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MOOSIC &#8212; A call-up to Triple-A was exactly what Jake Cave needed.The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder was was a power threat for Double-A Trenton, with five home runs in 29 games, but that was it. He owned a .266 batting average, which was nearing a career-low pace. But then he was promoted to the RailRiders on June 16 and things changed.In the last month-plus, Cave has been the RailRiders&#8217;s best hitter, and that included Wednesday. The 24-year-old left fielder was 2 for 5 with a home run, run scored and five RBI, powering the RailRiders (61-35) past the Norfolk Tides 6-3.Cave&#8217;s five-RBI afternoon overshadowed the return of Crestwood grad Matt Wotherspoon, who threw 2.1 shutout frames for the Tides (40-57). The Mountain Top native was traded from the RailRiders to the Baltimore Orioles on July 2.&#8220;I&#8217;m trying to make a move here. I&#8217;m trying to get to the big leagues, and that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve always been trying to do,&#8221; Cave said of his recent success. &#8220;I&#8217;m trying to get to the big leagues, hopefully with the Yankees, but if it&#8217;s not with the Yankees, hopefully with somebody. So I&#8217;m just trying to take full advantage of my opportunities. I&#8217;m getting opportunities to play every day, so I&#8217;m just trying to perform like I know I can.&#8221;Cave, who gave the RailRiders a 4-1 lead with his third-inning three-run home run and provided a pair of insurance runs with his two-run single in the fourth, has been red-hot as of late. He&#8217;s gone 24 for 64 with eight extra-base hits, five home runs, 15 runs scored and 14 RBI in his last 17 games.Heading into Monday&#8217;s game, Cave ranked fourth in batting average, tied for first in home runs, was third in slugging percentage and tied for fifth in extra-base hits in the International League since his June 17 Triple-A season debut.&#8220;Being patient, getting good pitches to hit. He&#8217;s been drawing the ball to all over the field,&#8221; RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;The key has been him putting himself in good hitting counts, not trying to do too much.&#8221;Wotherspoon made his first appearance as a visitor on Wednesday, and kept the RailRiders off-balance throughout his relief appearance.After watching Norfolk starter Jayson Aquino give up six runs in 3.2 innings, Wotherspoon entered in the fourth to provide some stability. The 25-year-old right-hander gave up just a hit and two walks while striking out four. Three of Wotherspoon&#8217;s four strikeouts were looking.&#8220;Definitely fun out there against those guys. They have all been my best friends the past four years,&#8221; Wotherspoon said. &#8220;We got down a couple runs there, but that was my job to come in and stop the bleeding a little bit and Pedro (Alvarez) got us back on the board there in the ninth. Unfortunately we came up a little bit short today.&#8221;Scranton/Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s offense broke out Wednesday after scoring just five runs in Tuesday&#8217;s doubleheader.The outfield trio of Cave, Billy McKinney and Mason Williams each recorded two hits. RailRiders first baseman Cito Culver also had a pair of hits.Refsnyder DFA&#8217;dTo clear room on both the 25-and 40-man New York Yankees rosters after Tuesday&#8217;s trade with the Chicago White Sox, to acquire third baseman Todd Frazier and relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle, RailRiders utility man Rob Refsnyder was designated for assignment on Wednesday. Lefty reliever Chasen Shreve was optioned to the RailRiders.The Yankees also designated former RailRiders first baseman Ji-Man Choi for assignment.&#8220;A kid that for everything he&#8217;s gone through so far, any time he came back to us his attitude was great,&#8221; Pedrique said of Refnsyder. &#8220;He played hard for us. He played in the outfield. He played first base. He helped the young guys in the clubhouse when he was here. That&#8217;s why we wish him nothing but the best. Hopefully he gets picked up by somebody they will click for him and he gets a chance.&#8221;<ins>For other RailRiders stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/sports" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins>RailRiders 6, Norfolk 3Norfolk`AB`R`H`BIDickerson lf`4`1`1`0Johnson dh`4`0`2`1Dosch 3b`3`0`0`0Alvarez 1b`4`1`1`1Sisco c`4`0`0`0Gentry rf`4`1`1`0Sardinas 2b`4`0`2`1Janish ss`3`0`0`0Schafer cf`2`0`0`0Totals`32`3`7`3RailRiders`AB`R`H`BIWade ss`3`1`1`1Cave lf`5`1`2`5Andujar 3b`5`0`1`0Ford dh`3`0`1`0Solano 2b`4`0`0`0McKinney rf`4`0`2`0Williams cf`4`2`2`0Culver 1b`3`2`2`0Rodriguez c`4`0`0`0Totals`35`6`11`6Norfolk`010`001`001`&#8212;`3RailRiders`004`200`00X`&#8212;`6E: Janish (5); OA: Gentry; DP: Tides 0, RailRiders 2; LOB: Tides 4, RailRiders 9; 2B: Johnson (9), Andujar (7); 3B: Gentry (2) HR: Alvarez (19), Cave (9); CS: Sardinas (2).Norfolk`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOWheeler (L, 4-2)`3.2`8`6`5`1`3Wotherspoon`2.1`1`0`0`2`4Fry`2.0`2`0`0`1`3RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOGerman`3.0`3`1`1`0`3Gallegos (W, 2-1)`2.0`1`0`0`0`3Feyereisen`2.0`2`1`1`0`0Heller`2.0`1`1`1`1`3WP: Heller.HBP: Dosch (by Feyereisen).Umpires: Eric Gillam, HP; Brian Peterson, 1B; Alex Tosi, 3B.Time: 2:47; Att.: 6,633.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Crestwood grad and Norfolk Tides reliever Matt Wotherspoon made his PNC Field return on Wednesday. Wotherspoon, who used to pitch for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, threw 2.1 scoreless frames. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Matt-Wotherspoon-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crestwood grad and Norfolk Tides reliever Matt Wotherspoon made his PNC Field return on Wednesday. Wotherspoon, who used to pitch for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, threw 2.1 scoreless frames. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
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<div class="neCaption">Former Crestwood baseball star Matt Wotherspoon, now playing for the Norfolk Tides, beats former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders teammate Cito Culver to first base to record the out. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Matt-Wotherspoon-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Former Crestwood baseball star Matt Wotherspoon, now playing for the Norfolk Tides, beats former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders teammate Cito Culver to first base to record the out. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_SWB-RR-Jake-Cave-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders left fielder Jake Cave singles to right field against the Norfolk Tides. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_SWB-RR-Jake-Cave-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders left fielder Jake Cave singles to right field against the Norfolk Tides. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>RailRiders outfielder outshines the Crestwood grad&#8217;s outing</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By DJ Eberledjeberle@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>T.L. EXPRESSToday&#8217;s Game: The RailRiders open up their four-game series with the Charlotte Knights on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.Probable Pitchers: SWB LHP Dietrich Enns (0-1, 2.30 ERA) s. CHA RHP Lucas Giolito (3-8, 5.00)Today at PNC Field: Yankees Magazine Giveway, First 1,000 fans receive a copy of Yankees Magazine; Thirsty Thursday, pregame live music and $1 Bud Light and Pepsi products; College Night, tickets are just $5 if you show your college ID at the box office.Riding the Rails: LHP Chasen Shreve optioned from New York Yankees to SWB, yet to report; UT Rob Refsnyder designated for assignment; RHP Domingo German reported to SWB; RHP Adonis Rosa transferred from SWB to Single-A Charleston.On Radio: All RailRiders games can be heard live on NEPA Sports Radio - The Game.HOW THEY SCOREDNORFOLK SECOND: Craig Gentry triples to left. Luis Sardinas singles to shallow center, Gentry scores. NORFOLK 1-0RAILRIDERS THIRD: Mason Williams reaches first base on a fielding error by NOR SS Paul Janish. Cito Culver singles to shallow right field, Williams to second. Eddy Rodriguez flies out to right, Williams to third. Tyler Wade singles to shallow left, Williams scores, Culver to second. Jake Cave homers to right, Culver, Williams score. RAILRIDERS 4-1RAILRIDERS FOURTH: Mason Williams reaches first base on an infield single. Cito Culver singles to shallow right field, Williams to third. Tyler Wade works a walk, Williams, Culver advance. Jake Cave singles to center, Williams and Culver score, Wade to second. RAILRIDERS 6-1NORFOLK SIXTH: Chris Dickerson singled to left field. Chris Johnson doubles to center field, Dickerson scores. RAILRIDERS 6-2NORFOLK NINTH: Pedro Alvarez homered to right. RAILRIDERS 6-3</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</shirttailMeta></div>

SWB RailRiders’ Jake Cave’s big day spoils Crestwood grad Matt Wotherspoon’s return