Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders first baseman Chris Gittens has been selected as Triple-A East’s Player-of-the-Week for June 21-27. He lead all qualified players with a .526 average and 11 runs batted in during the week, but it was his performance on June 27 that truly secured the award.

After being optioned by the Yankees on June 20, Gittens rejoined the lineup on June 24 with a four hit game, helping the RailRiders top the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 10-2. He followed that with a 1-for-3 night on June 25 and went 1-3 with a home run and two runs batted in on June 26 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s 10-4 in over Lehigh Valley.

On Sunday, Gittens went 4-for-6 with two home runs and eight runs batted in. In the top of the third, Gittens followed Hoy Park’s solo home run with one of his own. The RailRiders sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning and had Gittens up for a second time in the third, but this time with the bases loaded. Gittens hit a 1-1 offering over the high wall in right for a grand slam. He added a two-run double in the sixth and a RBI single in the eighth to cap his day in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s 19-1 victory. His RBI total was one short of matching the franchise’s record for runs batted in during a game.

For the week, Gittens was 10-for-19 with three walks, two doubles, three home runs and 11 runs batted in. The numbers raise his season totals to a .347 batting average with seven home runs, 22 runs batted in and a .510 on-base percentage.

Gittens joins Deivi Garcia as a RailRiders weekly award honoree. Garcia was the Pitcher-of-the-Week for May 10-16.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre begins a road series in Worcester on June 29 and returns to PNC Field for a seven-game, six-day set against the Syracuse Mets on July 6. Single-game tickets for the upcoming homestand, as well as each home game for the remainder of the season, are available now online at swbrailriders.com.