RailRiders cook 'Pigs in Domínguez's debut
Aug. 22—MOOSIC — Losing two of their best hitters to the majors didn't slow down the RailRiders. The man they call "The Martian" landed at PNC Field and the offense marched along.
Jasson Domínguez, the switch-hitting, 20-year-old outfield phenom whose skillset of power, speed and contact ability has led people to extraterrestrial comparisons, collected three hits and three RBIs in his Triple-A debut, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre unleashed an otherworldly offensive attack on first-place Lehigh Valley in a 14-1 thumping
Tuesday.
The RailRiders (24-20, 58-60) pounded 15 hits, worked nine walks and had one batter hit by a pitch. They struck out just five times, with three of them coming in a six-run sixth inning that turned the game into a laugher. They put 17 balls in play at better-than 95 mph (the Statcast threshold for a hard-hit ball), and 10 of them were smashed harder than 100 mph.
Despite losing outfielder Everson Pereira and shortstop Oswald Peraza to big league promotions, the RailRiders scored at least 12 runs for the third straight game and have scored 39 total over that stretch. They're now 3 1/2 games behind Lehigh Valley and saw five of the seven teams ahead of them in the standings lose Tuesday.
"We had a tendency to swing at the pitchers' pitches leading up to the last few weeks, and I feel like the last few games, we've let them have those pitches and we make them come over the middle of the plate," said right fielder Brandon Lockridge, who went 2 for 4 with two runs and a bases-loaded walk.
"I just feel like everybody saw a lot of pitches tonight, which was kind of the gameplan going into this. It's a seven-game series, we want to get in their 'pen deep early and have those pitchers warn out towards the end of the week."
The RailRiders put the game out of reach early against Lehigh Valley starter Drew Hutchison, who seemed to be battling an injury issue with his throwing hand for most of his outing. They started the third inning with three consecutive singles, with Jamie Westbrook's driving in the game's first run, then Hutchison walked a pair with the bases loaded to make it 3-0.
They added four in the fourth inning, with Estevan Florial's ground-rule double with the bases full scoring two and setting up Domínguez's first Triple-A hit: a two-run single up the middle that made it 7-0 and ended Hutchison's day.
"He had some amazing at-bats," RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan said of Domínguez's debut. "I loved his aggressiveness. Swings looks — swing looks like it's dialed in. He showed his athletic ability out there today."
Three walks and a wild pitch tacked on a quick run in the fifth, then the RailRiders blew it open with a six-hit, six-run sixth. Batting from the right side for the first in the game, Domínguez shot a double into the gap in right center to start the inning, then scored when Franchy Cordero ripped another double to right. Westbrook poked blooper over a drawn-in infield to score another and Jake Lamb blasted a three-run homer to make it 13-1. Lockridge kept the inning going with a base hit and Domínguez capped the scoring with a line-drive single up the middle, his second hit of the inning.
"I can't (try to) be like Pereira or Peraza," Domínguez said. "I just came here to do my job, try to do my best, control what I can control and that's it."
Clayton Beeter started for the RailRiders and, at times, looked dominant. He struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings, firing fastball after fastball past Lehigh Valley's hitters. At other times, his pitches just missed the zone and it led to five walks, which helped set up the IronPigs' only run of the night. In the fifth inning, Beeter walked two around a double by Scott Kingery and left with the bases loaded and one out. Josh Maciejewski inherited the jam and let up just the one run on a groundout by Darick Hall.
"Clayton's stuff looked really good today," Duncan said. "It looked like he's still trying to find that feel where he can attack the zone consistently. And those glimpses when he would — it's a common theme with him. When he attacks the zone early and he gets hitters behind in the counts, they tend to be more aggressive on that fastball up."
Martian invades
Domínguez was out early Tuesday for a little defensive work. When the first liner defensive coach José Javier hit toward him took off and sailed over his head, veteran teammate Wilmer Difo jokingly started to get on the young phenom.
It didn't take long for Domínguez to show he belongs here.
"When I started the season, I kind of had that (reaching Triple-A) in my mind," Domínguez said. "Now that it really happened, I feel great."
His three-hit RailRiders debut came on the heels of Domínguez winning the Double-A Eastern League Player of the Week award for a stretch where he went 13 for 28 (.464) with two home runs, five doubles and eight RBIs with Somerset.
"I think this is the perfect time (to come to Triple-A) because at the beginning of the season, I didn't have a good start," said Domínguez, who was batting just .197 — while still getting on base at a .345 clip — through June. "I was struggling a little bit. But now I feel so much (is) good."
He's turned it around in the second half, and by the time he was promoted, he was leading the Eastern League in runs (83), walks (77) and was second in hits (108) and stolen bases (37).
"I just stayed with my routine," he said. "Just keep working on those little things that I've been working on, and then after the break, good things just came out."
Now, he finds himself one step away from the majors.
"It feels good to be here, but of course it feels good knowing I'm that close," he said. "But I try not to think much about that. I just try to be focusing on this moment right now and do my thing and (see what) happens."
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