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After six games, the RailRiders never found an answer for Charlotte’s big bats. Not from the rotation, not from the bullpen.
Nothing but six losses.
Thursday’s 7-5 setback in Charlotte meant two series sweeps in as many weeks for the Knights over the RailRiders. Charlotte outscored Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 59-27 in the six meetings this month, reaching at least seven runs in five of the wins.
The small mercy on Thursday was that the loss was more of the regular variety and not another punch to the gut. The RailRiders had experienced polar opposite ends of the misery spectrum in the first two games in Charlotte this week, getting demolished 15-1 on Tuesday and then having a breakthrough rally snuffed out 13-12 in extra innings on Wednesday.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (65-57) lost its fourth straight and fell to just 3-10 in August. The lead atop the IL North remained at three games thanks to Buffalo’s loss to Toledo earlier Thursday.
For the second straight night, the RailRiders entered the seventh inning facing a big deficit, down 6-1. On Wednesday, they exploded for their biggest inning of the season, scoring eight times in the seventh to take a 12-8 lead — which evaporated in the eighth and ninth.
This time, the seventh-inning spark came from home runs, a two-run blast by Mandy Alvarez and a solo shot from Zack Zehner. But the rally stopped there, and Charlotte home run leader Daniel Palka got a run back in the home half with a long ball of his own.
Ryan McBroom (2-for-4) continued his strong season with an RBI double in the eighth to make it 7-5. But Alvarez then flied out to right to end the inning. The RailRiders again brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after an Erik Kratz leadoff singe, but Zehner, Kyle Higashioka and Breyvic Valera went down on seven combined pitches to end the game.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre briefly led the game on Trey Amburgey’s RBI double in the top of the first. But Charlotte answered immediately in the home half on a walk, a stolen base and a Luis Robert double.
The Knights went on from there to put up four earned runs on five hits against RailRiders starter Nick Nelson, who was making his Triple-A debut after being called up from Double-A Trenton earlier in the week. Nelson went five innings and took the loss, striking out four and walking two.
Josh Maciejewski, making his second career Triple-A appearance, pitched the final three innings and gave up three earned runs on three hits.
Tyler Wade also doubled for the RailRiders. McBroom was the only player to record multiple hits.
Things get no easier this weekend for the RailRiders, who now head farther South for a three-game series against league-leading Gwinnett. The Stripers took two out of three from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last weekend in Moosic.
Friday’s first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
Riding the rails
• Last August, Michael King’s promotion to Triple-A helped the RailRiders return to the playoffs and the Governors’ Cup finals.
On Thursday, he returned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s roster after being promoted from Trenton as the promising 24-year-old continues to battle back from elbow issues that have ailed him for much of the past six months. The team said Thursday night King is in line to start on Friday.
King was outstanding last summer for the RailRiders, posting a 1.15 ERA with a 4-0 record in six regular season starts, striking out 31 and walking just six in 39 innings. He also shined in the clinching playoff series win over Lehigh Valley and took a hard-luck loss in the Governors’ Cup against Durham.
Things have been decidedly tougher this year.
King made his return to the mound a month ago in the Gulf Coast League, made a short trip to Single-A Staten Island and then appeared in three games for Trenton in which he gave up 15 runs — 14 earned — in 12.2 innings.
• Also joining the staff is lefty Tyler Lyons, who was released last week by the Pittsburgh Pirates and signed by the Yankees to a minor-league deal on Thursday.
Lyons, 30, played much of 2016-18 in the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals but has spent most of this season in the International League with Indianapolis. He made 35 appearances out of the bullpen for the Indians, sporting a 3.35 ERA while striking out 55 and walking 16 in 45.2 innings.
It’s the second former major leaguer the Yankees have scooped up this week on a minor-league deal, joining ex-Reds reliever David Hernandez.
• To make room for the new arms, outfielder Omar Carrizales was released by the Yankees and reliever David Sosebee was placed on the seven-day injured list.
Sosebee opened the ninth inning of Wednesday’s loss but was replaced by Hernandez, who walked in the tying run and gave up the game-winning hit in the 10th.