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County plans Tuesday ceremony on anniversary of Moules’ death

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Associate: Jane Train remains in critical care after Florida crash

<p>MOOSIC &#8212; Al Pedrique couldn&#8217;t have asked for a better start to the second half of the season from his players.</p><p>After losing two of three games heading into the Triple-A All-Star Break, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders started the second half of the season with a bang. The first-place RailRiders swept their four-game series in Buffalo over the weekend, pushing their win streak against the Bisons to 12 games.</p><p>Heading into Monday night&#8217;s series opener with the Norfolk Tides, the RailRiders have won 10 of their last 12 games and 26 of 36.</p><p>&#8220;I was very happy because as a manager the concern when the team, the players, take a break like that, you always worry how they&#8217;re going to show up, what kind of focus they&#8217;re going to have, especially the first two games because of the layoff,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;It was good to see the energy, the preparation before each game and the way we played in all four games. I&#8217;m very pleased and proud of the team.&#8221;</p><p>However, Monday night&#8217;s tilt against the Tides never had a chance. The game was rained out, and in its place will be a doubleheader starting at 5:35 p.m. on Tuesday.</p><p>Brady Lail (5-2, 4.55 ERA) and Aldonis Rosa (1-0, 0.00), who was set to pitch Monday, will pitch the games in succession. Luis Cessa was originally scheduled to pitch Tuesday, but will start for the New York Yankees instead.</p><p><strong>Frustrations in the bullpen</strong></p><p>Ben Heller and Jonathan Holder&#8217;s recent demotion from the Yankees back to the RailRiders put the business side of baseball back on full display.</p><p>The duo pitched brilliantly in relief in Saturday&#8217;s 16-inning win against the Boston Red Sox. Holder and Heller combined to pitch five innings of one-hit baseball. Heller got the win.</p><p>However, just a day later the two were sent back down to Triple-A in order to clear room for Caleb Smith and Domingo German. Bryan Mitchell was called up as the 26th man for the Saturday&#8217;s doubleheader, but ended up staying past Sunday over German.</p><p>The transaction is one of the more frustrating aspects in baseball, and a position Pedrique is extremely familiar with.</p><p>&#8220;We all have been in that situation. The only thing you can do is take it one day at a time and do the best that you can to stay positive, stay ready, block off any negative thoughts because that will change your concentration of the job you have to do on the field,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;They know that they will get an opportunity.</p><p>&#8220;They have to understand that some things they have no control and like I always keep telling them, the only thing you have control is what you can do between the two lines. Stay ready, stay positive and good things will happen.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Injury report</strong></p><p>Pedrique provided updates on a two important positional players Monday afternoon: Mike Ford and Kyle Higashioka.</p><p>Ford has been out since July 7 with a hamstring injury and is nearing his return. The first baseman was supposed to take some batting practice and do some work outside Monday, but due to rain and he hit in the cage instead. Pedrique said Ford &#8220;felt great&#8221; after the workout and could be back in the lineup on Tuesday.</p><p>Higashioka, who&#8217;s been out since June 21, still has &#8220;a ways to go.&#8221; Pedrique said the team doesn&#8217;t want to rush the catcher back from his oblique and back injuries.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s frustrating for everybody because he&#8217;s such a great kid, a hard worker and he finally got his chance to play in the majors and now he has to deal with injuries,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;It&#8217;s part of the game. The only thing you can do is take it one day at a time, make sure you&#8217;re 100 percent healthy so when you get back you won&#8217;t re-injure it again. That&#8217;s why we&#8217;re taking our time.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Campers from St. Isaac -Jogues Camp in Elmhurst sit in the rain during Monday&#8217;s game at PNC Field. The game was postponed to Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_rr_rain3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Campers from St. Isaac -Jogues Camp in Elmhurst sit in the rain during Monday&#8217;s game at PNC Field. The game was postponed to Tuesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | 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>T.L. EXPRESS</strong></p><p><strong>Today&#8217;s Game:</strong> The RailRiders and Norfolk continue their three-game series on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.</p><p><strong>Probable Pitchers: </strong>SWB RHP Brady Lail (5-2, 4.55 ERA) vs. NOR Alex Asher (1-1, 1.80); SWB RHP Adonis Rosa (1-0, 0.00) vs. NOR RHP Alec Asher (1-1, 1.80)</p><p><strong>Today at PNC Field:</strong> Two Dollar Tuesday: $2 lawn tickets and $2 tallboys; Kosher Kaboom!; postgame fireworks.</p><p><strong>Riding the Rails: </strong>RHP Domingo German optioned from New York Yankees to SWB on Sunday, yet to report. RHP Ben Heller reported to SWB. RHP Adonis Rosa transferred from Single-A Charleston to SWB. LHP Nestor Cortes transferred from SWB to Double-A Trenton.</p><p><strong>On Radio:</strong> All RailRiders games can be heard live on 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>

Red-hot SWB RailRiders and Norfolk Tides washed out, doubleheader Tuesday