Things are going right down to the wire for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the race for the International League second-half title.
Losing the final two games of their series last week in Rochester put the RailRiders two behind the first-place Red Wings, Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, entering the final week of the regular season. It also allowed the Indianapolis Indians, Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, to move one game ahead of them.
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What hurt the most was that in those two losses to Rochester, the RailRiders held leads in both games. On September 12th, they led, 6-0, after five innings and change, only to have the Red Wings score six times in the bottom of the sixth and once in the bottom of the seventh to win, 7-6. Then, the next day, the RailRiders led, 3-2, after three and a half innings on the strength of a pair of home runs by the since-DFA’d Oswaldo Cabrera. But Rochester scored solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings and two more in the seventh on its way to a 6-4 victory.
Those are just two examples in the past several weeks where the RailRiders held leads in games but couldn’t keep them:
Aug. 11 at Lehigh Valley: The RailRiders took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, only to have the IronPigs score three runs to rally for a 5-4 win.
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Aug. 15 at Lehigh Valley: They led, 4-2, after the top of the fifth, but the IronPigs plated runs in the fifth, seventh, and eighth to win, 5-4.
Aug. 18 vs. Charlotte: This one really stung. The RailRiders led, 8-1, after five innings. However, the Knights scored three runs in the top of the eighth, fourth in the ninth, and one in the 10th to come all the way back and win, 9-8.
Aug. 25 at Worcester: The WooSox scored fivein the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a 4-3 RailRiders lead and eventually win, 8-5.
Sept. 1 vs. Lehigh Valley: Adam Kloffenstein was cruising with a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning in the completion of a suspended game. Out of nowhere, the IronPigs scored four runs in the eighth to pull out a 4-2 victory.
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Sept. 5 vs. Lehigh Valley: The RailRiders tallied one run in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 6-5 lead, only to give up three runs in the top of the ninth and lose, 8-6.
Win two or three of those games and the RailRiders probably are in the driver’s seat in the second-half race.
Still, they are in the mix — just barely. They got one of the games back Tuesday when they won the opening game of the final series at PNC Field against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, 6-5, while Rochester lost to the Buffalo Bisons, 9-8. However, Indianapolis beat the Gwinnett Stripers in 10 innings, 8-6. The RailRiders didn’t help themselves much either yesterday though, as they dropped a 9-6 contest to Jacksonville at the same time that both Rochester and Indy won.
So entering play on Thursday, Rochester and Indianapolis are tied for first place at 42-29 and the RailRiders are two back at 39-30, knotted up with Worcester. Just ahead of them are the Syracuse Mets at 40-30. Four games remain, so the clock could be striking midnight soon on this Triple-A season.
Besides the impact in the standings, there are two other reasons why the final series against Jacksonville is important.
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First, it is a chance for the RailRiders to avenge a loss to the Jumbo Shrimp in last year’s International League championship series. They won Game 1 of the best-of-3 series, but lost the next two. Jacksonville then beat the Pacific Coast League champion Las Vegas Aviators in the Triple-A Championship Game, 8-7, on Jacob Berry’s two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth.
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Second, this is the final ride for the team as the RailRiders. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is rebranding for next season and will unveil a new nickname in November. In their own words, this week will be the RailRiders’ last ride.
