SWB RailRiders Game Notes- September 23, 2025- ILCS Game 1
IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes- September 23, 2025- ILCS Game 1

Published on September 23, 2025 under International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (87-60) at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (89-61)

September 23, 2025 | ILCS Game 1 | VyStar Park | First Pitch 7:05 P.M.

RH Brendan Beck vs. LH Robby Snelling

Beck: 13-5 mark between SOM & SWB with a 3.36 ERA over 26 games, 24 starts, & 123 K over 131.1 IP

Snelling: 9-7 combined between PNS & JAX with a 2.51 ERA in 25 starts & 166 K over 136.0 IP

LAST TIME OUT- BUFFALO, NY (September 21, 2025) - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat the Buffalo Bisons 2-1 at Sahlen Field on Sunday afternoon to wrap the 2025 regular season. The second-half champion RailRiders closed a series victory with their 87th win of the year.

The RailRiders broke up a scoreless game in the top of the third without the benefit of a base hit. Spencer Jones and T.J. Rumfield worked one-out walks. After a double steal put two in scoring position, a Brennen Davis groundout plated Jones for a 1-0 lead.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre doubled the advantage in the fifth. Braden Shewmake led off the frame with a ground-rule double and moved to third on a sac bunt. Jorbit Vivas singled against a drawn-in infield to drive in Shewmake for a 2-0 edge.

Kenta Maeda shut down the Bisons over five scoreless innings, striking out five and walking two.

Buffalo broke up the shutout bid with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth. Ian Hamilton, Jake Bird and Jayvien Sandridge blanked the Bisons over the final three innings, combining to retire eight straight to end the game.

Maeda (6-7) earned the win, and Paxton Schultz (5-4) was charged with the loss. Sandridge earned his third save of the season.

ILCS- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre battles Jacksonville this week in a best-of-three International League Championship Series. The RailRiders and Jumbo Shrimp did not meet in 2025. The clubs split a set at PNC Field in 2023, and SWB swept a six-game series last season in Florida. 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. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has claimed two International League Championships, winning in 2008 and 2016.

#CLINCHED- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre locked down the second-half International League title on last Friday night, advancing the RailRiders to the postseason for the first time since 2019. After a 38-34 mark in the first half, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre went 49-26 in the second half, staving off Syracuse and late charges by Indianapolis, Toledo and Lehigh Valley. The club finished the overall campaign 87-60, tied for the fourth-most wins in a single season in franchise history.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH- Jacksonville, the top affiliate of the Miami Marlins, won the first-half title with a 47-28 record and a final-week surge past Lehigh Valley. The Jumbo Shrimp posted a 42-33 mark in the second season and closed the campaign with a league-best 89-61 record. Jacksonville is managed by David Carpenter, who appeared in 22 games as a pitcher for the Yankees during the 2015 season. Jacksonville closed the season with a .243 team average (18th out of 20 teams) and a 3.73 ERA (Best in the IL).

TOP OF THE HEAP- Jacksonville and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre finished the year with the two best overall records in the International League. The Jumbo Shrimp's 89-61 season was good for a .593 winning percentage, a half-game and a percentage point ahead of the RailRiders' 87-60 and .592 effort this year.

TONE SETTER- Brendan Beck, the Yankees' #11 prospect per MLB Pipeline, takes the mound for the RailRiders in Game 1. Beck began his season with Somerset, going 5-2 with a 1.82 ERA over 11 games, including nine starts. He made his Triple-A debut on June 22 and started 15 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, posting an 8-3 record with a 4.44 ERA. Between the two levels, the right-hander out of Stanford struck out 123 hitters and walked 38 over 131.1 innings of work.

HOME v. ROAD- 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. On the road, the RailRiders went 43-31, hitting .259 over 74 games with 92 home runs and a staff ERA of 4.25.

KEEPING SCORE- The RailRiders closed the 2025 season with the top run differential in the International League at +142, having scored 803 runs, third-most in the league this season, and allowing 661, fifth-fewest in the IL.

KING OF SWING- Jose Rojas matched Jorge Vasquez's club record of 32 home runs, finished one RBI off of tying the franchise record of 106, set by Torey Lovullo in 1999, and set a new club record for slugging percentage at .599, topping Manager Shelley Duncan's 2009 record by .022. Nearly half of Rojas' 32 home runs happened in key situations this season. Four tied games and 10 were go-ahead home runs by the 31-year-old. Thirteen of 32 have been hit in the seventh inning or later.

POWERED UP- Spencer Jones finished his 2025 campaign with 35 total home runs. The Yankees' #3 prospect hit 16 for Somerset over 49 games and had 19 for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 67 games played. Jones finished one behind Oklahoma City's Ryan Ward for the Minor League lead.

POTENT PROBABLE- Allan Winans is slated to start Game 2 on Wednesday. The right-hander went 12-1 during the regular season and sported a 1.63 ERA over 99.1 innings pitched. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre went 20-1 in games that Winans appeared in this year.

Check out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Statistics

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International League Stories from September 23, 2025


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