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Wilkes-Barre City Council moves ahead with anti-discrimination ordinance

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Mike Harnish, Marina Orrson nab victories at the Susquehanna River Runners Club Mile

MOOSIC &#8212; The IronRail Series has not been decided yet.With the RailRiders needing a win on Thursday to clinch the rivalry trophy against the IronPigs, Lehigh Valley remained alive in the season series.The IronPigs defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4-1 in a rain-shortened, five-inning game at PNC Field to win for the seventh time in the series. The RailRiders hold the advantage in the season series 9-7 with two games remaining in Allentown later this month.With the win, the IronPigs also pulled within three games of SWB in the International League North Division and snapped the RailRiders&#8217; seven-game winning streak, and their franchise-record-tying 11-game win streak at home. Had the game not been halted early, the RailRiders may have had a comeback in them, but manager Al Pedrique said that it&#8217;s part of the game.&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing we can do against Mother Nature,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We knew the rain was coming. We didn&#8217;t know when or how long it&#8217;d take to get here. It&#8217;s unfortunate it happened when it did with the last out made in the fifth inning.&#8221;An RBI double by Jesmuel Valentin broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth inning giving the IronPigs a 2-1 lead. Lehigh Valley tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth against Phil Coke, with one scoring on an RBI single by Andrew Knapp to increase the lead to 3-1.A throwing error by left fielder Clint Frazier allowed two &#8216;Pigs runners to get in scoring position and another run scored on an infield single.The rain started in the bottom of the fifth and the RailRiders got a baserunner via walk. It got heavier during Frazier&#8217;s at bat, but the umpires continued and called for the tarp right after he struck out. Rain was so hard that the tarp got too heavy and couldn&#8217;t be pulled across the entire infield.RailRiders starter Richard Bleier got the start in place of Luis Cessa, who was called up to New York on Thursday afternoon. Bleier only lasted 2 2/3 innings, but was on a pitch count of 45. He allowed five hits and one run on short notice. Coke (4-3) gave up three runs (two earned) in just 2 1/3 innings.Bleier spent the last two-plus months in New York working out of the Yankees bullpen. Thursday was his first start since May 22 with the RailRiders. He hadn&#8217;t pitched longer than 1 2/3 innings since his last SWB start.&#8220;I thought Bleier threw well and kept us in the game,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just too bad the game was shortened to five innings. He hadn&#8217;t thrown that long in a long time so we had no reason to send him back out there. We have a lot of season left and have to make sure everybody stays healthy.&#8221;Lehigh Valley jumped in front in the top of the first starting the game with a pair of singles followed by a fielder&#8217;s choice RBI from Nick Williams for a 1-0 lead.Higashioka&#8217;s seventh home run with the RailRiders and 18th combined with Double-A numbers came in the bottom of the second and tied up the score at 1-1.Notes: The RailRiders open a series in Rochester on Friday with RHP Brady Lail (5-3, 3.61) getting the nod. &#8230; The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise record for most consecutive home wins is believed to be 11 set by the Red Barons in their last year of existence, 2006, and now tied by the RailRiders. &#8230; Injured SWB outfielder Mason Williams (quad) ran the bases on Thursday and will do so again on Friday in Rochester. After that, Pedrique said a decision will be made by the end of weekend about activating him from the disabled list.IronPigs 4, RailRiders 1 (5 inn.)IronPigs`AB`R`H`BIBourjos rf`3`1`1`0Sweeney 3b` 3`0`1`0Williams lf`3`1`2`1Ruf dh`2`1`1`0Knapp c`3`0`1`1Perkins cf`3`0`1`1Stassi 1b`3`0`0`0Burriss ss`1`1`1`0Valentin 2b`2`0`1`1Totals`23`4`9`4RailRiders`AB`R`H`BIFrazier lf`3`0`0`0Solano 3b`2`0`0`0Judge dh`2`0`1`0Parmelee 1b`2`0`1`0Austin rf`2`0`0`0Higashioka c`2`1`1`1Cave cf` 2`0`1`0Culver 2b`2`0`0`0Diaz ss` 1`0`0`0Totals`18`1`4`1IronPigs`100`12`&#8212;`4RailRiders`010`00`&#8212;`1E: Frazier (2). LOB: IronPigs 6; RailRiders 3. DP: IronPigs 1, RailRiders 1. 2B: Valentin (2). HR: Higashioka (7). SB: Burriss (6).IronPigs `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOVasquez (W, 3-0) ` 5.0`4`1`1`1`4RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOBleier `2.2`5`1`1`0`1Coke (L, 4-3) `2.1`4`3`2`2`2Umpires: HP: Sean Barber. 1B: Jonathan Bailey. 3B: Dan Merzel.T: 1:45 ( and 25-minute delay). Att: 7,447<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave RosengrantFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>RailRiders to host Triple-A ChampionshipThe RailRiders announced Thursday afternoon that PNC Field will be the host for the 2017 Triple-A National Championship game on Sept. 19, 2017.International League President Randy Mobley and Pacific Coast League President Branch B. Rickey were present for the news conference at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport to make the announcement.The game features the International League Governors&#8217; Cup champion vs. the winner of the Pacific Coast League champion in a one-game, winner-take-all contest.&#8220;I could not be more excited about bringing an event of this magnitude to our community,&#8221; RailRiders General Manager Jeremy Ruby said in a statement. &#8220;The opportunity to showcase PNC Field and the amazing atmosphere our fans create for a game on national television is one we couldn&#8217;t pass up. The only way this could be any better is if the RailRiders are playing in the game.&#8221;Season ticket renewal information for the RailRiders will be made available in the next few days. Included as part of a full 2017 season ticket plan will include tickets to the National Championship game. All other 2017 ticket package details will be released early next week.The Triple-A National Championship Game debuted in 2006 and only been hosted by an International League North Division team once. The Triple-A World Series, Triple-A Classic and Las Vegas Triple-A World Series all served are predecessors to the current championship event.The PCL has won the last four tilts and leads the all-time series, 7-3.This year&#8217;s championship tilt will be in played in Memphis, Tenn., on Sept. 20. Other events surrounding the 2017 title game will be announced in the near future.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports.</shirttailMeta></div>

Heavy rain, IronPigs spoil RailRiders’ night