scranton/wilkes-barre railriders game notes international league playoffs scranton/wilkes-barre railriders (1-1) vs. durham bulls (1-1) RHP Michael King (0-0, 2.70) vs. RHP Chih-Wei Hu (1-0, 3.60) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Governor’s Cup Championship Series | September 13, 2018 | | PNC Field | Moosic, PA | | First Pitch 6:35 p.m. | Pregame Show 6:05 p.m. | last time out... upcoming schedule / results MOOSIC, Pa. (September 12, 2018) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell to the Durham Bulls 5-2 on Wednesday night at PNC date opponent result Field. The best-of-five Governors’ Cup Finals is now tied a 1-1 after the RailRiders were victorious in Tuesday’s series opener. August 24 @ Lehigh Valley W 9-1 August 25 @ Lehigh Valley L 2-1 Durham took the lead two batters into the game when Nestor Cortes walked Kean Wong and allowed a two-run home run to Rob Refsnyder. Cortes settled down from there and allowed only one more hit in his 6.0 innings of work. The southpaw struck out six batters on August 26 @ Lehigh Valley L 5-3 the night, including Refsnyder in the third to cap an epic 17-pitch battle. August 27 @ Lehigh Valley W 9-8 (10) August 28 Syracuse L 10-2 Austin Pruitt was even stronger on the mound for the Bulls on Wednesday night, hurling 6.0 shutout frames despite several threats from August 29 Syracuse W 2-1 the RailRiders. SWB pushed runners into scoring position in the first and fifth innings, but Pruitt didn’t break and allow a run. August 30 Syracuse W 3-2 In the top of the seventh the Bulls added a run against Brady Lail to extend their lead to 3-0. With two outs Jason Coats tripled to right August 31 Pawtucket W 3-1 center and scored on an infield single from Jake Cronenworth. The righty reliever worked around a leadoff single in the eighth to toss a September 1 Pawtucket L 3-0 scoreless frame to cap his night. September 2 @ Pawtucket W 3-2 September 3 @ Pawtucket W 5-1 The Bulls tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth inning when Nate Lowe took Cale Coshow deep for a two-run home run to extend a 5-0 advantage. In the bottom of the ninth Giovanny Urshela doubled and scored on a two-run home run from Mike Ford, but Colin Poche hung on to close out the 5-2 Durham victory. Governor’s Cup Semifinals vs. Lehigh Valley: September 5 Game 1 vs. LHV W 3-2 news & notes September 6 Game 2 vs. LHV W 3-0 September 7 Game 3 @ LHV L 3-2 (13) KING ON THE HILL: RHP Michael King is expected to start Game 3 Thursday night for SWB. He was named the International September 8 Game 4 @ LHV W 7-2 (10) League Player-of-the-Month for August. The right-hander went 3-0 with a 1.09 ERA in five starts in the month, which were also his first five career Triple-A appearances. King allowed only 17 hits on the month, holding opponents to a .149 batting average, while Governor’s Cup Championship vs. Durham: striking out 27 and walking four in 33.0 IP. The 2018 season marks the third straight year that the RailRiders have had an IL Player- September 11 Game 1 vs. DUR W 3-2 of-the-Month, joining OF Aaron Judge in June of 2016 and OF Jake Cave in July of 2017. King is the first SWB pitcher to claim September 12 Game 2 vs. DUR L 5-2 the award since RHP Brandon Duckworth in July of 2001 for the SWB Red Barons. King already faced the Durham Bulls in his September 13 Game 3 @ DUR # 6:35 PM second career Triple-A start, August 12 @ Durham. He tossed 6.2 IP and allowed 2R/2ER on 6 H for his first career Triple-A win. September 14 Game 4 @ DUR* # 6:35 PM September 15 Game 5 @ DUR* # TBA STORM SHIFTS SERIES: Tuesday afternoon the International League announced that the entire Governor’s Cup Championship # Played at PNC Field * If Necessary Series will be played at PNC Field due to Hurricane Florence; a Category 3/4 storm bearing down on the Carolinas, Virginia and potentially Georgia. Durham will serve as the home team in Game 3 and any additional games needed in this best-of-five. 2018 vs. bulls overall head-to-head: 2-4 RUN IT BACK: The 2018 Governor’s Cup finals are a rematch of the 2017 championship round. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ousted Lehigh Valley- the IL North champions- Saturday night in Allentown, Pa. while the Durham Bulls sent Toledo home with a 3-1 series date location result win. In 2017, the Bulls ended the RailRiders season with a 3-1 title series win before capturing the Triple-A National Championship June 5 PNC Field W 6-3 at PNC Field over the Memphis Redbirds. June 6 PNC Field L 10-5 June 7 PNC Field L 5-4 DOMINANT FROM THE START: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starting pitchers compiled a 1.16 ERA (3R/3ER in 23.1 IP) in the four-game August 10 Durham Bulls Athletic Park L 4-3 (10) Lehigh Valley series to kick off the playoffs. RHP Erik Swanson, LHP Nestor Cortes, RHP Ryan Bollinger and RHP Michael August 11 Durham Bulls Athletic Park L 10-9 King limited the IronPigs to just 11 hits during that span (11-for-79, .139 BAA), and RHP Domingo Germán picked up right where August 12 Durham Bulls Athletic Park W 6-3 that quartet left off in Game 1 vs. Durham. In 3.0 shutout innings against the Bulls, hitters went 1-for-10 against the righty before Cortes made his second playoff start Wednesday night in Game 2 and pitched well despite picking up the loss. So now the numbers for RailRiders starting pitchers in the postseason are: 32.2 IP, 14 H (14-for-108, .130 BAA) 5R/5ER (1.38 ERA), 33 K 2017 results: Bulls won 4-3 all-time series: Durham leads 84-71 FINALS DESTINATION: For the ninth time in 12 years as an affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have reached the postseason. Since 2007, the RailRiders have won two league titles and have reached the championship round 2018 railriders at a glance four times. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre holds a 7-6 mark in playoffs series as a Yankees affiliate and an overall playoff record of 26- 22 in that time frame. The Bulls have been to the title series 11 previous times and have won five Governor’s Cups since 1998. 2018 regular season: 73-65 Place: 2nd I.L. North GB: 10.0 Lehigh Valley (82-56) BULLISH SEASON: Durham claimed the IL South title with a 79-60 record; 9.0 games ahead of the Gwinnett Stripers. The Bulls Home: 39-29 Away: 34-36 had the league’s 3rd-best batting average (.259), 2nd-most HR (141) and lead the IL in runs scored (653). Durham’s pitching staff posted a 3.54 ERA (3rd overall) and struck out a league-high 1,267 batters. The Bulls took two of three in each series against the 2018 hitting leaders: RailRiders during the 2018 regular season. AVG: Ryan McBroom .295 HR: Mike Ford 15 RBI: Mike Ford 52 regular season head-to-head vs. durham SB Tyler Wade 11 swb g avg ab h r hr bb k sb 2018 pitching leaders: hitting 6 .254 213 54 33 9 17 59 1-1 Wins: Raynel Espinal 7 ERA: Nestor Cortes 3.71 swb w-l era ip h r er bb k hr K: Chance Adams 113 SV: Cody Carroll 9 pitching 2-4 5.70 53.2 68 (.302) 35 34 19 75 10 upcoming pitching probables broadcast/media information date opponent railriders starter opponent starter Radio: 1400 AM 1340 AM 1440 AM Game 4- Sept. 14 @ Durham # LHP Ryan Bollinger (0-0, 1.59) RHP Andrew Moore (0-0, 2.25) 106.7 FM 100.7 FM Internet: TuneIn App (Search: “SWB RailRiders”) * Game 5- Sept. 15 @ Durham # TBA TBA RadioBOLD App Television: MiLB.tv || # Game played at PNC Field || * If Necessary || Adam Marco (@amarco_16) Adam Giardino (@adamgiardino) International League | Triple-A Affiliate, New York Yankees (2007) | PNC Field -- 235 Montage Mountain Road -- Moosic, PA 18507 | (570) 969-2255 | www.swbrailriders.com tonight’s starting pitcher 97 MICHAEL KING | RHP | 6’3” | 210 LBS | 23 | @7Kinger14 Hometown: Rochester, NY | Resides: Warwick, R.I. | Boston College | Trade with Miami Marlins 11/20/2017 | MLB Service Time: 0.000 | 2018: Transferred from Double-A Trenton 8/4... In 12G/11GS with Trenton: 6-2, 2.09 ERA, 82.0 IP, 65 H (.220 BAA), 76 K (8.3 K/9)... Transferred from High-A Tampa to Double-A Trenton 5/20... Went 1-3 with a 1.79 ERA in 7G/7GS for High-A Tampa (40.1 IP, 33 H, 10 BB, 45 K)… FSL ranks at time of call-up 5/20: 1st in ERA (1.79), 4th in strikeouts (45), 5th in BAA (.219), 2nd in K/9 among SP (10.04)… Took rotation spot of RHP Erik Swanson on 5/20…Delivered 9-inning shutout on 6/30 vs. New Hampshire, matched career-high with 11 strikeouts (struck out 5 in a row 6th into 7th), allowed one baserunner into scoring position (Jonathan Davis, 4th inning double), first 9-inning shutout by a Thunder pitcher since Brady Lail on 7/25/15 vs.