Top 10 moments from the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders season

It was an exciting year for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The team won 87 games, which tied for the fifth-most in a season in franchise history. They went 64-32 after May 29th, and an 11-game winning streak from July 5-20 helped send them on their way to the International League second-half title and a trip to the league championship series for the ninth time in franchise history.

Shelley Duncan was named International League Manager of the Year, while Jose Rojas and pitcher Allan Winans were named league All-Stars. Outfielder Spencer Jones was named to the all-MiLB Prospect First Team, chosen by MLB Pipeline.

This will be my last post of the year with Pinstripe Alley, so as a small thank-you for following along in 2025, here is a look back at the top 10 moments from RailRiders’ season, in descending order.

10. Kenta Maeda’s no-hit bid (9/3)

Veteran pitcher Kenta Maeda, signed as a minor league free agent Aug. 4, threw 7.2 no-hit innings at Worcester with nine strikeouts in a 5-1 win. After a perfect bottom of the first inning, Maeda walked Trayce Thompson with one out in the the second, then proceeded to retire the next 19 WooSox. But with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Nathan Hickey hit a 3-1 pitch out to right field for a home run that spoiled the no-hit bid and the shutout. It sounds like Maeda will end his stateside career after 2025, so while he never got back to the Show with the Yankees, he at least had this highlight.

9. Jesus Rodriguez’s 32-game on-base streak

Rodriguez was promoted from Double-A Somerset on April 13th. All he did in his first 32 games at Triple-A was reach base safely — 27 via hit, five by walks. He had 13 multi-hit games during the streak, including seven three-hit games, and led the International League in batting for a good portion of the early season. He was traded at the July 31st deadline by the Yankees to the San Francisco Giants as part of the Camilo Doval deal.

8. The wildest game of the season (8/6, Game 2)

The nightcap of a doubleheader in Lehigh Valley got wacky and went into extra innings. The IronPigs had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Manager Shelley Duncan brought Jose Rojas in from the outfield for a five-man infield and the RailRiders wound up turning a 7-4-3 double play to escape the inning. In the top of the ninth, the RailRiders scored eight runs, capped by Ismael Munguia’s grand slam off a position player. In the bottom of the ninth, Lehigh Valley countered with five runs off Munguia, but this position player pitcher managed to get the final three outs for a 12-9 victory.

7. Cam Schlittler fully makes his case (6/25)

Making his fourth start for the RailRiders since being promoted from Double-A Somerset on June 3rd, Cam Schlittler allowed two hits and one walk in six shutout innings against Worcester. The up-and-comer tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in a 4-0 win. He would make one more Triple-A start, then got called up to the majors when Clarke Schmidt went down with an elbow injury. If you told anyone on the first day of spring training that Schlittler would be on track to be the third starter in the Yanks’ playoff rotation, you’d think something went horribly wrong, but the 24-year-old rookie has been that good.

6. Spencer Jones’ homer hat trick in Rochester (7/24)

During a hot and humid morning game at Innovative Field in upstate New York, Spencer Jones becomes the seventh player in franchise history to hit three home runs in a game. His solo shot in the top of the first inning traveled 401 feet out to left-center field. He added another solo homer in the third that went 425 feet out to left-center. In the fifth, he hit a two-run blast off the batter’s eye in center field 433 feet away. Alas, the RailRiders lost the game, 10-8.

5. Slammin’ Jose Rojas (5/17)

Jose Rojas came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded and the RailRiders clinging to a one-run lead over the Toledo Mud Hens. Rojas hit a 1-2 pitch from Chase Lee out to right-center field for a grand slam — his third in a 16-day span — to help give the RailRiders a 7-2 victory.

4. Pereira hits for the cycle (7/5)

In a 16-6 romp of the rival IronPigs, Everson Pereira hit for the cycle by going 5-for-6 with two home runs and six RBIs. He was the first RailRider to hit for the cycle since 2017. Pereira had a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning, a RBI double in the third, solo home runs in the fifth and sixth innings and a triple in the eighth. It turned out to be his final month with the Yankees, as the eight-year org veteran was traded to the Rays at the deadline in exchange for sparkplug José Caballero.

3. Jose Rojas’ three-homer, eight-RBI night (5/1)

The MVP candidate Rojas was unstoppable on this night in Syracuse, a 19-8 win over the Mets at NBT Bank Stadium that featured a three bombs and eight ribbies. Rojas had a three-run home run in the top of the third, a grand slam in the top of the sixth and a solo shot in the top of the eighth. It was the first of two three-homer games on the year for Rojas, who also turned the trick on July 20th in Worcester.

2. Spencer Jones welcomes himself to Triple-A (6/27)

Promoted from Double-A Somerset, highly touted prospect Spencer Jones homered in his first Triple-A at-bat. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Jones came to the plate against Worcester’s Tyler Uberstine and clobbered a 3-2 pitch out to straightaway center field at PNC Field over the 408-foot sign. The ball was hit 109.9 mph off the bat. Jones would finish with 19 home runs with the RailRiders and a combined 35 for the season, which ranked second in the minor leagues.

1. International League second-half champs (9/19)

Helped by a five-run fifth inning that featured two-run home runs from Jose Rojas and Bryan De La Cruz, the RailRiders beat the Buffalo Bisons, 10-2, to clinch the International League second-half title and punch their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Rojas’ home run was his league-leading 32nd at the time, tying the franchise record set by Jorge Vasquez in 2011. The RBIs gave him a league-best 105, which fell one shy of the franchise mark set in 1999 by current Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.