Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (3-2 win over Lehigh Valley, walk-off style) they lead the best-of-five series one game to none

1. CF Shane Robinson: 0-5, 2 K
2. LF Mark Payton: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB — walk-off solo homer
3. SS Gio Urshela: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 E (throwing) — good game at the plate, but the error contributed to the game-tying two-run rally in the sixth
4. DH Mike Ford: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K
PR-DH Quintin Berry: 0-0 — seems like the Andrew McCutchen trade took him out of the running for a September call-up
5. 1B Ryan McBroom: 1-4, 2 K
6. 3B Bruce Caldwell: 0-3
7. RF Zack Zehner: 1-2, 2 BB
8. 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 1-4, 1 R
9. C Francisco Diaz: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K — 5-for-10 in his last three games
RHP Erik Swanson: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1/1 GB/FB — 35 of 56 pitches were strikes (63%) … his velocity was reportedly down 2-3 mph, though I don’t know if that contributed to the early exit … he’s already set a new career high in innings and might’ve been capped at 50-ish pitches … UPDATE: Conor Foley says Swanson left the game with a sore groin, so there you go … he missed time with a groin injury earlier this year
RHP Brady Lail: 2 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 2/2 GB/FB — 20 of 34 pitches were strikes (59%)
LHP Justus Sheffield: 1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GB/FB — 14 of 22 pitches were strikes (64%) … using him for one inning tonight probably means they can bring him back as soon as Game Three on Friday
RHP Raynel Espinal: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1/1 GB/FB — 23 of 35 pitches were strikes (66%) … had a 3.09 ERA with 95/26 K/BB in 67 innings during the regular season
RHP Joe Harvey: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GB/FB — ten pitches, eight strikes … he’s their closer and their best late-inning guy, plus he’s not really a prospect, so I imagine he’ll be available again tomorrow after throwing only ten pitches tonight

Double-A Trenton Thunder (8-0 loss to New Hampshire) they trail the best-of-five series one game to none

1. 2B Gosuke Katoh: 1-5, 2 K
2. DH Dom Thompson-Williams: 0-4, 1 K– promoted from Tampa for the postseason after hitting .299/.363/.546 (157 wRC+) with a farm system leading 22 homers in 100 regular season games … I thought OF Estevan Florial would get bumped home for the postseason, but it’s DTW instead … Florial is presumably heading to Instructional League before the Arizona Fall League season begins next month
3. 1B Brandon Wagner: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
4. LF Trey Amburgey: 0-4, 1 K
5. SS Kyle Holder: 3-3, 1 BB, 1 CS — 6-for-11 (.545) in his last three games
6. RF Jhalan Jackson: 0-3, 1 BB, 3 K
7. CF Rashad Crawford: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K
8. C Jorge Saez: 2-4, 2 K
9. 3B Angel Aguilar: 3-4, 1 K — 28-for-82 (.341) with six homers in his last 21 games
RHP Brian Keller: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HB, 13/1 GB/FB — 59 of 80 pitches were strikes (74%) … big ground ball night for a guy who had a 39.3% ground ball rate during the regular season
LHP James Reeves: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 15 of 31 pitches were strikes (48%) … he’d been out since August 21st with a mystery injury
RHP Hobie Harris: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1/0 GB/FB — only six of 15 pitches were strikes (40%)

The season is over for the High-A Tampa Tarpons, the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs, the Short Season Staten Island Yankees, the Rookie Pulaski Yankees, and the two Rookie GCL Yankees affiliates. None of those teams qualified for the postseason.

RHP Mike King has been named the Triple-A International League Pitcher of the Month for August, the league announced. He had a 1.09 ERA (3.24 FIP) with 22.9% strikeouts and 3.4% walks in five starts and 33 innings last month. King is the first Scranton pitcher to win the IL Pitcher of the Month award since Brandon Duckworth back in 2001, when they were the Red Barons and affiliated with the Phillies. (Duckworth is a scout with the Yankees now.)

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (3-2 win over Pawtucket) the win clinched the wild card spot, so they’re going to the postseason … their regular season ends tomorrow and they’ll play Lehigh Valley (Phillies) in the first round

• SS Gio Urshela: 1-4 — 15-for-46 (.326) with two doubles, one triple, one homer, two walks, and only four strikeouts in his last ten games
• 1B Ryan McBroom: 0-4, 2 K
• DH Mike Ford: 1-4, 1 K
• C Wilkin Castillo: 1-3, 1 3B, 2 RBI — had the go-ahead two-run triple in the fifth inning
• RHP Adonis Rosa: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2/3 GB/FB — 43 of 68 pitches were strikes (63%)
• LHP Justus Sheffield: 2.1 IP, zeroes, 4 K, 3/0 GB/FB — 17 of 25 pitches were strikes (68%), and it is notable that he entered the game in the middle of an inning for the first time … it’s not quite Jonathan Holder striking out eleven in a row to clinch a postseason spot in 2016, but Sheffield went seven up, seven down in his best relief appearance so far … finishes the regular season with a 2.48 ERA and 123/50 K/BB in 116 innings, which is pretty excellent for a 21-year-old who spent most of the season in Triple-A … now that Scranton is in the postseason, I suspect Sheffield will stay down here a little longer rather than get called up to the big leagues … we’ll see

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3B Dermis Garcia and RHP Frank German jumped into MLB.com’s top 30 Yankees prospects list after IF Abi Avelino and RHP Juan De Paula were sent to the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen trade. The scouting report notes German, this year’s fourth rounder, has already seen his velocity jump from 90-95 mph in college this spring to 94-98 mph with the Yankees this summer. Huh. Avelino and De Paula ranked as the team’s 23rd and 26th best prospects the trade, respectively.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (3-1 win over Pawtucket)

• 3B Gio Urshela: 1-4, 1 RBI — 12-for-32 (.375) in his last eight games
• RF Ryan McBroom: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K
• 1B Mike Ford: 1-4, 1 RBI
• RHP Erik Swanson: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 HR, 2/5 GB/FB — 57 of 92 pitches were strikes (62%) … finishes the regular season with a 2.66 ERA and 139/29 K/BB in 121.2 innings … enough to land him on the 40-man roster over the winter? not sure

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In case you missed it earlier, the Yankees are sending RHP Domingo Acevedo, IF Thairo Estrada, OF Estevan Florial, RHP Jordan Foley, RHP Hobie Harris, IF Steven Sensley, and RHP Matt Wivinis to the Arizona Fall League this year. They’ll be on the Glendale Desert Dogs with Dodgers, Indians, Orioles, and White Sox prospects. The 30-game AzFL season begins Tuesday, October 9th.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (3-2 win over Syracuse, walk-off style)

• 2B-SS Tyler Wade: 1-3, 1 K, 1 E (fielding) — he was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing after being called out on a would-be infield single
• C Gary Sanchez: 0-4, 2 K — he is expected to join the Yankees tomorrow and be activated Saturday … he went 3-for-19 (.158) with two homers in five rehab games
• 3B-SS Gio Urshela: 2-4, 1 R, 1 3B — 13-for-35 (.371) in his last nine games
• DH Mike Ford: 0-4
• SS Abi Avelino: 0-0 — left the game in the second inning … he’s been dealing with a nagging shoulder problem, so I assume it has something to do with leaving early … manager Bobby Mitchell told Conor Foley that the team was told to remove Avelino from the game, so something is afoot
  
• 1B Ryan McBroom: 2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB — game-tying single in the ninth
• LHP Ryan Bollinger: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 7/3 GB/FB — 44 of 69 pitches were strikes (64%) … up here starting with LHP Justus Sheffield and RHP Chance Adams now in the bullpen
• LHP Justus Sheffield: 1 IP, zeroes, 2/1 GB/FB — 12 pitches, six strikes … first appearance since missing a few games with an illness
• LHP Stephen Tarpley: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 12 of 20 pitches were strikes

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Less than one week left in the minor league regular season, so here’s another standings update. One affiliate has clinched a postseason spot, two others are in a race for a postseason spot, and the five others have been eliminated from postseason contention.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (10-2 loss to Syracuse) they are 79-55 and have already been eliminated in the division race … they’re one game back of the wild card spot and there are five teams within 1.5 games of that spot, so the race is tight … Scranton’s regular season ends next Monday, September 3rd

• SS Tyler Wade: 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 E (fielding, throwing)
• DH Gary Sanchez: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K — here’s video of the homer, his second in as many days … including his first rehab stint a few weeks ago, he has four homers in five games with Scranton
• 3B Gio Urshela: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI — dude has been on fire for a good three weeks now
• 1B Mike Ford: 0-3, 1 K, 1 HBP
• RF Ryan McBroom: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Adonis Rosa: 5.2 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, 1 WP, 8/7 GB/FB — 68 of 103 pitches were strikes (66%) … he’s in the rotation because RHP Chance Adams and LHP Justus Sheffield have moved to the bullpen the stretch run

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