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Bill Jones: Wyoming Valley filled with hopeful signs of better days ahead

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Ryan Hunter-Reay outfoxes the field in victory at Pocono

MOOSIC &#8212; The best-case scenario for the RailRiders entering the weekend is that they would open up a huge lead in the International League North Division with a little more than two weeks left in the regular season.And that&#8217;s exactly what happened.First-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre finished off a three-game sweep of second-place Rochester on Sunday afternoon at PNC Field as Austin Romine drove in three runs, Gary Sanchez went 4 for 4 and Kyle Haynes pitched seven innings leading the RailRiders to a 4-2 win.The RailRiders now lead by 7.5 games over Rochester with 16 to go and their magic number to clinch the division stands at nine.&#8220;It feels good, especially against a team like that it feels good to sweep them,&#8221; Romine said. &#8220;We always play real close games against them, there&#8217;s history there and it feels good to beat them.&#8220;It&#8217;s exactly what we needed to do and we beat them every game.&#8221;Haynes tied a career-high with seven innings pitched, the first time he&#8217;s gone that long in more than two years. The righty also tossed a season-high 99 pitches, while allowing just three hits and two walks. The only run he gave up was in the top of the first. After getting the first two outs of the game, Haynes walked Reynaldo Rodriguez, when stole second before Kennys Vargas singled him in for a 1-0 lead.If not for spectacular plays by rightfielder Aaron Judge, who made a diving catch and second baseman Rob Refsnyder, who contributed a diving stop to save a hit and get an out, the outing could have been a lot worse for Haynes.&#8220;It was huge to get the sweep of the team that&#8217;s right on our heels and who them there&#8217;s a reason this team&#8217;s in first place,&#8221; Haynes said. &#8220;Just build off that going into these last few weeks is big.&#8221;After that, the 24-year-old Haynes was in a rhythm. He allowed just one baserunner in the third, fifth and seventh innings. Using his moving sinker, Haynes got seven outs on the ground, while two outs in the air didn&#8217;t reach the outfield.&#8220;To go seven and go deep into the game and we didn&#8217;t have to use too much of the bullpen that was big,&#8221; Haynes said.Romine, who drove in the game-ending run on Friday night and went 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI in Saturday night&#8217;s win, got the RailRiders&#8217; offense going again on Sunday afternoon.In the bottom of the second, with runners on second and third, Romine lined a single to left to Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge for a 2-1 lead.Romine&#8217;s next time up also resulted in a run and driving in Sanchez. This time, all Romine had to do was hit a groundball to get Sanchez home, and that&#8217;s what he did with an RBI groundout.&#8220;I&#8217;m just trying to do my job when the job is there,&#8221; Romine said. &#8220;Rochester&#8217;s starter Taylor Rogers got stronger as the game went on as eight of the left-hander&#8217;s nine strikeouts were the last eight outs he recorded before getting pulled with two outs in the seventh.Rogers entered the game outstanding against left-handed hitters only allowing just one extra-base hit all season in 23 starts, but the RailRiders&#8217; MVP candidate Ben Gamel didn&#8217;t get that memo.Gamel went 2 for 4 against Rogers with a pair of doubles, the second one scored Rico Noel to extend the RailRiders lead to 4-1 in the seventh inning.&#8220;Ben added some insurance there like he always does all year, which was huge&#8221; Romine added.Rochester&#8217;s second run came in the ninth when Vargas led off with a monstrous home run to rightfield that sailed over the Railhouse and out of the stadium.Playoff tickets on saleThe team announced on Sunday that playoff tickets are now on sale at the box office, and will be available online starting Tuesday morning at 10.Should the RailRiders claim the IL North, they would open their best-of-five First Round Governors&#8217; Cup Series at the wild-card winner&#8217;s ballpark for two games on Sept. 9-10. The RailRiders&#8217; first playoff home game would be on Friday, Sept. 11 with the if-necessary games 4 and 5 being on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13.Should the RailRiders advance to the best-of-five Governors&#8217; Cup Finals, they would play the first two games on the road on Sept. 15 and 16 with Game 3 at PNC Field on Sept. 17. If necessary, Games 4 and 5 would follow on Sept. 18 and 19. Ticket prices for playoff games include are: Club &amp; 4Topp - $15; Infield Box - $10; Field Reserve/RailHouse - $8; Bleachers - $5; Lawn - $5.RailRiders 4, Red Wings 2Rochester`AB`R`H`BISantana ss`4`0`0`0Beresford 2b`4`0`1`0Rodriguez lf`3`1`0`0Vargas 1b`4`1`2`2Avery rf`4`0`0`0Pinto dh`3`0`0`0Ortiz cf`3`0`1`0Diaz 3b`4`0`0`0Paulino c`3`0`1`0Totals`32`2`5`2RailRiders`AB`R`H`BIGamel cf`4`0`2`1Refsnyder 2b`4`0`0`0Pirela lf`4`0`0`0Sanchez c`4`2`4`0Judge rf`3`1`0`0Figueroa 3b`4`0`1`0Romine 1b`3`0`1`3Roller dh`3`0`1`0Noel pr/dh`0`1`0`0Petit ss`3`0`0`0Totals`32`4`9`4Rochester`100`0o0`o01`&#8212;`2RailRiders`020`100`10x` &#8212;`4E: Rogers (1), Figueroa (13). DP: Red Wings 1, RailRiders 0. LOB: Red Wings 6, RailRiders 5. 2B: Paulino (4), Gamel 2 (22), Sanchez 2 (9). HR: Vargas (4). SB: Rodriguez (10), Noel (5).Rochester`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SORogers (L, 9-11)`6.2`8`4`4`1`9Achter `1.1`1`0`0`0`0RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOHaynes (W, 2-1) `7.0`3`1`1`2`4Acevedo (S, 1)`2.0`2`1`1`1`2Umpires: 1B: Seth Buckminster. 3B: Nic Lentz. HP: Max GuyllT: 2:15. Att: 6,332.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Railriders shortstop Gregorio Petit waits for the ball as Rochester&#8217;s Reynaldo Rodriguez slides into second base in the first inning Sunday at PNC Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_wings-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Railriders shortstop Gregorio Petit waits for the ball as Rochester&#8217;s Reynaldo Rodriguez slides into second base in the first inning Sunday at PNC Field. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_wings-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A memorial of a rake, stamper and Yankees hat honors the memory of former RailRiders groundskeeper Dave Revta, who passed away Saturday. The memorial was placed on home plate before the game with the Rochester Red Wings Sunday afternoon and a moment of silence was taken after the national anthem was played. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_wings-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>A memorial of a rake, stamper and Yankees hat honors the memory of former RailRiders groundskeeper Dave Revta, who passed away Saturday. The memorial was placed on home plate before the game with the Rochester Red Wings Sunday afternoon and a moment of silence was taken after the national anthem was played. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_wings-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">RailRiders right fielder Aaron Judge makes a diving catch on a ball hit by Rochester&#8217;s Danny Santana. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_wings-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>RailRiders right fielder Aaron Judge makes a diving catch on a ball hit by Rochester&#8217;s Danny Santana. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>With three straight wins against Wings, SWB magic number drops to 9</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave Rosengrantdrosengrant@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>The T.L. ExpressGame Highlights: Austin Romine had a single and three RBI, while Ben Gamel notched a pair of doubles and accounted for the other SWB run batted in. &#8230;Gary Sanchez also doubled twice as part of a 4 for 4 afternoon and scored two runs. &#8230;Kyle Haynes picked up his second Triple-A win by lasting a career-high tying seven innings, throwing 99 pitches and only giving up three hits and one run.Attendance: 6,332Time of game: 2:25Race for the IL North: With Sunday&#8217;s win against Rochester, the RailRiders&#8217; record this season is 73-55 and they have a 7.5 game lead in the division over the Red Wings (66-63) with 16 games remaining in the regular season. SWB&#8217;s magic number to clinch its first division title since 2012, and first since being renamed RailRiders is 9.Today&#8217;s Game: SWB starts a three-game series against Pawtucket at McCoy Stadium tonight at 7:05.Today&#8217;s Probables: RailRiders lefty Chris Capuano (1-1, 1.93) vs. Pawtucket LHP Edwin Escobar (1-2, 2.51)On Deck: The RailRiders play three games in Pawtucket starting today before coming back to PNC Field on Thursday, Aug. 27 to face Lehigh Valley in a doubleheader.On the Radio: All games can be heard on NEPA Sports Radio WYCK 1340-AM, 1400-AM, 1440-AM, 100.7-FM, 106.7-FMHOW THEY SCOREDROCHESTER FIRST: Danny Santana flied out. James Beresford grounded out. Reynaldo Rodriguez walked and stole second. Kennys Vargas singled to score Rodriguez. Xavier Avery grounded into a force out. RED WINGS 1-0RAILRIDERS SECOND: Gary Sanchez singled. Aaron Judge walked. Cole Figueroa grounded out, but the runners advanced. Austin Romine singled to score Sanchez and Judge. Kyle Roller grounded into a doubleplay. RAILRIDERS 2-1RAILRIDERS FOURTH: Sanchez doubled. Judge flied out. Figueroa singled, Sanchez to third. Romine grounded out, Sanchez scored. Roller grounded out. RAILRIDERS 3-1RAILRIDERS SEVENTH: Romine struck out. Roller singled and was pinch-run for by Rico Noel, who stole second and moved to third on an bad pick-off attempt. Gregorio Petit struck out. Ben Gamel doubled to score Noel. Rob Refsnyder flied out. RAILRIDERS 4-1ROCHESTER NINTH: Vargas homered. Avery flied out. Josmil Pinto struck out. Danny Ortiz walked. Argenis Diaz struck out. RAILRIDERS 4-2 </factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant</shirttailMeta></div>

RailRiders drop magic number for clinching IL North to 9 with sweep of Rochester