Jun. 7—MOOSIC — They were the story again, as they have been most every day on this homestand.
A big hit for Trey Amburgey. Another for Hoy Park. Seems like a broken record, but excuse the RailRiders if they like the sound.
The RailRiders’ red-hot sluggers helped build an early lead, and starter Nick Green provided four effective innings to help the local nine secure a split of their six-game series with Lehigh Valley, 4-3, on a steamy Sunday afternoon at PNC Field.
Amburgey plated Park with a scorched double to left in the first inning to put the RailRiders ahead, 1-0. And in the second, Park’s two-run rising line drive that hit the RailHouse in right field sent them out of the second inning with a four-run lead they’d ultimately hold onto thanks to a gritty bullpen.
But as they wrapped up a long homestand Sunday night, RailRiders coaches continued to be impressed by the work of the two hitters who just don’t seem to go through a lull.
“Our team is just hitting bombs for days,” Green
marveled.
Amburgey’s double in the first, a shot down the line against IronPigs starter Ethan Evanko, raised his season batting average to .404 and gave him a hit in all 13 games he has played this season.
It was a tone-setter for a team that had lost back-to-back games for the first time all season, and it came from a logical place.
“Trey is a model of consistency, just as a person,” RailRiders hitting coach Casey Dykes said after the game. “Every day when he comes into work, you know what you’re going to get. He’s very routine-oriented, but also, if something doesn’t feel right, he’s just going to work through it. He’s just going to be the same guy, every day, and that’s what you want in the box.”
Park has shown similar consistency.
His leadoff single to right set up the RBI situation for Amburgey in the first, and his home run to right in the second inning that followed Max McDowell’s RBI double was his fifth home run of the homestand.
Not too shabby, considering his previous career-high for home runs in a season was the seven he struck in 2017, when he split the campaign between Charleston and Tampa.
The rate he’s connecting for home runs might be surprising, but the fact that he’s doing it isn’t exactly taking Dykes aback.
“We have always known he can impact the ball,” Dykes said. “It’s just getting them impacted in the air; not just hit hard ground balls, but hit hard line drives. Every now and then, those get up out of there when you do impact the ball the way he is capable of doing.”
Green entered the game with a 5.94 ERA, but the IronPigs had precious few opportunities to impact his pitching line.
He retired the first seven, then struck out five straight before he lost the strike zone a bit in the fifth. He walked Ryan Cordell, then struggled to corral a Rafael Marchan comebacker that kept tailing away from him. Had he fielded it, it could have started a double play. The fact that he didn’t, however, meant Green left the game with the bases loaded and nobody out, allowing just two hits.
Right-hander Albert Abreu walked Edgar Cabral with the bases loaded to force one run home, but Park’s terrific diving stop of a Sal Gozzo grounder prevented more than one more run coming in after that.
Green allowed those two runs, but his five strikeouts were a season high and his line was affected as much as anything by that squib hit.
“I really felt just in control the whole game,” Green said. “It’s always easier when you are in control and command those pitches, obviously. It was nice to be able to have that confident feel out there.”
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