They are two words fans love to hear about their team coming down the stretch of the season: “Magic number.”
By taking three of the first four games of their key series with the Syracuse Mets, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders can start to think about their magic number to clinch the second-half title in the International League.
Following a 6-2 victory Friday over the Mets, the RailRiders are 39-16 in the second half and have a five-game lead over second-place Syracuse (34-21) with 20 games remaining
in the regular season. They are also six games in front of the third-place Toledo Mud Hens (33-22) and seven games better than the fourth-place Indianapolis Indians (32-23).
“We’re trying not to pay attention to the standings. Just trying to go out there and be the best version of ourselves. That’s the most important thing,” RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan said following a win in Tuesday’s series opener.
One of the reasons why the RailRiders have fared well so far in the series has been Jose Rojas. He continues to torment Syracuse pitching, going 8 for 13 in the four games with three doubles, four home runs, four walks, six runs and nine RBIs. In 20 games this season against the Mets, he is batting .333 (24-for-72) with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs.
Rojas has taken over the league lead with in RBIs with 93 and is second in home runs with 27. He is ninth in batting at .297 (116-for-390) and is second in doubles with 34.
Brennen Davis also is having a big series with three home runs and seven RBIs. Limited to just 22 games this season with the RailRiders due to injury, he has 12 home runs.
Allan Winans was the winning pitcher in Friday’s game, tossing five shutout innings of three-hit ball with no walks and three strikeouts to improve to 11-0. He leads the league in wins. The RailRiders are 18-0 in games in which the righthander has pitched this season.
After the series with Syracuse wraps up, the RailRiders head to Worcester for a six-game series Sept. 2-7. They then host the rival Lehigh Valley IronPigs for six games Sept. 9-14 before concluding the regular season with six games in Buffalo against the Bisons on Sept. 16-21.
Winner of the second half faces first-half champion, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, in the best-of-3 league championship series starting Sept. 23.
While the RailRiders are still focusing on the end of the 2025 season, there is some thought to the 2026 campaign.
According to the schedule on the team’s website, the RailRiders will open next season with three games in Buffalo on March 27-29. They then will play six games in Rochester against the Red Wings on March 31-April 5 before coming home April 7-12 to face the Durham Bulls.
Some other interesting notes about the 2026 schedule: the RailRiders will have a two-week road trip bridging the end of the first half June 16-21 against the Columbus Clippers and the start of the second half June 23-28 against the Indianapolis Indians. Also, they will head to Iowa on July 28-Aug. 2, marking the first time they will play the Cubs since 1990.
The Norfolk Tides (June 30-July 5), Charlotte Knights (Aug. 18-23) and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Sept. 15-20) will visit PNC Field in northeastern Pennsylvania next season. Besides Buffalo and Rochester, the RailRiders will face usual divisional foes Syracuse, Worcester and Lehigh Valley.
