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Happy birthday Olive Blodwyn and Violet Clara Ranella!

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Popiak announces Luzerne County Council run

<p>MOOSIC &#8212; When Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Dustin Fowler travels to Lehigh Valley Tuesday, he will look to carry over the momentum he gained last week. The best week of his Triple-A career.</p><p>Fowler was 11 for 26 &#8212; good for a .423 batting average &#8212; with seven extra-base hits, three walks, four runs scored and 5 RBI in six games. He capped off his impressive week hitting for the cycle in Sunday&#8217;s 11-inning win. Fowler hit a walk-off home run in the 6-5 victory over the Indianapolis Indians.</p><p>His torrid performance earned him his first-ever International League Batter of the Week honor.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a really good hitter. I had him the whole year last year,&#8221; RailRiders hitting coach P.J. Pilittere said of Fowler on April 15, when the outfielder was batting below .150. &#8220;He&#8217;s not overmatched. He belongs here. It&#8217;s just him believing in that and not trying to get four hits with every swing. It&#8217;s just, &#8216;Let the game come to you, slow things down and be the player that you are.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>The 22-year-old has been hot for the RailRiders of late, collecting at least one hit in 11 of his last 12 games. But Fowler was especially effective over the weekend, batting out of the two-hole for the first time this season.</p><p>Batting second, he was 2 for 2 Friday with a triple, a pair of walks, a run scored and an RBI and carried his momentum through the rest of the weekend. Fowler collected a pair of singles Saturday before hitting for the cycle Sunday.</p><p>Fowler said he feels most comfortable batting second, and showed that as he strung together arguably his best three games of the season over the weekend.</p><p>&#8220;I like getting used to (second) and not the three-hole because I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a realistic lineup spot for me,&#8221; Fowler said. &#8220;For the most part, just being aggressive. Having (lead-off hitter Tyler) Wade on the base paths a lot, they&#8217;re going to throw me a lot of fastballs, so it&#8217;s nice.&#8221;</p><p>As a 22-year-old playing in Triple-A for the first time, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders manager Al Pedrique has been impressed with how Fowler has grown over the last couple of weeks. He&#8217;s gone from a batting average of .125 after going 0 for 4 in a loss to the Buffalo Bisons on April 15 to .293 heading into Tuesday&#8217;s series opener against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re only 22, 23 years old playing in Triple-A, that&#8217;s not bad at all. The time will tell,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;The one thing I like about these young hitters is they&#8217;re making adjustments every at-bat, every pitch. They&#8217;re taking it every at-bat at a time, so I think that&#8217;s what has shown in the last four to five games.&#8221;</p><p>Rochester Red Wings pitcher Jose Berrios was named Pitcher of the Week.</p><p><strong>Cessa recalled by Yankees</strong></p><p>Luis Cessa (1-2, 1.54 ERA), who was scheduled to start Tuesday for the RailRiders, was recalled by the New York Yankees Monday afternoon.</p><p>In a corresponding move, reliever Bryan Mitchell was optioned. He had appeared in 11 games for the Yankees and registered a 6.35 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched.</p><p>Mitchell last pitched in Sunday&#8217;s loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He pitched a scoreless ninth, but then played first base during the 10th &#8212; while Aroldis Chapman pitched &#8212; and returned to the mound in the 11th. However, Mitchell allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in the inning and took the loss.</p><p>&#8220;We were short on pitchers, so I knew that I would maybe have to do something unorthodox,&#8221; Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, via yankees.com. &#8220;It was the only way to use Chappy, I felt, to give us a chance in the bottom of the inning to win the game. Then I would go back to Mitchell. It was the only way I could do it.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Dustin Fowler was named International League Batter of the Week on Monday after going 11 for 26 with seven extra-base hits. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_TTL041717RailRiders_1CMYK20175113720676-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Dustin Fowler was named International League Batter of the Week on Monday after going 11 for 26 with seven extra-base hits. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;">SWB RailRiders at Lehigh Valley IronPigs</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7:05 p.m.</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Coca-Cola Park, Allentown</p><p><strong>Probable Pitchers:</strong> TBA vs. LHV RHP Mark Appel (1-2, 6.11)</p><p><strong>On Radio:</strong> NEPA Sports Radio - The Game</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

SWB RailRiders OF Dustin Fowler named International League Batter of the Week