web1_Truex-Kentucky.jpg

Truex makes it look easy in dominant Kentucky Speedway win

web1_ttl070917puckcancer-4-1-.jpg

Puck Cancer event raises money to help patients

<p>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders right-hander Brady Lail doesn&#8217;t know if he&#8217;s a starting pitcher or reliever, but that&#8217;s OK with him. As long as he continues to pitch and help the team, that&#8217;s all that matters.</p><p>Appearing in 17 games this season, 15 of them have been starts with two of his last four appearances coming in relief. Lail even got his first save on Tuesday, but then made a spot start for the injured Ronald Herrera on Saturday against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.</p><p>After a rough start, walking a pair in the first inning and allowing a second-inning Andrew Pullin solo home run, Lail was able to settle down and pitch four innings of one-run baseball. The right-hander kept the IronPings (54-35) at bay as the RailRiders (55-33) were able to score a pair of runs in both the third and fourth inning to take a three-run lead, one that Lehigh Valley couldn&#8217;t come back from.</p><p>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre took the second game of the critical three-game set 8-1. With the win, the RailRiders will head into Monday&#8217;s Triple-A All-Star break with the division lead over the IronPigs.</p><p>&#8220;I feel like I&#8217;m taking some good steps,&#8221; Lail said Friday afternoon. &#8220;I just want to pitch. So if it&#8217;s starting one game, great. If it&#8217;s coming in relief, it&#8217;s kind of fun because it&#8217;s different, I&#8217;ve never done it before. Coming in with a different attitude and instead of working around a lineup, just attacking them right away was kind of fun for me. I&#8217;m just going day-by-day.&#8221;</p><p>With his role on the team influx, Lail is preparing for everything.</p><p>As a starter Lail would throw before the game and as a reliever throw three hours before first pitch and then &#8220;try to get&#8221; hot warming up in-game. So now he goes out with the starter on days he&#8217;s &#8220;for sure hot&#8221; and plays catch to prepare himself.</p><p>The right-hander still works out as a starter and throws a bullpen &#8220;every so often&#8221; so he&#8217;s ready for whatever the RailRiders need him to do.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m kind of getting slowly moved into it,&#8221; Lail said. &#8220;As a starter you&#8217;re trying to work around a lineup three, maybe four times, which I think is sometimes where I get hurt because sometimes I get thinking too much, especially that third time around the lineup. So coming out of the pen and still having that starter mentality, but having kind of more of a bulldog attitude that I can just throw everything I need to right away. I think it&#8217;s going to help me in the long run.&#8221;</p><p>Lail provides the RailRiders with another long-armed reliever. Both him and Joe Mantiply can give Scranton/Wilkes-Barre some much-need length out of the bullpen.</p><p>The 23-year-old pitched the final three innings on Tuesday.</p><p>&#8220;If a starter&#8217;s not having his best stuff that day, then run me out for three or four (innings) and let our big guys from the pen take over. I&#8217;m OK with that,&#8221; Lail said. &#8220;Having my first save the other day was kind of fun. I was standing out there in the ninth inning and I didn&#8217;t know what to do, to high-five Eddy or do something different.&#8221;</p><p>RailRiders right fielder Jake Cave had a career night Saturday.</p><p>The 24-year-old was 3 for 3 with a pair of home runs and a career-high five RBI. It was Cave&#8217;s first-career multi-home run game, which pushed his total to seven in 22 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.</p><p><strong>Holliday starts rehab</strong></p><p>New York Yankees designated hitter Matt Holliday started his rehab with the RailRiders on Saturday, playing nine innings as the DH. Holliday went 2 for 4 with a run scored.</p><p>The 37-year-old had been out of the Yankees&#8217; lineup since June 24, dealing with the Epstein-Barr virus. EBV is known to cause mononucleosis.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Brady-Lail-mug-CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lail </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Brady-Lail-mug-CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lail </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Brady Lail does the job in SWB RailRiders victory; Yankees’ Matt Holiday starts rehab