RailRiders' McBroom smacks five hits

When Ryan McBroom was a member of the Blue Jays organization, he once recorded six hits in a game. 
Not quite halfway through his first season in the Yankees system, he came close to doing it again. McBroom turned in a five-hit performance, finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in four runs on Friday as Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre drubbed Syracuse, 14-2, at NBT Bank Stadium. 

"Those are huge nights," McBroom said. "Those are nights you remember for the rest of your career."
Gameday box score
The 26-year-old outfielder flied out to center field in his first at-bat of the game, but that was the only time the Chiefs retired him. He reached on an infield single in the third inning and Yankees No. 17 prospectBilly McKinney doubled him home one batter later. 
Leading off the fifth, McBroom drilled a 1-1 pitch from Syracuse starter Brady Dragmire over the wall in left-center for his eighth home run of the year.
"[Dragmire is] known for his sinkerball," he said. "I kind of backed off the dish a little bit and backed my hands away from my body and gave myself some space to work. Sure enough, I got a sinker down and in. I was able to get my barrel to it, pull it to left-center and got some air under it to get it out of the yard. It's just a good feeling to get a [pitch] like that." 

Facing right-hander César Vargas the next inning, McBroom plated Brandon Drury with a single to left.
"Guys were getting on base ahead of me, so I was looking for pitches I could just drive and score those guys," he said. "It was fun to be a part of." 
With runners on first and second and no outs in the eighth, the Fredericksburg, Virginia, native drove in Tyler Wade and Drury with a double to left. McKinney followed with a two-run shot to right-center field -- his ninth homer in the last 17 games after going without any through May 28. 
McBroom knocked a single through the left side again in the ninth, becoming the first RailRiders player to record a five-hit game this season. 
"It's almost like nothing is going through your head," the 6-foot-3, 235-pounder said. "It's a weird feeling. It's a good one at that, though. You're not thinking about anything. It's hard to go back and remember that feeling. It's hard to explain, but it kind of just happens. Like I said, it was just super-fun tonight." 

Two key adjustments have McBroom feeling more comfortable at the plate recently. One, he said, involves backing off the plate. The second involves keeping his hands away from his body in order to give his barrel more time in the zone. 
"I want to get in there and hit a fastball hard and far," he added. "When I'm going my best, that's what I think about. I like to stay consistent with that approach." 
McBroom spent a week with Double-A Trenton at the beginning of June, going 8-for-21 in five games. The time in the Eastern League served him well. 
"I just kind of wanted to go down there and have quality at-bats and just keep that thing rolling. I was able to do so," the West Virginia University product said. "I definitely think it was a good thing for me to go down there and figure some stuff out and get going on all cylinders again." 
The 5-for-6 showing brought McBroom's batting average above .300 -- from .287 to .303 -- for the first time since April 12. He has an .810 OPS and 26 RBIs. 

His six-hit performance came on July 12, 2015 with Class A Lansing on the road against Dayton. Earlier that season, he recorded a five-hit game -- also in Dayton.
"A game like that gives you a lot of confidence in your work," McBroom said. "It makes you just believe that what you're doing is what you're supposed to be doing.
"It kind of gets you going in the right direction. You believe in yourself and you believe that you're doing the right thing. Nights like that are huge for not only the team, but also a player's mental game as well." 
Mark Payton clubbed his first two home runs of the season and finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Drury went 4-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs scored for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while Clint Frazier contributed a solo shot.
RailRiders starter Josh Rogers (6-5) earned the win with seven scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and struck out six without issuing a walk.