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New RailRiders ownership off to a strong start

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How does your garden grow: A touch of the tropics: Navy assignments inspired Wilkes-Barre gardener

It&#8217;s been nearly two weeks since Kyle Roller led the International League to a victory in the Triple-A All-Star Game and earned Top Star honors for the I.L.But when Roller and the RailRiders returned home on Friday night for the first time in more than two weeks, the slugger was still glad to talk about the moment.&#8220;It was fun. You always play against these guys, but to play on their team and build a relationship, it was a fun time,&#8221; he said &#8220;And to get to know guys and see how they go about doing things, what&#8217;s made them successful and try to build off that.&#8221;While Roller was named the top player for the I.L., a former Yankee farmhand, Peter O&#8217;Brien was selected as the top star for the Pacific Coast League and both stepped on the field together after the game to receive their respective awards.Roller and O&#8217;Brien were never on the same level at the same time in the Yankees organization, but they did play together at times during spring training and they built up a camaraderie.&#8220;It was good to see a familiar face out there,&#8221; Roller said. &#8220;He&#8217;s a good guy with a tremendous amount of potential and I&#8217;m glad to see he&#8217;s doing well.&#8221;Iconic voice returnsLongtime Public Address announcer for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, John Davies returned to the booth at PNC Field on Friday night to fill in for Dean Corwin.Davies, who is now enshrined in the press box with his name on the door to the PA booth, hadn&#8217;t announced a game since the 2011 season when the team was named the Yankees. Many fans recognized the iconic voice, and Davies didn&#8217;t have any major hiccups in his first action since the club was renamed RailRiders.In case you missed itThe long road trip finally concluded last week with the RailRiders winning six of the 11 games on the trip that started on July 10. The second half of the season started with games in Louisville where the team took three of four before splitting four games with Indianapolis.While most of the away games since the break were positives, the RailRiders were shut out for the first time this season on the road when Indianapolis defeated SWB 5-0 last week. It was the first time the team was held scoreless on the road in nearly a year. The last time before the loss to Indy was on July 19, 2014 at Charlotte.Don&#8217;t miss thisLast week, SWB co-managing owner David Abrams talked about seeing the past at PNC Field with some Phillies players recognized. On Tuesday, you will see the Phillie Phanatic at PNC Field.It used to be a yearly occurrence for one of the most iconic mascots in all of sports to show up at the ballpark in Moosic, but this will be the first time he will be there since the Red Barons were the home team.Another top promotion this week is Princess and Pirate night on Friday. One of the hits from the previous two seasons returns on a night when postgame fireworks will also be held.You also won&#8217;t want to miss the giveaway on Saturday at PNC Field as the first 2,500 fans will receive a RailRiders hat.Looking aheadThe rivalry between Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley, the two closest opponents in the International League, picks up again this week with four games &#8212; a pair of two home-and-home series.Don&#8217;t look now, but the IronPigs are one of the hottest teams in the league having won 16 of their last 22 games entering Saturday, which includes a three-game sweep of the RailRiders June 29 to July 1 in Allentown.So far this season, the IronPigs have edged the RailRiders in the season series with five wins in the nine games. It doesn&#8217;t look like it will be easy for SWB this time around either, at least in the first game of the series as one of Philadelphia&#8217;s top prospects, Jesse Biddle, is slated to start against the RailRiders on Monday night. After a poor start to his Triple-A career when he allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings, the righty has given up just one earned run in his last 12 2/3 frames, while whiffing 12.When the four games with the IronPigs wraps up, the RailRiders will head back up the Pennsylvania Turnpike to host South Division opponent Columbus, which began Saturday with 55 wins; only three clubs in the league have won more times. This will be the first time the teams have met this season. They will get together again in Columbus Aug. 4-6.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave Rosengrantdrosengrant@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant</shirttailMeta></div>

RailRiders’ Roller enjoyed successful All-Star Game