PAWTUCKET R.I. (May 23, 2018) - Justus Sheffield anchored an early lead, and the bullpen made it hold-up as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders took their first win of the roadtrip Wednesday night with a 7-1 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox.
PAWTUCKET R.I. (May 23, 2018) - Justus Sheffield anchored an early lead, and the bullpen made it hold-up as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders took their first win of the roadtrip Wednesday night with a 7-1 win over the Pawtucket Red Sox.
The RailRiders put a run on the board with a Brandon Drury RBI single which plated Tyler Wade in the first inning to provide Sheffield a lead before he threw a pitch. Sheffield was making his first appearance since being placed on the Disabled List (shoulder tightness) May 12 and tossed four shutout innings on 70 pitches. He scattered three hits and walked a batter while striking out five. Since allowing two runs to score in his first inning of work at the Triple-A level, the lefty has not allowed a run over 11.2 straight innings.
Scranton added to its lead 1-0 in the 4th inning with an RBI double for Billy Fleming, who was playing his first game for the RailRiders since being placed on the DL May 6.
The next batter was Rey Navarro, and the switch-hitter scorched a groundball single into centerfield to plate Fleming and Ryan McBroom from second and third to extend the lead to 4-0.
In a series littered with MLB rehabbers, RHP Tommy Kahnle was a fresh face for SWB. Kahnle began his career as a New York Yankees prospect before getting plucked from the system by the Colorado Rockies. The change of scenery followed a full season with the Double-A Trenton Thunder in 2013, so Wednesday marked the RailRiders debut for the right-hander. He allowed a run in one inning on a pair of hits and a walk while not striking out a batter.
Other rehabbers appearing in the game for the RailRiders were Greg Bird and Billy McKinney. Bird finished 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in the top of the 9th inning that capped the RailRiders scoring. It was his second homer in three games on rehab with SWB. Meanwhile, McKinney reached on a walk but was 0-for-3 with a run scored and a strikeout.
Joe Harvey tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen to push the game into the 8th inning where Cody Carroll finished it off with two scoreless innings of his own. The pair combined to strike out six over four scoreless innings of work.
The RailRiders and PawSox conclude their series with a morning game Thursday, after which the RailRiders will pile on the bus back home to Moosic, Pa. LHP Josh Rogers (3-3, 2.98) is expected to get the ball for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against RHP Justin Haley (1-5, 3.63) for Pawtucket. It's an 11:05 a.m. scheduled first pitch, and pregame coverage with Adam Marco and Adam Giardino begins at 10:35 a.m.
