DES MOINES, IA (July 28, 2026) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders rallied to beat the Iowa Cubs 6-3 at Principal Park on Tuesday night. The RailRiders plated all six runs on ten hits from the sixth inning on to come from behind and take the series opener.
The Cubs took a 2-0 lead against Dom Hamel and the RailRiders in the bottom of the first on an RBI double from Owen Miller and a Kevin Alcántara sac fly.
Owen Ayers' solo home run to right in the fourth extended the Cubs' lead to 3-0.
Iowa starter Jace Beck allowed four singles over five scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts and no walks.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre cut into the lead in the sixth with a run on three hits off reliever Jayden Murray. J.C. Escarra doubled and moved to third on an Oswaldo Cabrera single. Yanquiel Fernández doubled in Escarra to narrow the Cubs advantage to 3-1.
The RailRiders sent eight to the plate against Antoine Kelly in the top of the eighth. With two down and two on, Ernesto Martínez Jr.’s triple off the centerfield wall plated Cabrera and Tyler Hardman to tie the game at 3-3. Kenedy Corona dropped a squeeze bunt on the very next pitch to drive in Martínez Jr. for a 4-3 SWB lead.
Martínez Jr. added a two-run single in the ninth to extend the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead to 6-3.
Danny Watson (4-2) earned the win with 1.2 scoreless frames. Yerry De Los Santos pitched a three-batter eighth, and Kervin Castro retired the final three batters for his fourth save. Kelly (1-1) was tagged with a blown save and the loss for the Cubs.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Iowa had not met since 1990 during the Triple-A Alliance days. All nine batters reached for the RailRiders, and seven of nine had at least one hit in the franchise’s first win in Des Moines since 1989.
Game two of the set is scheduled for 12:08 P.M. Central Time on Wednesday with Brendan Beck getting the nod for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Jaxon Wiggins and Iowa.