SWB RailRiders Game Notes- July 8, 2026
IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes- July 8, 2026

Published on July 8, 2026 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (8-4, 45-41) vs Buffalo Bisons (7-6, 42-46)

July 8, 2026 | Game 87 | Away Game 46 | Sahlen Field | First Pitch 6:35 P.M.

RH Alexander Cornielle (0-1, 4.61) vs RH Max Scherzer (MLB Rehab)

Cornielle (7/3 vs NOR): 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 SO, 71 P (43 S) [RailRiders, 3-2]

Scherzer (7/3-1 vs EUG): 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 49 P (33 S) [Canadians, 5-3]

LAST TIME OUT - BUFFALO, NY (July 7, 2026) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders hammered the Buffalo Bisons 18-3 Tuesday night at Sahlen Field. The RailRiders combined to hit six home runs en route to a season-best 18 runs on 17 hits in the series opener.

Tyler Hardman staked Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to a 2-0 lead in the second with an opposite-field homer off Buffalo starter Richard Gallardo. The 368-foot shot to right was his sixth of the season with the RailRiders.

The Bisons cut into the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead with a bases-loaded walk by Davis Schneider in the bottom of the third.

The RailRiders added a pair in the top of the fourth on a sac fly from Ernesto Martínez Jr. and a run-scoring groundout from Jonathan Ornelas for a 4-1 edge. Hardman led off the sixth with his second home run of the night, a 361-foot drive to right. After Martínez Jr. worked a walk,

Duke Ellis hit the tenth pitch of his at-bat over the wall in right to extend the lead to 7-1 before an RBI groundout added an additional tally,

Oswaldo Cabrera hit solo homers in the seventh and eighth innings for a 10-1 lead. Davis Schneider countered with a two-run homer to cut the deficit to seven after eight innings.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre sent 11 to the plate in the ninth, adding eight runs on seven hits, keyed by three-straight RBI singles and capped by a grand slam from Martínez Jr. off catcher William Simoneit.

Eric Reyzelman (1-1) earned the win for the RailRiders in a bullpen game while Gallardo (0-2) took the loss for the Bisons.

Six of nine hitters had multi-hit nights, eight drove in at least one run, and all nine reached base. Martínez Jr. drove in five, Hardman plated four, and Cabrera added three runs batted in.

IT IS GRAND- The RailRiders have hit seven grand slams this season, including two each from Spencer Jones, Ernesto Mártinez Jr., Jonathan Ornelas. Ornelas hit a walk-off grand slam on Sunday to win the game for the RailRiders and Mártinez Jr. smacked one in the ninth in the next contest. Kenedy Corona has also had a grand slam this season. The most bases loaded homers that SWB has hit in a single season is eight done back in 2019. Jose Rojas holds the record for most hit in a single season which was three last summer. The team upped its batting average to .277 with the bases loaded in 83 at-bats.

FIVE-RUNS SCORED- Oswaldo Cabrera crossed the plate five times last night marking the first player to have done so for the RailRiders since the 1990's. The last time a player did that was David Doster on August 2, 1998, at Pawtucket and prior to that it was Gene Schall on July 13, 1996, at Syracuse. It was only done one other time in SWB history by Mickey Morandini on July 30, 1990, versus Toledo.

HARDMAN'S HAPPY- Tyler Hardman hit his third two-homer game of the season in the series opener, his second in Triple-A. Last night, he went 4-for-6 at the plate with four runs batted in and four runs scored. It marked his second four-hit game of the season and fifth four-RBI night. Hardman is off to a hot start in July, hitting .389 in five games. The 27-year-old was a fifth-round pick by New York back in 2021 out of the University of Oklahoma.

DOING THE MOST- The RailRiders had their highest run count of the season last night, as they plated 18 runs. Back on April 3 at Rochester, the team scored 17 and they have scored more than 10 runs five times this summer. It also marked the highest hit count in a single inning with seven recorded in the ninth. Their six home runs as a team were the most they have hit in a one game in 2026. It was also their longest nine-inning game of the season at three hours and twenty-six minutes.

DUKE'S DASHING- With another swipe last night, Duke Ellis now has 35 steals on the season. He has the second most in the International League behind just Worcester's Braiden Ward who has just one more. Ellis also has recorded the most steals in the Yankees' entire minor league system in 61 games. The lefty was claimed by New York off of waivers from Seattle back in 2024 and has spent parts of three seasons with SWB. Ellis is verging on the RailRiders single season and team-career stolen base records. The single season record is held by Tommy Barrett who had 44 in 1989. Nick Punto holds the career Scranton/Wilkes-Barre high with 82 swipes in parts of three seasons from 2001-2003.

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