MOOSIC — On a night when the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ bats were often silent against Columbus Clippers starting pitcher Julian Merryweather, Tyler Austin was the lone bright spot.
As the 25-year-old continues his rehab with the RailRiders (28-20), Austin collected a pair of hits including a first-inning double.
However, Merryweather, who was making his Triple-A debut for the Clippers (23-27), continuously overpowered the RailRiders. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre collected just five hits en route to a 5-0 loss. The RailRiders were shut out for the second straight game.
“The last two games you can tell he’s starting to see the ball a lot better, selecting better pitches to hit,” RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said of Austin. “He’s going around, seems like he’s getting comfortable. Swinging the bat like he’s capable of and we know he can do it.”
Austin is recovering from a fractured foot, which he broke during batting practice just before the start of spring training.
New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said on Monday that Austin will likely need 50 at-bats before he makes his big-league debut, citing that “most of our guys get 50 at-bats each in spring training.”
He surpassed the halfway mark Tuesday, going 2 for 4 with the double. Austin also struck out in the loss. He was one of eight RailRiders who were fooled by Merryweather.
While he’s excelled throughout his rehab stint, with both Double-A Trenton and the RailRiders, Austin isn’t rushing anything.
“It’s just about getting some timing back right now,” Austin said. “I feel like (the rehab’s) been good. I’ve got about 25 at-bats right now. Obviously I need to get a little bit more to get some timing back, but other than that, I feel pretty good. The body feels good so I’m happy with where I’m at.
“I feel pretty close, just not exactly there quite yet. Hopefully within the next — hopefully today — we can square a few things away and get back on track.”
With first base one of the few holes in the Yankees’ lineup — as Chris Carter continues to struggle and Greg Bird is on the disabled list — Austin will have a chance to make an immediate impact when he returns to the Bronx in the near future.
“I’m not trying to think about that too much,” Austin said of the situation in New York. “I’m just trying to come in here and try to help this team out any way I can and get my timing back — that’s the big thing. I haven’t played in a while and I’m happy to be back out there. But it’s about getting at-bats and getting timing back.”
Yankees top prospect Gleyber Torres made his PNC Field debut.
While things didn’t go the way the 20-year-old infielder would have hoped, going 0 for 3 and committing his third Triple-A error of the season, Torres continued to grind. Tuesday was his Triple-A debut at second base as well.
Torres is a shortstop by trade, but has played both second and third base this season.
“It’s pretty exciting for me,” Torres said. “New fans and a new stadium. New everything. I played pretty well. I’m happy.”
Injury report
RailRiders starting pitcher Daniel Camarena is making his way back to game action. He had a bullpen session Tuesday and will have one again Thursday before facing live bats later in the week.
Up next
The RailRiders and Columbus continue their four-game series Wednesday with a doubleheader starting at 10:35 a.m. The second game is making up the May 25 rainout in Columbus and will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first.
Both games are seven innings.
For other RailRiders stories, click here.
Columbus 5, RailRiders 0
Columbus`AB`R`H`BI
R. Rodriguez cf`5`1`1`1
Diaz 3b`4`0`1`0
Urshela ss`4`1`0`0
Shaffer dh`4`2`2`2
Colabello lf`4`0`1`1
Papi rf`4`0`0`0
Moore c`3`0`0`0
N. Rodriguez 1b`4`1`1`0
Hankins 2b`3`0`2`0
Totals`35`5`8`4
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Wade lf`4`0`0`0
Fowler cf`4`0`0`0
Austin dh`4`0`2`0
Choi 1b`4`0`0`0
Frazier rf`3`0`1`0
Torres 2b`3`0`0`0
Tejada 3b`3`0`0`0
Culver ss`3`0`1`0
E. Rodriguez c`3`0`1`0
Totals`31`0`5`0
Columbus`014`000`000`—`5
RailRiders`000`000`000`—`0
E: Torres (3), E. Rodriguez (3); DP: Clippers 1, RailRiders 0; LOB: Clippers 5, RailRiders 4; 2B: N. Rodriguez (5), Colabello (7), Austin (1); HR: Shaffer (9); SAC: Hankins.
Columbus`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Merryweather (W, 1-0)`8.0`4`0`0`0`8
Crockett`1.0`1`0`0`0`2
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
German (L, 1-1)`7.0`7`5`5`0`4
Webb`2.0`1`0`0`0`4
WP: Merryweather.
Umpires: Dan Merzel, HP; Robert Moreno, 1B; Chris Graham, 3B.
Time: 2:06 (0:25 delay); Att: 4,660.