RailRiders Smack 16 Hits and Blank IronPigs, 7-0

Allentown, Pa. - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A/New York Yankees) smacked 16 hits and shutout the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) on Saturday night, 7-0. Zoilo Almonte accounted for four of those hits, and Walter Ibarra doubled twice to drive in two runs.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre gave the RailRider pitching staff all they would need in the first inning. Addison Maruszak led off the game, and was hit by a pitch from IronPig starter Raul Valdes. J.R. Murphy followed with a base hit, his first at the Triple-A level. Almonte then singled to center to load the bases. That setup Dan Johnson, who singled to left-center field to drive home Maruszak and Murphy. Almonte moved to third on the play, and scored when Josh Bell hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

Maruszak came around to score again in the second. He hit a one-out double to left field, and was plated when Murphy singled to right-center field. The RailRiders led 4-0 after an inning and a half.

RailRider starter David Huff was dominant, and took a perfect game into the fifth inning. Cody Overbeck broke it up with a single up the middle. Still being stretched back into a starting role, Huff went four and one-third innings, and allowed just the two hits, and struck out two batters.

The RailRiders added insurance in the eighth by scoring two runs. Cody Grice led off with a walk, stole second, and then scored on the first of Ibarra's doubles. Ibarra proceeded to steal third base, and score on a sacrifice fly to right field by Maruszak.

The scoring was capped in the ninth, when Bobby Wilson was hit by a pitch and came around to score when Ibarra doubled for the second time.

Chase Whitley (1-0) worked scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh to earn his first win of the season. Mark Montgomery, Sam Demel, and Matt Daley also contributed to the shutout.

Valdes (1-2) allowed four runs over six innings and was handed the loss.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre took their first game in the pursuit of the IronRail trophy on Saturday night, and will look to even the series on Sunday afternoon. Ivan Nova (2-0) has won both of his starts for SWB, and will get the nod on Sunday. Lehigh Valley will counter with Tom Cochran (2-2, 5.08). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. and pregame coverage will commence at 1:05 p.m. on NEPA Sports Radio - The GAME, Northeast PA's largest sports radio network: 100.7 FM, 1340 WYCK-AM, 1400 WICK-AM, 1440 WCDL-AM and 106.7 FM.

- SWB RailRiders - All Aboard! -