SWB RailRiders Game Notes- September 17, 2025
IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes- September 17, 2025

Published on September 17, 2025 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (46-24, 84-58) at Buffalo Bisons (29-39, 59-82)

September 17, 2025 | Game 143 | Road Game 70 | Sahlen Field | First Pitch 6:05 P.M.

RH Brendan Beck (7-3, 4.65) vs. RH Elieser Hernandez (0-2, 7.53)

Beck: Allowed 2 R (1 ER) on 6 H over 5.2 IP with 8 K & 0 BB in 9/11 ND vs. LHV (3-2 RailRiders)

Hernandez: Allowed 5 R on 7 H over 5.0 IP in 9/11 ND @ ROC with 6 K & 1 BB (8-7 Red Wings WO)

LAST TIME OUT- BUFFALO, NY (September 16, 2025) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders bested the Buffalo Bisons 3-1 on Tuesday night at Sahlen Field. Allan Winans struck out six over six innings as the RailRiders maintained a three-game lead atop the International League's second-half standings.

After three scoreless innings, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre opened the offense in the top of the fourth. T.J. Rumfield drilled a solo home run 374 feet to right for a 1-0 edge. With two down, Jeimer Candelario doubled and was balked to third by Buffalo reliever Adam Macko. Bryan De La Cruz singled in Candelario for a 2-0 lead.

Allan Winans held the Bisons hitless over the first three innings, striking out four the first time through the order. Anthony Santander, with Buffalo on an MLB Rehab Assignment, broke up a string of ten straight retired by Winans to start the night. The Bisons halved their deficit in the fifth on a two-out RBI double by Rene Pinto, but the RailRiders immediately countered with a run in the top of the sixth when Braden Shewmake doubled in De La Cruz with two outs for a 3-1 lead.

Buffalo loaded the bases in both the seventh and eighth innings, but Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's bullpen closed out both innings with strikeouts.

Winans (12-1) worked six innings on 80 pitches, allowing a run on three hits with a pair of walks and the six strikeouts. Macko (3-8) took the loss after allowing the pair of fourth-inning runs. Jake Bird worked 1.1 innings for his first SWB save.

THE FINAL STRETCH TM - With five games remaining in the 2025 regular season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre holds a three-game lead over Syracuse for the International League's second-half title. Indianapolis was eliminated from contention with a loss earlier this afternoon. Toledo (-5.0) also played an afternoon game at Iowa and started the day with an elimination number of one. Lehigh Valley was eliminated with the RailRiders win on Tuesday. The winner of the second-half crown will play at Jacksonville in a best-of-three series starting on September 23. The Triple-A National Championship Game is slated for 10:00 P.M. ET on September 27 in Las Vegas when the IL winner squares off against the Pacific Coast League champions.

BECK'S BALL TONIGHT- Brendan Beck gets the nod in tonight's action in Buffalo. The right-hander is coming off an eight-strikeout game in his start last Thursday at home against Lehigh Valley. The right-hander has struck out eight or more in four of his 14 starts for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, including setting a new high of nine strikeouts and matching it once. Beck has faced Buffalo once in each series between the clubs this year, sporting a 1-0 mark with a 7.88 ERA over eight total innings.

REBOUND ROUTE- Allan Winans responded after his first loss of the season with six strikeouts over six innings in Tuesday's series opener. The right-hander has appeared in 21 games this season and the RailRiders are now 20-1 in those games.

TANKS- T.J. Rumfield's fourth-inning homer was his first home run in nearly a month. The first baseman is one off matching his career-high of 17, set in 2023 with Somerset. Rumfield hit 15 over 114 games for the RailRiders last year.

FIRST TIME... LONG TIME- The RailRiders dropped their first series since May with two wins in six games against the IronPigs last week. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had won or split 15 consecutive series since going 1-4 in Nashville from May 21 through 24, with 11 wins in 15 series since May 27.

30/100... PLUS- Jose Rojas joined skipper Shelley Duncan and Jorge Vasquez as the only players in SWB franchise history to hit 30 or more home runs in a single season. Duncan broke his own record of 25 with 30 home runs during his 2009 MVP campaign, the year he also drove in 99. Jorge Vasquez broke Duncan's mark with a 32-homer season in 2011. Rojas joins Torey Lovullo as the only players in franchise history to drive in 100 or more runs. Lovullo drove in a club record 106 during the 1999 campaign. Rojas has 31 home runs and 103 runs batted in with seven games left on the slate.

POWER SEASON- Spencer Jones's 33 total home runs stand second in Minor League Baseball. LA Dodgers Minor Leaguer Ryan Ward hit one on Sunday to give him 34 for the campaign. Jose Rojas is fourth with 31.

FAREWELL FOR NOW- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre finished their 2025 home slate with 44 wins, 29 losses and two cancellations. The RailRiders hit .266 in 73 games with 84 home runs while sporting a staff ERA of 4.16 at PNC Field. Forty-four victories is tied for the eighth-most in a single season in 36 years of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre baseball.

KING OF CLUTCH- Nearly half of Jose Rojas' 31 home runs have come in key situations this season. Four have tied games and 10 have been go-ahead home runs by the 31-year-old. Thirteen of 31 have been hit in the seventh inning or later.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION- New York beat Minnesota 10-9. Seven different Yankees drove in runs, keyed by three from Trent Grisham and two from Giancarlo Stanton... Somerset fell 3-1 to Binghamton in Game 1 of the Eastern League Division. Dylan Jasso singled in Brendan Jones in the first inning, but the Patriots could not muster any additional support for Ben Hess. Game two will be played at Binghamton on Thursday with game three, if necessary, set for Friday.

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International League Stories from September 17, 2025


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