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MOOSIC — Clint Frazier said before Wednesday’s game against the Pawtucket Red Sox that one of the parts of his game that he’s working on is his consistency at the plate.

After getting a day off Tuesday, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder responded with a two-hit night in Wednesday’s win and carried his production into Thursday’s 10:35 a.m. School Day Game against the Red Sox (15-21).

With Rob Refsnyder standing on second base and one out in the bottom of the 11th inning, Frazier had yet another impressive at-bat. After stroking a solo shot to center in the third inning and a double to center field in the seventh, Frazier took a first-pitch slider from Red Sox reliever Kyle Martin and laced it to deep right center allowing Refsnyder to cross the plate for the winning run.

Frazier was mobbed in the infield at PNC Field after delivering the RailRiders (22-16) an 11-10 win.

“It helps you feel accomplished when you leave the field,” Frazier said of his last two games. “At times you leave knowing that you got yourself out. Those are the days that you kick yourself the most, but for me today, to have back-to-back multi-hit games, it feels good for me. I’m just glad we won. That helps as a team. Hitting is contagious, and when we’re all swinging the bat we’re all feeling good up there.”

The 22-year-old touted prospect hasn’t been happy with his season to date, but with the warm weather during Wednesday’s batting practice, which carried into Thursday, something was different.

Frazier hit six home runs during the session, building confidence for the game that night, and Thursday. The New York Yankees No. 2 prospect, according to Baseball America, was 3 for 6 with a pair of doubles, a home run, two runs scored and 2 RBI in the extra-inning win.

“Today, I felt like I was able to square up the ball every time I went up to the plate,” Frazier said. “I felt good every time, which leads to good pitches to swing at. You know, I got out three times, but I got three hits as well. I’m trying to look at the positives right now. Things are feeling a lot better for me right now.”

Leading the International League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage heading into Thursday morning’s game against the Pawtucket, it didn’t come as much of a surprise when MiLB.com reporter Sam Dykstra named the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders offense one of the best in Minor League Baseball on Wednesday.

And since Dykstra’s column was published, the RailRiders have proved their worthy of the nod.

After scoring nine runs on 13 hits in Wednesday’s win over the Red Sox, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre offense was just as potent in the matinee, tallying double-digit hits for a second straight day.

Not only did the RailRiders sweep Pawtucket on Thursday, but it was their sixth straight win.

“It makes you think of how we were last year when I came up here,” Frazier said of the team’s recent success. “The offense and the pitching staff was really good and when the whole team was contributing on both sides of the ball like they have been the past couple days have been is a lot of fun.”

Known as a pitcher’s ballpark, the RailRiders made the most of the warm weather, with both days’ game-time temperature in the 80s.

After collecting three home runs in Wednesday’s 9-8 win, balls flew off the RailRiders’ bats again Thursday. Mike Ford homered for the third straight game while both Frazier and Ruben Tejada added solo shots to the tally. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre collected eight extra-base hits in the win.

“Hitting is contagious, and if you have two, three guys that start swinging the bat well and getting big hits the rest will follow,” RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. “I think every night so far we have different heroes — different players that are contributing — whether it’s a position player or a pitcher. I’m glad that right now everything is going our way and we’re going to stay humble. It’s a long season and anything can change in a heartbeat.”

With recent call-up Domingo German on the mound for the RailRiders — making his Triple-A debut — Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would need to score as many runs as possible.

The 24-year-old was able to give the RailRiders 6.2 innings, but not without a few hiccups. Domingo gave up solo shots to Rusney Castillo and Brian Bogusevic and saw Sam Travis collect a pair of run-scoring hits, including a two-run double in the fourth. He was able to strike out six Pawtucket batters.

“I give him a lot of credit because he had one bad inning where they scored three runs. After that I thought he settled down,” Pedrique said. “It’s not easy to play a 10:30 a.m. game. I don’t think anybody can be ready to play the game that early, but he hung in there. He battled. He kept us in the game.”

The RailRiders won their second extra-inning game in three days after Colton Brewer gave up a lead-off double by Castillo, who would score on a Ryan Court single, and then left with the bases loaded for Ernesto Frieri.

The closer came in with no outs and saw Matt Dominguez tie the game with a grand slam to center field on his fifth pitch of the at-bat. But the RailRiders were able to respond three innings later when Frazier knocked in Rob Refsnyder.

Up next

The RailRiders start a three-game series with the Rochester Red Wings Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

RailRiders 11, Pawtucket 10

Pawtucket`AB`R`H`BI

Castillo dh`5“3`2`1

Court ss`5`2`3`1

Travis 1b`6`1`5`3

Selsky cf`3`1`0`0

Witte ph`1`0`0`0

Dominguez 3b`6`1`1`4

Bogusevic rf`6`1`1`1

Brentz lf`5`1`1`0

Roberson c`5`0`0`0

Miller 2b`4`0`0`0

Totals`46`10`13`10

RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI

Wade ss`5`1`2`0

Williams cf`5`1`1`1

Refsnyder 2b`5`2`2`0

Ford dh`5`2`1`3

Frazier lf`6`2`3`2

Payton rf`4`1`0`0

Tejada 3b`4`2`2`1

Culver 1b`5`0`1`1

Diaz c`5`0`2`3

Totals`44`11`14`11

Pawtucket`101`300`005`00` —`10

RailRiders`502`000`300`01`—`11

E: Wade 2 (6); DP: Red Sox 1, RailRiders 0; LOB: Red Sox 9, RailRiders 8; 2B: Travis 2 (9), Court 2 (5), Castillo (9), Wade (9), Culver (6), Frazier 2 (14), Diaz (1); HR: Castillo (5), Bogusevic (1), Dominguez (4), Ford 1 (3), Frazier (6), Tejada (5); CS: Court (1), Miller (1); SB: Williams (7), Refsnyder (2).

Pawtucket`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Kendrick`3.0`9`7`7`0`3

Workman`2.2`1`0`0`1`5

Callahan`0.1`1`3`3`3`0

Boyer`2.0`1`0`0`1`2

Olmos`2.0`0`0`0`1`2

Martin (L, 0-2)`0.1`2`1`1`0`0

RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

German`6.2`7`5`5`3`6

Brewer (H, 1)`1.1`3`4`4`0`1

Frieri (BS, 1)`1.0`1`1`1`0`3

Mantiply (W, 2-2)`2.0`2`0`0`0`1

WP: Kendrick, Brewer.

HBP: Castillo (German), Miller (German), Selsky (Brewer).

Umpires: Mike Wiseman, HP; Jeremy Riggs, 1B; Blake Carnahan, 3B.

Time: 3:56; Att: 6,841.

Frazier
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Clint-Frazier201751815245562-1.jpg.optimal.jpgFrazier

By DJ Eberle

[email protected]

T.L. EXPRESS

Today’s Game: The RailRiders start a three-game series with the Rochester Red Wings Friday at 6:35 p.m. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season.

Probable Pitchers: SWB RHP Chance Adams (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. ROC RHP Aaron Slegers (3-3, 4.50)

Today at PNC Field: Glow in the Park Friday.

Riding the Rails: Thursday’s starter Domingo German was called up from Double-A Trenton before his start.

On Radio: All RailRiders games can be heard live on NEPA Sports Radio – The Game.

HOW THEY SCORED

PAWTUCKET FIRST: Rusney Castillo homers to left center. PAWTUCKET 1-0

RAILRIDERS FIRST: Tyler Wade doubles to deep right. Wade advances to third on a wild pitch. Mason Williams singles to shallow right, Wade scores. Williams steals second base. Rob Refsnyder singles through the shortstop hole, Williams to third. Refsnyder steals second. Mike Ford homers to right, Williams and Refsnyder score. RAILRIDERS 5-1

PAWTUCKET THIRD: Ryan Court doubles to center field. Sam Travis singles to right field, Court scores. RAILRIDERS 5-2

RAILRIDERS THIRD: Clint Frazier homers to center field. Ruben Tejada homers to left field. RAILRIDERS 7-2

PAWTUCKET FOURTH: Brian Bogusevic homers to right field. Bryce Brentz singles to shallow left. Castillo is hit by a pitch, Brentz to second. Ryan Court works a walk, Brentz to third, Court to second. Sam Travis doubles to deep left, Brentz and Castillo score, Court to third. RAILRIDERS 7-5

RAILRIDERS SEVENTH: Mike Ford works a walk. Clint Frazier doubles to center field, Ford to third. Mark Payton works a walk. Francisco Diaz doubles to deep left, Ford, Frazier and Payton score. RAILRIDERS 10-5

PAWTUCKET NINTH: Rusney Castillo doubles to deep left field. Castillo advances to third on a defensive indifference. Ryan Court singles to right field, Castillo scores. Sam Travis singles through the third base hole, Court to second. Court and Travis advance on a wild pitch. Steve Selsky reaches first base on a hit batsman. Matt Dominguez hits a home run to center, Court, Travis, Selsky all score. TIED 10-10

RAILRIDERS 11TH: Rob Refsnyder singles to right field. Mike Ford grounds out to second, Refsnyder to second. Clint Frazier doubles to deep right, Refsnyder scores. RAILRIDERS 11-10

Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle