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<p>Despite failing to play their way back to .500 for the first time since April 27 Wednesday night, falling to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 4-2, the the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders received some positive news earlier in the day.</p><p>Brandon Drury and Cody Carroll are Columbus bound. The dynamic duo were named to the International League All-Star team on Tuesday and will represent the RailRiders in the Triple-A All-Star Game, against the Pacific Coast League All-Stars, on July 11 at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.</p><p>This is the fourth time Drury has been named a mid-season all-star and first since 2015, when he was with Double-A Mobile. This is the third straight season Carroll has made a mid-season all-star team, representing High-A Tampa in 2017 and Single-A Charleston in 2016.</p><p>&#8220;I think part of development &#8212; I&#8217;ve always felt like winning is part of development,&#8221; RailRiders manager Bobby Mitchell said during the RailRiders last homestand. &#8220;We&#8217;re here to get them better as players, but also their mindset when they step on the field is important. When you go to New York, you&#8217;ve got to step on the field and expect to beat anybody you&#8217;re playing any day. I think that&#8217;s what we need to do here and develop that type of attitude when they step on the field.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve done a good job.&#8221;</p><p>Drury&#8217;s all-star nod highlights what has been a frustrating season for the third baseman.</p><p>After winning the New York Yankees&#8217; third base job out of spring training, Drury landed on the disabled list on April 7 with severe migraines and blurry vision due to a neck issue. He was batting .217 with a home run and four RBI at the time.</p><p>Aside from a six-game partial rehab stint with Double-A Trenton, the 25-year-old has been with the RailRiders ever since. Drury&#8217;s batting .315 with 13 doubles, a triple, five home runs and 28 RBI in 47 Triple-A games. He even holds the RailRiders&#8217; record for consecutive games on base, reaching in 32 straight contests.</p><p>&#8220;Drury&#8217;s been pretty much as consistent as anybody,&#8221; Mitchell said. &#8220;Really our best hitter, consistently, throughout the year. He&#8217;s done a great job for us.&#8221;</p><p>Even though he&#8217;s an all-star third baseman for the RailRiders, Drury played in his fourth game at first base on Wednesday, making back-to-back starts at the position.</p><p>However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone downplayed the move on Tuesday, noting that it just adds to Drury&#8217;s versatility, even though Greg Bird is struggling with the big-league club. Drury hasn&#8217;t played first base in the majors and Wednesday was only the fifth time he played the position since 2012.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s getting more and more comfortable,&#8221; Boone told NJ Advance Media. &#8220;He&#8217;s just working through footwork stuff. Those kinds of things. He&#8217;s a good athlete, so we know he can handle that kind of thing.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re constantly evaluating things, but I wouldn&#8217;t say anything is (imminent). He&#8217;s getting reps (at first) that would prepare and help him and add to his versatility.&#8221;</p><p>Carroll has been stellar in his first season in Triple-A.</p><p>The hard-throwing right-hander has settled nicely into his role as the RailRiders&#8217; closer. Carroll is 3-0 with a 2.76 ERA and team-high seven saves in 24 appearances. He has converted seven of his nine save opportunities, and ranks sixth in the International League.</p><p>&#8220;I think our bullpen has been really good (this season),&#8221; Mitchell said. &#8220;Cody Carroll has been really good as a closer-type. His stuff is really good. He&#8217;s improving his breaking ball and so forth.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Cole sinks RailRiders</strong></p><p>Making a rehab start for the RailRiders, A.J. Cole wasn&#8217;t able to make it out of the first inning, giving up three runs without recording an out to take the loss.</p><p>Pitching with a 1-0 lead, thanks to Drury&#8217;s first-inning solo home run, Dean Anna, Collin Cowgill and Mitch Walding all reached base before Lehigh Valley first baseman Joey Meneses shot a two-run single into center field to give the IronPigs a lead for good. With the bases loaded again after a Trevor Plouffe walk, Cole was pulled from the game in favor of J.P. Feyereisen.</p><p>Danny Ortiz capped off the inning after he knocked in Walding while grounding into a double play.</p><p>RailRiders southpaw Justus Sheffield pitched six scoreless innings to keep Scranton/Wilkes-Barre afloat.</p><p>However, with the tying run at the plate and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Zack Zehner struck out on three pitches to seal the defeat.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Third baseman Brandon Drury was one of two Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders named to the International League All-Star team on Wednesday. The other was closer Cody Carroll. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_Brandon-Drury-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Third baseman Brandon Drury was one of two Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders named to the International League All-Star team on Wednesday. The other was closer Cody Carroll. </caption0><photoCredit0>Todd Hiller | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_Cody-Carroll-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Closer Cody Carroll was one of two Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders named to the International League All-Star team on Wednesday. The other was third baseman Brandon Drury. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_Cody-Carroll-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Closer Cody Carroll was one of two Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders named to the International League All-Star team on Wednesday. The other was third baseman Brandon Drury. </caption1><photoCredit1>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>RailRiders duo named to IL All-Star team</subheadMeta></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>

Brandon Drury, Cody Carroll named to IL All-Star team; RailRiders fall in Lehigh Valley