SWB RailRiders Game Notes- September 18, 2025
IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes- September 18, 2025

Published on September 18, 2025 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (47-24, 85-58) at Buffalo Bisons (29-40, 59-83)

September 18, 2025 | Game 144 | Road Game 71 | Sahlen Field | First Pitch 1:05 P.M.

RH Joel Kuhnel (4-1, 3.47) vs. RH Alek Manoah (1-1, 3.45)

Kuhnel: Allowed 1 R on 2 H over 1.0 relief IP in 9/13 Win vs. LHV with 2 K and 0 BB (8-5 RailRiders)

Manoah: Allowed 3 R on 4 H over 5.1 IP in 9/12 ND @ ROC with 8 K & 1 BB (4-3 Bisons)

LAST TIME OUT- BUFFALO, NY - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat the Buffalo Bisons 6-1 at Sahlen Field on Wednesday night. Spencer Jones backed Brendan Beck with a pair of home runs and five runs batted in.

The RailRiders opened the scoring two batters in. Jorbit Vivas led off the night with a triple and scored on a sac fly from Brennen Davis for a 1-0 advantage. The Bisons leveled the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second on a Yohendrick Pinango double, a groundout, and a run-scoring single from Michael Stefanic.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre regained the advantage in the top of the fourth. Jones hit a two-run homer to left for a 3-1 lead. Two innings later, Jones hit his second of the night, building the lead to five runs at 6-1.

Brendan Beck (8-3) earned the win, striking out five over 5.2 innings of work. Brent Headrick, Kervin Castro, Wilking Rodriguez and Scott Effross combined to shut down the Bisons over the final 3.2 innings. Elieser Hernandez (0-3) allowed five of the six runs and took the loss.

Jones' multi-homer game gives him 19 with the RailRiders and 35 total between two levels in 2025, the most of any player in Minor League Baseball this season.

THEN THERE WERE TWO- With four games remaining in the 2025 regular season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre still holds a three-game lead over Syracuse for the International League's second-half title. Indianapolis and Toledo were eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday. The RailRiders' Magic Number is 2. Any combination of RailRiders wins and Mets losses equaling two secures a trip to Jacksonville next week for 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.

BULLPEN BRIGADE- Joel Kuhnel makes his second spot start for the RailRiders this afternoon and just the sixth by a bullpen arm this year. The other 138 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre games this season have all been started by members of the rotation or Major League Rehab starters. Kuhnel started game two of a doubleheader at Buffalo on August 21, working 2.2 scoreless with three strikeouts, allowing one hit over 28 pitches. RailRiders relievers have worked 6.2 scoreless innings so far in this series at Buffalo.

POWER SEASON- Spencer Jones launched two home runs on Wednesday night and now has a Minor League-best 35 total home runs, one ahead of LA Dodgers Minor Leaguer Ryan Ward. Jones hit 16 for Somerset and now has 19 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 24-year-old has five multi-homer games this season, including three with the RailRiders in the second half.

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.

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 are 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 10-5. Trent Grisham homered twice and Cody Bellinger added a two-run blast to seal the series win. The Yankees travel to Baltimore and open a four-game weekend set on Thursday night... Somerset resumes play in the Eastern League Division Series tonight at Binghamton. The Patriots fell 3-1 Tuesday and send Carlos Lagrange to the mound tonight looking to force a Game 3 in the best-of-three set.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from September 18, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central