MOOSIC, Pa. - Xavier Rivas starts for the RailRiders on Saturday night, two days after he sat down at PNC Field and explained what the jump to Triple-A actually costs a pitcher.

How to watch

Lehigh Valley at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Saturday, Sept. 5 — 6:05 p.m. ET
PNC Field, Moosic, Pa.
Streaming: MiLB.TV · TV: Bally Sports

Chuck King (9-7, 4.04) starts for Lehigh Valley. Xavier Rivas (0-2, 17.47) goes for Scranton. The series ends Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET.

Standings

Scranton is 35-24 in the second half and leads the International League East, ahead of Rochester at 36-25 on percentage. Worcester is two back.

That race decides a playoff berth. Memphis won the first half and is already in. The second-half winner gets the other spot and a best-of-three series beginning Sept. 21.

The RailRiders are 72-61 overall and have won four straight. Lehigh Valley is 28-32 in the second half and has lost seven in a row.

Scranton finishes at Rochester Sept. 7-13, then home against Jacksonville Sept. 15-20.

Friday: 9-2

Kyle Carr gave up back-to-back home runs to Christian Cairo and Keaton Anthony before recording an out. It didn't matter. Scranton had 17 hits.

Anthony Volpe homered in the second, his 11th, and finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a double and a stolen base. Yanquiel Fernández doubled twice. Jasson Domínguez went 3-for-4. Jarred Kelenic ended it with a two-run homer in the seventh.

Hobie Merda got the win with 2⅔ scoreless and six strikeouts. Attendance 4,301.

Thursday: Cabrera walks it off

IronPigs manager Chris Adamson was ejected in the first, arguing a hit-by-pitch that came near Otto Kemp's helmet.

Volpe homered in the fourth, singled home a run in the sixth, then was hit by a pitch and left with a right forearm contusion. He's hitting .272 with a .947 OPS since being sent down.

In the ninth, Duke Ellis ran for Max Schuemann, stole his 47th base, and Oswaldo Cabrera singled him home. RailRiders 4, IronPigs 3, in front of 3,846.

Kyle Carr

"We have a lot of guys that have been in the big leagues for a while. They've seen a lot of baseball, so it's always good to pick their brains."

On Spencer Jones, a fellow San Diegan: "Everywhere he goes, he rakes."

What Triple-A actually teaches

Xavier Rivas — No. 15 in the system, two spots behind Carr, both 24, both left-handed — named three adjustments: the major league ball, a smaller strike zone, the automated ball-strike system.

The ball is the least obvious. Levels below Triple-A use minor league baseballs, softer with different seams. Triple-A switched to major league balls in 2019 to smooth the last step. Pitchers say the big league ball is slicker and harder to grip, and that once they adjust, their stuff moves more.

Then the part that's harder to name.

"In the minor leagues, especially the lower levels, winning's always fun and important, but the developmental process probably takes precedent sometimes. And now getting up to this level in a playoff hunt, winning games really matters. Then you don't have to think about yourself as much."

He starts Saturday.

Fernández, in Spanish

Yanquiel Fernández came from Colorado and said he's grateful to the Rockies, who gave him his first professional contract. He also described the work that's changed his season — a coach who stayed on him about handling good pitching, which he called the thing that used to hurt him most.

He'll be in Puerto Rico this winter with Criollos de Caguas rather than Leones de Ponce.

Elsewhere Saturday

All Triple-A games stream on MiLB.TV. Iowa at Columbus, 7:05 ET, is the free game of the day. Memphis starts Jurrangelo Cijntje, the switch-pitcher from Curaçao, against Durham at 7:05.

Reporting and interviews by Matt Tallarini at PNC Field, Sept. 3. Box scores and standings via MiLB.