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SWB RailRiders 1B Tyler Austin going back to New York

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Police seize 110 bags of heroin and fentanyl in Hazleton raid

<p>MOOSIC &#8212; Maybe aside of Rochester Red Wings outfielder Zack Granite, Tyler Wade might be the most potent lead-off hitter in the entire International League.</p><p>While Granite is batting a league-leading .352, Wade is first in the league in hits, runs scored and, most-impressively, steals, with 20. And that was before Friday&#8217;s game against the Pawtucket Red Sox even started.</p><p>Wade was a pest on the base paths once again, stealing three bases, as the RailRiders (45-28) outslugged Pawtucket (34-37) for the second straight night, winning 9-2. The 22-year-old third baseman was just one away from tying the franchise record for steals in one game.</p><p>&#8220;You have to know your hitters and know your pitchers, obviously, and kind of see what they&#8217;re throwing on what counts,&#8221; Wade said. &#8220;I&#8217;m just trying to be aggressive and try to get the good jump and kind of just going with my instincts.&#8221;</p><p>Wade had an impressive night at the plate, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. The 22-year-old was 1 for 3 with two walks and two runs scored and has registered a hit in 20 of his last 23 games.</p><p>With his three stolen bases, Wade has boosted his Triple-A lead and is on pace to steal more than 40 this season. The franchise record is 44, set by Tommy Barrett in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s inaugural season of 1989.</p><p>&#8220;He does a great job and when he doesn&#8217;t get a hit he ends up with one or two walks,&#8221; RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;He has the potential to steal a bag, and that&#8217;s what he&#8217;s done the whole year so far. He can steal second. He can steal third. He has a good feel for situations, counts, how quick the guy is to the plate, what kind of pick-off move he has. He&#8217;s always asking those type of questions. He does his homework and that&#8217;s why he&#8217;s been so successful so far.&#8221;</p><p>Sporting a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, the RailRiders burst for five runs to put the PawSox away for good and hit for the cycle in the inning.</p><p>Wade led off with a single, Tyler Austin had an RBI double, Clint Frazier had an RBI triple and Cito Culver blasted a two-run home run to the concourse underneath the scoreboard in left-center field. Jake Cave also had an RBI single to knock in the third run of the inning.</p><p>Mark Payton tripled as well.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just a testament to these guys and how hard we work,&#8221; Culver said. &#8220;We come to the field and we get prepared. We get prepared the right way and it&#8217;s been translated into the games.&#8221;</p><p>RailRiders starting pitcher Caleb Smith was reliable once again.</p><p>Even though Smith admitted after the game that he didn&#8217;t have his best stuff, the left-hander pitched six innings of one-run baseball &#8212; his fifth win of the season &#8212; and dropped his ERA to 2.25. Smith allowed just six hits while striking out six. The one run he allowed was unearned.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s just a super competitor, man,&#8221; said Culver, who was at shortstop. &#8220;He just holds himself to a high standard. I&#8217;m sure if you talked to him today, he wasn&#8217;t the happiest with his start. I think he was a little upset he missed some spots, but that&#8217;s just who he is. He competes and it doesn&#8217;t matter the score. He pitches like it&#8217;s 0-0. He just tries to keep us in games and he&#8217;s done a really good job of it.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Wotherspoon in relief</strong></p><p>Crestwood grad Matt Wotherspoon entered the game in the top of the ninth inning for the RailRiders.</p><p>Wotherspoon gave up one run on a sacrifice fly and allowed two hits, but stuck out a batter.</p><p><ins>For other RailRiders stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/sports" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>RailRiders 9, Pawtucket 2</strong></p><p><strong>Pawtucket`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Miller ss`3`0`1`0</p><p>Court 1b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Slesky rf`4`0`0`0</p><p>Brentz lf`4`1`1`0</p><p>Bogusevic cf`4`0`2`0</p><p>Swihart c`4`0`0`0</p><p>Dominguez 3b`3`0`1`1</p><p>Meneses 2b`4`1`1`0</p><p>Roberson dh`3`0`1`1</p><p><strong>Totals`32`2`8`2</strong></p><p><strong>RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Wade 3b`3`2`1`1</p><p>Solano 2b`3&#8220;0`0</p><p>Austin rf`4`1`2`2</p><p>Choi 1b`4`0`2`2</p><p>Frazier lf`5`1`1`1</p><p>Cave dh`5`1`1`1</p><p>Culver ss`3`2`2`2</p><p>Payton cf`2`1`1`0</p><p>Rodriguez c`3`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`32`9`10`9</strong></p><p><strong>Pawtucket`000`010`001`&#8212;`2</strong></p><p><strong>RailRiders`040`005`00X`&#8212;`9</strong></p><p>E: Wade (13); OA: Austin; DP: Red Sox 2, RailRiders 1; LOB: Red Sox 6, RailRiders 9; 2B: Culver (11), Austin (12); 3B: Frazier (2), Payton (1); HR: Culver (8); SB: Wade 3 (23), Solano (1).</p><p><strong>Pawtucket`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Owens (L, 4-5)`4.0`3`4`4`8`3</p><p>Maddox`1.2`4`4`4`1`2</p><p>Ramirez`2.1`2`1`1`1`1</p><p><strong>RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Smith (W, 6-0)`6.0`6`1`0`0`6</p><p>Jones`2.0`0`0`0`2`3</p><p>Wotherspoon`1.0`2`1`1`0`1</p><p>Umpires: Roberto Ortiz, HP; Adam Beck, 1B; Jeremie Rehak, 2B; Ryan Additon, 3B.</p><p>Time: 2:50; Att.: 8,007.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The RailRiders&#8217; Donovan Solano scoops up a ground ball hit by Pawtucket&#8217;s Brian Bogusevic in the second inning Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_rr_ps3.jpg</photo0><caption0>The RailRiders&#8217; Donovan Solano scoops up a ground ball hit by Pawtucket&#8217;s Brian Bogusevic in the second inning Friday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_rr_ps2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Roger Clemens reaches for the cap on his bobblehead statue to give it a shake after his son Kody (left) unveiled it Friday at PNC Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_rr_ps2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Roger Clemens reaches for the cap on his bobblehead statue to give it a shake after his son Kody (left) unveiled it Friday at PNC Field. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_rr_ps1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders catcher Eddy Rodriguez tags out Pawtucket&#8217;s Steve Selsky at the plate in the fourth inning on Friday at PNC Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_rr_ps1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders catcher Eddy Rodriguez tags out Pawtucket&#8217;s Steve Selsky at the plate in the fourth inning on Friday at PNC Field. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>RailRiders hammer Pawtucket again</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>INSIDE</strong></p><p>RailRiders co-owner David Abrams reveals he is battling cancer, <strong>Page 3B.</strong></p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

SWB RailRiders 3B Tyler Wade swipes 3 bags in win over Pawtucket Red Sox