotional spark for some RailRiders, including Refsnyder.

"You try not to play this game with too much emotion because it's such an up and down game," he told The (Scranton) Times-Tribune. "But when Austin got hit like that, it's tough because Austin is kind of the heart and soul of this team. He's one of my closest friends on the team. For something like that to happen is really unfortunate. I think it just sparked a lot of emotions.

"Last year, he was the first one to take me under his wing. I owe a lot to Romine. It's tough to see that."

The 2012 fifth-round pick added an RBI single in the fifth and slashed a run-scoring double in the seventh that extended Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's lead to 13-3.

"We're really good," Refsnyder told the newspaper. "I say that just because we have Major League experience, we have great arms. Our bullpen is stellar. As an offense, we feel like we just have to score a couple of runs. I think our pitching and getting Pirela and Flores back is huge for our offense."

After a hot-hitting May in which the University of Arizona product hit .304 with two homers and nine RBIs in 92 at-bats, Refsnyder got off to a slow start in June, his average dipping to .227 with a homer and five RBIs in 44 at-bats. But he's hit safely seven of his last 10 games to get his overall mark up to .284.

With Yankees second baseman Stephen Drew owning a slash line of .169/.230/.361, Refsnyder could be a candidate for promotion. However, he's been held back by lingering questions about his defense; in 52 games this season, he's committed 12 errors.

Roller finished with three hits and Pirela went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI in his first game since being sent back down after 18 games in the Majors.

Twins No. 3 prospect Alex Meyer relieved Oliveros in the first and struck out five over three scoreless innings. Mark Hamburger surrendered seven runs in the fifth.

The game was called in the eighth inning due to rain.