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MOOSIC — Tuesday will be a night to forget for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
In the thick of the International League Wild Card race, the Syracuse Chiefs proved to be too much as the RailRiders committed mistake after mistake in what finished as a 10-2 loss. But not only did the RailRiders lose by eight runs, they committed more errors (six) than they collected hits (five).
The six errors were a season-high by two, when they committed four in a game against Buffalo back in April.
“We have to turn the page and go out there tomorrow,” SWB manager Bobby Mitchell said. “That’s probably one of the worst games we’ve played all year, you know, in every aspect.
“It’s just one of those outings, you know? And it’s just bad timing because the end of the season you’re trying to win ballgames, you know? Hopefully we got it all out of our system and we come back tomorrow and play like we can.”
It got ugly early for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as Syracuse scored six runs in just three innings against Adonis Rosa, the RailRiders’ starting pitcher.
Rosa was able to settle down in the fourth and fifth inning before the wheels fell off in the sixth. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a two-out solo shot to Matt Reynolds and walked the next two batters before being pulled in favor of David Sosebee.
The RailRiders reliever didn’t fair much better, letting three runs score an error and then RBI singles from Pedro Severino and Adrian Sanchez.
Rosa gave up nine runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out five. However, he was only charged with five earned runs.
“Really can’t pinpoint exactly the reason, but (Syracuse) came out swinging the bats,” Mitchell said. “They hit Rosa hard throughout the time. Hard to tell from the side if he was locating well enough, but he needs to locate and throw pitches, throw breaking ball behind in the count, to be effective. And he has been. He has a good changeup. I don’t know. They just seemed to know what was coming.”
New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez was a bright spot for the RailRiders once again.
The 25-year-old homered for the second straight night and fourth time in five games with the RailRiders this season. Sanchez finished the night 1-for-4 in nine innings as the designated hitter. He’s scheduled to catch nine innings on Wednesday.
“Obviously he has that capability of (homering in back-to-back nights) and it’s good that he’s healthy,” Mitchell said. “Seems to be swinging the bat well. Seems to be running and moving around well. I think tomorrow, catching nine innings, will be a good indication.”
Flash on the Baby Bombers
As a member of the YES Network broadcast team, John Flaherty has seen the RailRiders that have came up to the New York Yankees and helped out the team first hand.
While former RailRiders like Gleyber Torres have made the noise this season, it’s the way the collective group of callups that have been able to come up to the bigs and contribute that has made a lasting impression — the Kyle Higashiokas, Shane Robinsons and Luke Voits.
“It’s a credit to (Mitchell) and his staff how these kids come up to the big leagues and they’re ready,” Flaherty said. “They’re ready. There’s no transition period. I know Luis Cessa and Tyler Wade, I know the playing time and opportunities aren’t there, they say the right thing, they play the right way and they’re having success. What they’re doing here in Scranton, Bobby and his staff, it’s pretty impressive.”
Flaherty was at PNC Field on Tuesday as part of the Legends Series.
Rogers picks up first win
It didn’t take long for former RailRiders starting pitcher Josh Rogers to pick up his first MLB victory.
Making his big-league debut Tuesday for the Baltimore Orioles, the 24-year-old southpaw gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk. Rogers was coasting with a 7-1 lead with two outs in the top of the fifth inning until Justin Smoak’s two-run homer forced the Louisville alum to overcome his first speed bump as a big leaguer.
After giving up a Randal Grichuk single to center a batter later, Rogers settled down as Kevin Pillar popped out to end the inning.
Rogers left the game sporting a 9-3 lead and Baltimore went on to win 12-5.
Notes
After being sent home Monday in Lehigh Valley with a stomach bug, LHP Justus Sheffield went home early again on Tuesday. The RailRiders are being careful with Sheffield. The hope is that he’s 100 percent on Wednesday and will be able to pitch in relief. … INF L.J. Mazzilli (knee) did some baseball activities on Tuesday — running and infield drills — and is day-to-day, according to Mitchell. He should return to action in the coming days. … INF Abiatal Avelino (shoulder) “is pretty close to being ready.” He swung on Monday for the first time hard and and threw hard. He’s also day-to-day.
Chiefs 10, RailRiders 2
Syracuse`AB`R`H`BI
Robles cf`6`1`1`3
Reynolds lf`4`2`1`1
Marmolejos lf`1`0`0`0
Wilson 3b`5`1`4`0
Hernandez dh`3`1`0`1
Sierra rf`5`2`2`0
Severino c`5`1`3`1
A. Sanchez ss`5`0`2`1
Dominguez 1b`5`1`1`0
Falu 2b`5`1`2`1
Totals`44`10`16`8
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Wade ss`3`1`0`0
G. Sanchez dh`4`1`1`1
Urshela 3b`4`0`2`0
Ford 1b`3`0`0`0
McBroom rf`3`0`0`0
Zehner lf`3`0`1`0
Navarro 2b`4`0`1`0
Diaz c`4`0`0`0
Berry cf`3`0`0`0
Totals`31`2`5`2
E: Wade 2 (12), Navarro 2 (6), Zehner (7), Ford (1); DP: Chiefs 1, RailRiders 1; 2B: Severino (5), Sierra (11), Wilson (24), Urshea (14); 3B: A. Sanchez (2); HR: Robles (2), Reynolds (4), G. Sanchez (4); SF: Hernandez.
Syracuse`141`004`000 — 10
RailRiders`100`001`000 — 2
Syracuse`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Voth (W, 5-8)`6.2`4`2`2`2`7
Edgin`0.2`0`0`0`0`2
Goforth`1.2`1`0`0`1`0
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Rosa (L, 2-1)`5.2`10`9`5`2`4
Sosebee`1.1`4`1`0`0`1
Lail`2`2`0`0`0`2
WP: Rosa.
HBP: Reynolds (by Sosebee); Ford (by Voth).
Umpires: Reid Gibbs, HP; Ryan Clark, 1B; Charlie Ramos, 3B.
Time: 3:02; Attendance: 7,018.
