This is a 2025 photo of Yanquiel Fernandez of the Colorado Rockies baseball team. This image reflects the Rockies’ active roster as of Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, when this image was taken in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
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This is a 2025 photo of Yanquiel Fernandez of the Colorado Rockies baseball team. This image reflects the Rockies’ active roster as of Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, when this image was taken in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Yanquiel Fernandez homered twice and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders picked up where they left off one night earlier, knocking off the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 9-2, on Wednesday night at PNC Field in Moosic.
Max Schuemann also homered. He and Fernandez each finished with three hits for the RailRiders (33-24, 70-61), who totaled nine runs and 14 hits after collecting 16 runs and 14 hits in Tuesday’s victory. They are in a three-way tie for second place in the International League second-half standings, 1.5 games behind Rochester, which was rained out at Syracuse on Wednesday. Indianapolis and St. Paul also are 1.5 games back. Next week, the RailRiders head to Rochester for a six-game series.
New York Yankees righthanded pitcher Clarke Schmidt started on a MLB rehab assignment for the RailRiders. He went two innings and allowed one run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts. He threw 23 pitches, 20 for strikes, and topped out at 95.1 mph on his first pitch of the game. Schmidt is recovering from Tommy John surgery in July 2025. This was his second rehab start; at Somerset on Aug. 29, he allowed two runs and two hits (one home run) in 0.2 innings with no walks and two strikeouts. He threw 20 pitches, 16 strikes.
Alexander Cornielle, the reigning International League Pitcher of the Week, relieved Schmidt on Wednesday and allowed one run in seven hits in five innings with one walk and four strikeouts to earn the win. Bradley Hanner and Eli Morgan each threw one scoreless inning to finish it off.
Schmidt gave up three consecutive hits with one out in the top of the first inning. Otto Kemp and Kameron Misner singled and Keaton Anthony doubled to score Kemp. However, Misner was thrown out at the plate trying to score, keeping it 1-0 Lehigh Valley.
The RailRiders responded in the bottom of the first as the first five batters had hits. Jarred Kelenic singled and Anthony Volpe doubled. Jasson Dominguez, J.C. Escarra and Marco Luciano had RBI singles. Oswaldo Cabrera’s run-scoring forceout made it 4-1.
Fernandez hit his first home run with one out in the bottom of the third and Schuemann aboard on a single to extend the margin to 6-1. Schuemann homered off the billboards above the walkway in left field 397 feet away with one out in the fifth to increase the lead to 7-1. In the bottom of the seventh, Cabrera led off with a double and, one out later, Fernandez sent a ball out to straightaway center field 428 feet away for his second home run of the game and team-leading 24th of the season.
Kemp homered in the top of the seventh inning for the IronPigs’ second run. He, Misner, Alex Binelas and Christian Cairo had two hits apiece, while Anthony had three hits.
Despite the loss, Lehigh Valley still leads the season series for the IronRail Trophy, 11-9. Four games remain, starting Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Righty Alan Rangel (3-7, 5.44) is scheduled to start for the IronPigs against RailRiders righthander Brendan Beck (9-2, 2.75).