Fernandez powers RailRiders past WooSox with late two-run homer

Early power gave Scranton/Wilkes-Barre just enough room, and the bullpen turned that cushion into a win. Ali Sanchez and Yanquiel Fernandez went deep at Polar Park on Sunday, lifting the RailRiders past the Worcester Red Sox 3-2 in a game that followed the classic Triple-A script: strike first, keep the pressure on, then survive the late push.

Sanchez set the tone in the second inning, turning on a 3-2 slider from Alec Gamboa and sending it over the left-field wall for his fourth home run of the season. Worcester answered in the third when Mikey Romero drove in a run with a double, but Scranton/Wilkes-Barre never let the game tilt fully back to the home side. The swing that separated the clubs came in the sixth, when Fernandez launched a Jack Anderson pitch 439 feet to right with a runner aboard for a two-run homer and a 3-1 lead. It was Fernandez’s ninth homer of 2026 and his third of the series, after his two-homer, five-RBI outburst in the RailRiders’ 9-7 extra-inning win over Worcester on Wednesday.

That kind of middle-of-the-order damage matters in a league built on volatility, especially in a Yankees-Red Sox matchup where every hard-hit ball feels like a small roster referendum. Fernandez has been making that case loudly, and Sanchez added his own value beyond the box score. The catcher also threw out three baserunners, a reminder that the RailRiders’ edge on Sunday came from both power and control of the running game.

Elmer Rodriguez gave Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4.2 innings of work, allowing one run on six hits with two walks, one hit batter and six strikeouts. Danny Watson and Brad Hanner handled the bridge innings before Zach Messinger closed it out by inducing a game-ending double play for his first save of the season. Anderson took the loss for Worcester.

Jonathan Ornelas and Payton Henry each added two hits for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, helping the club snap a two-game skid at Polar Park and finish a six-game run in Worcester on a high note. The win also gave Shelley Duncan his 500th career victory, another marker for a manager in his fourth straight season with the RailRiders after being named the International League Manager of the Year in 2025. Duncan has already guided Scranton/Wilkes-Barre through an 87-win season and a second-half title, and Sunday’s result added another milestone to a track record that keeps producing results.