The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 15-4 on Tuesday evening at Coca-Cola Park to win the 2026 IronRail Series opening game. Yanquiel Fernandez led the offensive surge by hitting two home runs and driving in six runs during the blowout victory.
According to timesleader.com, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre opened the scoring in the third inning when Duke Ellis singled, stole second base, and crossed the plate on a single by Fernandez. Lehigh Valley responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run from Dylan Carlson to tie the game 1-1.
The RailRiders reclaimed the advantage in the top of the fifth inning after Jonathan Ornelas singled and stole second. Ellis then executed a sacrifice bunt that Major League Baseball rehabber Max Lazar threw past first base, allowing Ornelas to score.
Fernandez followed later in the fifth inning with a 401-foot, two-run home run to right field to extend the lead to 4-1. The IronPigs answered by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to one run.
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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre extended its lead to 7-3 in the top of the sixth inning through an RBI double by Ornelas and a two-run single from George Lombard Jr. Both teams recorded one run each in the seventh inning.
The RailRiders stretched their advantage to 12-4 in the eighth inning with back-to-back home runs, starting with a three-run blast by Oswaldo Cabrera followed by a solo home run from Seth Brown. Fernandez concluded the scoring in the ninth inning with a three-run home run to complete his second six-RBI performance of the season.
Eight of the nine Scranton/Wilkes-Barre batters recorded at least one hit in the game, as reported by timesleader.com. Ornelas collected four hits, while Lombard Jr., Fernandez, and Brown each finished with three hits.
Yerry De Los Santos secured the pitching win after throwing 2.2 innings in relief of starter Brendan Beck, who allowed three runs on six hits over four-plus innings. Zach Messinger threw 2.1 scoreless relief innings, while Lehigh Valley starter Ryan Cusick took the loss after allowing two runs in three-plus innings.
This defeat followed a difficult stretch for Lehigh Valley, who dropped five out of six games to the Rochester Red Wings the previous week. As reported by aol.com, Rochester concluded that series on Sunday with a 3-0 shutout win behind Luis Perales and five relief pitchers to take first place in the International League East.
The RailRiders and IronPigs will continue their series on Wednesday morning at 11:05 a.m. for a school day game. Adam Kloffenstein is scheduled to start on the mound for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Tucker Davidson of Lehigh Valley.