RailRiders' Higashioka slams seven RBIs

Veteran Kyle Higashioka led Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to its second sweep of the season in grand fashion Sunday.
The Yankees product tied a career high with seven RBIs -- capping his feat off with a grand slam -- as the RailRiders swept the Mets, 14-3, at NBT Bank Stadium. Higashioka finished the day 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored.

The 29-year-old matched a professional best set on June 26, 2016 with Double-A Trenton and served as as his first multi-homer contest since Aug. 15, 2017 with Rookie-level Pulaski.
Higashioka, who was drafted by New York in the seventh round in 2008, has had three stints at the Major League level. The Yankees recalled the catcher up on April 12 after Gary Sánchez landed on the Injured List with a left calf strain. In four games for New York, Higashioka went 3-for-12 with a pair of doubles and was optioned to Triple-A when Sanchez returned. 
Since then, the California native has posted a .294 average, but hadn't recorded a home run or RBI since coming back. That quickly changed Sunday.
Gameday box score
The RailRiders jumped to an early 2-0 lead off right-hander Mickey Jannis in the first inning, and a little bit of luck helped Higashioka add to it. With one out and Brad Miller on third base, Higashioka skied a popup that fell out of reach of right fielder Grégor Blanco and Miller crossed the plate.
Higashioka's two other hits were no-doubters, though. He tacked on two more runs to the 5-1 lead with his first dinger of the year -- an 0-1 fly ball to left field off Jannis. 

An even bigger blast came in the fourth. After Trey Amburgey and Mike Ford led off the inning with singles, Miller worked a walk to set the table. Jannis got Higashioka into an early 0-2 hole, but Higashioka lifted the third pitch high to left. The ball barely eluded left fielder Tim Tebow's leaping grasp over the wall to break the game open, 12-1. 
The grand slam highlighted a season-high six-run frame for Scranton/Wilkes Barre.
Zack Zehner also homered in the RailRiders' fifth straight win, finishing the day 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Amburgey and Billy Fleming added an RBI apiece.
 Carlos Gómez ripped a two-run homer while falling a triple short of the cycle for the Mets.