Hang the red, white and blue bunting. Cue the pregame pomp and circumstance.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are coming home for the first time in 2026.
After opening the season with nine games on the road. the RailRiders are set for their home opener at PNC Field against the Durham Bulls, top affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The six-game series was scheduled to begin Tuesday night, but cold temperatures and below-freezing wind chills in northeast Pennsylvania caused the first game to be postponed.
The opener is now scheduled for tonight (Wednesday).
It has been a successful start to the season for the 6-3 RailRiders. They took the final four games of the series last week in Rochester, outscoring the Red Wings, 46-22. They had one game where they scored 17 runs and another where they scored 16. They hit 14 home runs, including 11 in the final three games. Yanquiel Fernández accounted for three of them. Paul DeJong, Jasson Domínguez, and Ernesto Martinez Jr. each had two. One of Martinez’s homers was a grand slam. No. 6 prospect Spencer Jones also had a grand slam in the series finale.
On the mound, the bullpen was solid, accounting for all four wins. Yovanny Cruz led the way with one win and one save, not allowing a hit, run or walk in 2.1 innings with four strikeouts. Perhaps the one area where the RailRiders could improve is defensively. They’ve committed 13 errors, which are the most in Triple-A.
Now, they head home to face a Durham team that is off to a 2-7 start. The Bulls dropped four of six in their series last week against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies’ Triple-A club.
Durham becomes the 10th opponent Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has faced in a home opener in franchise history. Syracuse is the most at seven times (5-2). Buffalo (4-2) and Tidewater / Norfolk (1-5) are next at six each, followed by Rochester at five (1-4); Pawtucket (2-1), Ottawa (0-3) and Lehigh Valley (3-0) three each; Richmond at two (1-1); and Columbus once (0-1).
Overall, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is 17-19 in home openers. Since becoming a New York Yankees affiliate in 2007, it is 11-7 in home openers — 4-2 as the Yankees (2007-12), 7-5 as the RailRiders (2013-25). They won four straight from 2017-21, and from 2008-10 they won three straight by shutout. They blanked Lehigh Valley in 2008, 4-0, on a combined one-hitter, including six perfect innings from Kei Igawa. In 2009, after starting 8-0 on the road, they came home and blanked Rochester, 11-0, as former AL Rookie of the Year winner Angel Berroa had four hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs. In 2010, four pitchers combined of a six-hit shutout and made David Winfree’s home run hold up for a 1-0 whitewashing of Buffalo.
Here are some other noteworthy home openers in franchise history:
April 26, 1989: Baseball returns to northeast Pennsylvania. After playing its first 16 games of the season on the road, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons christen Lackawanna County Stadium with a 9-2 loss to the Tidewater Tides.
April 7, 1994: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre faces the Columbus Clippers, who were the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate at the time. Dave Silvestri and Chito Martinez each had three hits in the Clippers’ 7-4 win, spoiling future Cubs skipper Mike Quade’s debut as SWB manager. For the Clippers, a little-known catcher named Jorge Posada went 0-for-4.
April 5, 2007: Playing its first home opener as a Yankees affiliate after nearly two decades with the Phillies, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lost to the Norfolk Tides, 7-5. Norfolk scored five runs in the top of the eighth inning to erase a 4-2 deficit, as the bullpen let down Scranton starter Tyler Clippard, who went on to have a 16-year MLB career and multiple stints with the Yankees.
April 14, 2012: This “home” opener actually was played in Syracuse. This was the season where Scranton/Wilkes-Barre played home games in Rochester, Syracuse, Batavia, and Buffalo (as well as Pawtucket and Allentown) as the unofficial “Empire State Yankees” while PNC Field underwent a reconstruction project. They won, 6-2; familiar starters for the Yankees that day included catcher Francisco Cervelli, first baseman Steve Pearce, shortstop Ramiro Peña, center fielder Dewayne Wise, and pitcher Adam Warren.
April 4, 2013: Playing as the RailRiders for the first time at the renovated PNC Field, Pawtucket spoils the home opener by scoring five runs in the top of the 10th inning for an 8-4 victory. The RailRiders left 17 runners on base in the game. Current Yankees assistant pitching coach Preston Claiborne threw an inning and a third of relief in this one, fanning three, with soon-to-be Yankees backup catcher Austin Romine behind the plate.*
*Editor’s note: And Zoilo Almonte batting third, playing left field. Because I (Andrew) am contractually obligated to reference Zoilo Almonte at all possible times.
One of the highlights of this year’s home opener will be the unveiling of a massive new video scoreboard that spans nearly 3,000 square feet — 1,876 square feet larger than the previous board. The outfield LED wall and in-park ribbon boards also have been replaced and a new sound system has been installed around PNC Field.
