Swept Away: RailRiders fall twice Saturday to Mets
SYRACUSE, NY (April 18, 2026) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders were swept by the Syracuse Mets in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, falling 9-4 and 7-4 at NBT Bank Stadium. The RailRiders have dropped three straight and four of five on the road trip, suffering their first series loss of the season.
SYRACUSE, NY (April 18, 2026) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders were swept by the Syracuse Mets in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, falling 9-4 and 7-4 at NBT Bank Stadium. The RailRiders have dropped three straight and four of five on the road trip, suffering their first series loss of the season.
Ryan Clifford’s first home run of the season staked Syracuse to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one.
Jonathan Ornelas gets the offense started with a longgg RBI triple‼️ pic.twitter.com/k0CcQDSWOv
— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) April 18, 2026
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre countered with two runs in the third. Ernesto Martinez Jr. walked and scored on a near-home run from Jonathan Ornelas. Centerfielder Cristian Pache pulled the ball back from over the wall but couldn’t complete the catch, resulting in a triple. A Jasson Dominguez groundout plated Ornelas to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Three third-inning home runs built the Mets' lead to six. Ronny Mauricio led off the inning with a solo homer. Vidal Brujan and Onix Vega added two-run shots for an 8-2 Syracuse lead.
Mighty Max 💪#RepBX pic.twitter.com/vajaNsr6vy
— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) April 18, 2026
Max Schuemann’s fourth-inning solo home run narrowed the gap to five, but the Mets added a run in the fifth on a wild pitch. Yanquiel Fernandez’s RBI single in the sixth closed the scoring at 9-4.
Carl Edwards Jr. (1-2) earned the win, and Adam Kloffenstein (0-1) took the loss, allowing the first six runs, five earned, on six hits.
In game two, Clifford again opened the scoring. After former Syracuse Met Dom Hamel retired the side in the first, Clifford hit a solo home run to right-center in the bottom of the second for the 1-0 Mets edge. Syracuse added a pair of runs in the third on a groundout and an RBI double from Clifford for a 3-0 lead.
CRUSHED 💥 Spencer Jones homers on back-to-back days! #RepBX pic.twitter.com/id7KIPl2DX
— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) April 18, 2026
Spencer Jones drilled his fifth home run of the season in the fourth, putting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on the board. The Mets responded with a run on a sac fly in the home half of the innings and plated three more in the fifth for a 7-1 advantage.
In the seventh, Paul DeJong hit a solo home run off Brandon Waddell, and Payton Henry added a two-run opposite-field shot, but the RailRiders' comeback ended there.
Henry clears the bullpen with an oppo shot! 🚀#RepBX pic.twitter.com/bny9uIJBcd
— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) April 18, 2026
Waddell (2-0) earned the win in back of Bryce Conley, and Hamel (0-3) was tagged with the loss, allowing all seven runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Syracuse wrap this series on Sunday at 1:05 P.M. Brendan Beck and Jonah Tong start for the RailRiders and Mets, respectively. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is back at PNC Field for a two-week homestand beginning on Tuesday, April 21. Find out ticket and promotional information online at www.swbrailriders.com.