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Marriage-license applications, divorce filings in Luzerne County: August 1 to August 9, 2017

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A little fog, but then sunshine, over next few days in Wyoming Valley

<p>A lot is at stake as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders enter their final three-plus weeks of the regular season.</p><p>Not only are the first-place RailRiders poised to successfully defend their International League North Division crown, but heading into their weekend series against the Durham, they need to finish the regular season with a 17-8 record to surpass last season&#8217;s 91 wins.</p><p>New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks spent the most recent homestand rehabbing with the RailRiders, and took notice of the team&#8217;s hot play, which is something that doesn&#8217;t happen while he&#8217;s in the majors.</p><p>Hicks said last weekend that the big-league club doesn&#8217;t exactly take notice of what the minor leaguers are doing until they&#8217;re called up.</p><p>&#8220;I just see some insane numbers. Like .360. Just some stupid numbers. Almost video game-like,&#8221; Hicks said. &#8220;They&#8217;re a pretty good team. You can tell they play as a team and they depend a lot on the long ball &#8212; since I&#8217;ve been here &#8212; and they&#8217;re clutch in situations. When they come up with a runner in scoring position the chances of them getting in are pretty high.&#8221;</p><p>The RailRiders schedule is difficult down the stretch, however. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will face South Division leaders Durham twice, Rochester twice and Lehigh Valley once more before the regular season concludes.</p><p><strong>Luzerne County Week at PNC Field</strong></p><p>Together with Luzerne County, the RailRiders are offering discounted tickets to games this week at PNC Field for Luzerne County Week.</p><p>Luzerne County residents can buy two special ticket discounts either at the door or on the Luzerne County Facebook page. Tickets are just $5.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s something we haven&#8217;t done before, but it&#8217;s been responded at the door and we&#8217;re looking forward to it,&#8221; RailRiders president and COO Josh Olerud said.</p><p>Discounted tickets are also available for the Triple-A National Championship Game Sept. 19 at PNC Field. Those tickets cost just $8.</p><p><strong>McKinney excelling against lefties</strong></p><p>In many cases left-handed batters generally struggle against left-handed pitchers.</p><p>It&#8217;s part of the reason why the Yankees originally sent left-handed first baseman Garrett Cooper down to the RailRiders on Aug. 1. He was only playing against righties.</p><p>So when Hicks saw the left-handed McKinney hit two home runs last week, he came away impressed.</p><p>&#8220;You like to see guys, especially lefties, when they&#8217;re lefty on lefty,&#8221; Hicks said. &#8220;To really see how compact their swings are. I think McKinney&#8217;s hit two runs since I&#8217;ve been here, both against lefties. So that&#8217;s pretty impressive.&#8221;</p><p>Heading into Thursday&#8217;s series against Durham, McKinney owned a .333 batting average with four home runs, three doubles, a triple and 13 RBI against left-handed pitching.</p><p>Overall, McKinney sports a .339 batting average with nine home runs, nine doubles, three triples and 26 RBI in 33 games with the RalRiders.</p><p>&#8220;I think he&#8217;s staying short with his swing. He&#8217;s swinging through the ball,&#8221; RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;For the most part, he&#8217;s getting good pitches to hit and he&#8217;s doing the best he can to take advantage of situations with guys on bases and right now, him, (Jake) Cave, now (Miguel) Andujar are getting good pitches to hit with guys on bases.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hicks </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Aaron-Hicks-CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hicks </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>

Weekend Notebook: SWB RailRiders poised to defend IL North crown