DES MOINES, IA (August 2, 2026) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders topped the Iowa Cubs 13-3 at Principal Park on Sunday afternoon to cap a six-game series sweep and win their seventh straight. Seven players had at least two hits as the RailRiders collected a season-high 20 hits to seal the sweep.
J.C. Escarra towered a 396-foot home run off Jace Beck in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead, but the Cubs leveled the score on an RBI groundout from Kevin Alcántara.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre built a 5-1 lead in the top of the second. George Lombard Jr.’s sac fly gave the RailRiders a 2-1 edge. Escarra’s RBI double drove in Duke Ellis, and Marco Luciano’s second homer of the series extended the lead to four runs.
The RailRiders added three more in the fourth. Lombard Jr. tripled, extending his on-base streak to 30 straight. Escarra’s third hit of the day plated Lombard Jr. Oswaldo Cabrera’s two-out homer to right-center extended the lead to 8-1.
Jonathon Long’s solo home run in the fifth narrowed the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre advantage to six runs.
In the sixth, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre sent ten batters to the plate, scoring five runs on five hits to take a 13-2 lead. A sac fly from Yanquiel Fernández, a two-run homer from Christian Bethancourt and a two-run double by Lombard Jr. extended the lead further.
Iowa added a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth.
Dom Hamel worked three innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts. Chris Kean (1-0) allowed a run on two hits in the win. Beck (0-1) surrendered the first five runs in the loss.
The RailRiders hit .343 during the series at Iowa, outscoring the Cubs 50-18 thanks in part to 11 home runs over the course of the week.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre returns to PNC Field on Tuesday, August 4, for a six-game set against the Rochester Red Wings. Tickets and promotional details are available at www.swbrailriders.com.