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MOOSIC — Bobby Mitchell had been looking for a lead-off hitter now that Tyler Wade is back up with the New York Yankees and Clint Frazier is on the seven-day disabled list.
Insert Bruce Caldwell.
Life has been good atop the lineup card for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders third baseman. Taking over the top spot in the batting order for the first time, Caldwell walked twice and registered a sacrifice fly in Friday’s win over the Gwinnett Stripers before stepping up his play on Saturday.
Caldwell opened the RailRiders’ offensive barrage with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the first inning and later doubled to help Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (55-47) coast past the Stripers (48-57), 11-1.
“I feel good,” Caldwell said. “This is actually my first time ever being in the lead-off position. It’s definitely a lot different, but I kind of like it though. You get a lot of at-bats and you get to see more pitches as well.”
But it wasn’t just Caldwell that had an impact at the plate against the Gwinnett pitching staff.
Mark Payton collected a game-high four hits, including his fourth home run of the season, and was one of six RailRiders to record multi-hit games. Francisco Diaz collected three while Caldwell, Mike Ford, Abiatal Avelino and Zack Zehner each had two.
“It’s a different lineup right now and going out there and finding ways to win back-to-back games,” Payton said. “It gives us a lot of confidence as a team moving forward and we’re going to carry it as long as we can.”
With the offense clicking on all cylinders, Justus Sheffield was able to recover from a 23-pitch first inning, which resulted in the only run he surrendered as he earned his fourth Triple-A win of the season.
The strikeout numbers weren’t there — he had three — but neither were the walks, which is an area he’s been working on. It’s just the fourth time in the last 10 games that he’s walked just one batter.
“I was glad that I got to pitch into the sixth inning,” said Sheffield, who pitched 5.2 innings. “I noticed after the third inning my pitch count was way up and I just told myself, ‘Go out there and attack and just let the defense work behind me.’ That was one of the main things that I liked about my inning, being able to bounce back and grind out those last couple innings. Obviously want to pitch deeper into games, but it was just a different type of night tonight.”
After losing a handful of players this week due to trades, call-ups and injuries, Mitchell is pleased with how his team has bounced back.
It’s easy for the first-year manager to see why his team has continued to win despite the roster shuffle. The makeup of the players remaining.
“These guys give it all they got. Every one of them. And there’s still a lot of talent out in that locker room,” Mitchell said. “They’ve shown it the last two nights, for sure, especially offensively. We’ve had the pitching and stuff — we know that. To come out offensively the last two nights and do what we’ve done, it’s really impressive.”
RailRiders 11, Stripers 1
Gwinnett`AB`R`H`BI
Marte 2b`4`1`2`0
Santana cf`4`0`0`0
Riley 3b`4`0`1`1
Franco 1b`4`0`0`0
Adams rf`4`0`0`0
Ruiz lf`3`0`1`0
Kazmar Jr. ss`2`0`0`0
Jackson dh`3`0`0`0
Stewart c`3`0`0`0
Totals`31`1`4`1
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Caldwell 3b`5`2`2`1
Payton lf`5`2`4`3
Austin dh`4`2`1`0
Ford 1b`4`2`2`2
Avelino ss`5`1`2`1
Bolasky cf`4`0`1`0
Zehner rf`4`2`2`1
Diaz c`4`0`3`2
Mazzilli 2b`4`0`0`0
Totals`39`11`17`10
E: Mazzilli; DP: Stripers 2, RailRiders 1; LOB: Stripers 4, RailRiders 10; 2B: Marte (4), Ruiz (21), Austin (9), Diaz (2), Ford (10), Caldwell (4); Caldwell (6), Payton (4), Ford (12).
Gwinnett`100`000`000 — 1
RailRiders`331`010`12x —11
Gwinnett`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Sims (L, 4-3)`2`7`6`6`2`5
Bell`2`4`1`1`0`4
Hursh`3`5`2`2`1`0
Sobotka`1`1`2`2`3`1
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Sheffield (W, 4-3)`5.2`3`1`1`1`3
Tarpley`2.1`1`0`0`0`0
Harvey`1`0`0`0`0`0
WP: Sims, Sobotka.
Umpires: Alex Tosi, HP; Ryan Wills, 1B; Scott Costello, 3B.
Time: 3:06; Attendance: 10,000.