High Falls Heroics: RailRiders hit seven home runs to sweep twinbill
ROCHESTER, NY (April 3, 2026) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders swept a doubleheader against the Rochester Red Wings on Friday afternoon at ESL Ballpark, taking game one 4-2 before breaking out the bats in a 17-4 game two victory. Yanquiel Fernandez homered three times between the two games as the RailRiders
ROCHESTER, NY (April 3, 2026) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders swept a doubleheader against the Rochester Red Wings on Friday afternoon at ESL Ballpark, taking game one 4-2 before breaking out the bats in a 17-4 game two victory. Yanquiel Fernandez homered three times between the two games as the RailRiders hit seven between both halves of the sweep.
Paul DeJong jump-started the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre offense with a solo home run in the top of the first. The RailRiders extended the lead to 3-0 with a pair of second-inning runs, keyed by an RBI infield single from Duke Ellis and a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
Rochester cracked the board in the home half of the third on a solo homer from Dylan Crews.
Fernandez answered with a solo home run in the top of the fifth, his team-best third of the season, which travelled 393 feet to the Wings bullpen in right for a 4-1 SWB lead.
Crews singled in the fifth advanced to second on a walk and scored the second Rochester run on a back-pick throwing error to cut the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead to two.
Lagrange allowed just the solo home run over 3.1 innings with two strikeouts and five walks. Zach Messinger (1-0) earned the win with 2.2 innings of work, striking out three and allowing one unearned run. Yovanny Cruz hit two batters in the bottom of the seventh but worked out unscathed for his first save of the season. Mitchell Parker (1-1) surrendered all four runs and took the loss for the Red Wings.
Jasson Dominiguez led off game two with a 397-foot blast to left for the early lead once again. Adam Kloffenstein and Brad Hanner made the advantage stick through five innings, limited the Red Wings to three hits and two walks.
The RailRiders broke game two wide open in the top of the fifth, sending ten to the plate and scoring six runs on a pair of hits. With the bases loaded, Fernandez walked to bring in Jonathan Ornelas. After a Seth Brown walk extended the lead again, Ernesto Martinez Jr. hit a grand slam to right for a 7-0 lead.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre plated four more in the sixth on a groundout, an RBI double by Spencer Jones and Fernandez’s fourth home run of the year. The RailRiders added six in the top of the seventh on a two-run homer by Ornelas, another RBI double by Jones and a third home run of the day from Fernandez.
The Red Wings scored four in the bottom of the seventh to cap the scoring in game two.
Hanner (1-0) earned the win and Zach Penrod (0-1) took the loss after allowing the first run.
Game five of this set is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1:05 P.M. Dom Hamel and Luis Perales are set to start for the RailRiders and Red Wings, respectively. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre wraps its nine-game road trip on Sunday and hosts Durham for Opening Night at PNC Field on Tuesday, April 7. Tickets and promotional details are available at www.swbrailriders.com.