By: Mike Rose
The Rochester Red Wings, powered by strong starting pitching and timely hitting, swept Thursday's doubleheader against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders. The Red Wings took game one 6-3 before walking it off in game two, 8-7 in the two seven-inning tilts. Red Wings manager Matthew LeCroy was pleased with how his team has come together recently.
"We got a good group of guys. They pull for each other, they play together. We've had our ups and downs offensively and on the mound but they just pull together. We had some really good team at-bats that really helped us today and we just hope we can trend in the right direction," LeCroy said.
The Red Wings certainly came together today to win in very different ways in the twin billing.
Game One
Rochester's offense got going from the jump to start game one. The first five batters reached safely against RailRiders starter Randy Vasquez. The Red Wings worked station to station with a hit-by-pitch, three singles and a walk. Carter Kieboom delivered an RBI single, Matt Adams worked a bases-loaded walk and Travis Blakenhorn drove in a run on a sac fly make it a 3-0 advantage early on.
Wily Peralta got the start on the mound for the Red Wings and retired the first six of the day. In the third, however, the RailRiders broke through.
The first four men to step to the plate reached for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Jamie Westbrook worked a walk followed by a double from Jesús Bastidas. Michael Hermosillo cashed in the first run of the day for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with an RBI single and then Estevan Florial cut the deficit down to one with an RBI single of his own. Peralta retired the next three batters to escape the inning with a 3-2 lead still on the board.
In the bottom half of the frame, it was an immediate response from Rochester.
Carter Kieboom worked a walk to lead off the inning and then Jake Noll launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot. Travis Blakenhorn followed with a double down the right-field line and came in to score on a two-out RBI single from Derek Hill to make it a 6-2 lead for the Red Wings.
Franchy Cordero tacked on a run for the RailRiders with a home run in the sixth but it wouldn't be enough as Rochester took game one by a final score of 6-3.
Peralta went five innings allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts to earn the win while Tyler Danish picked up the save with a clean seventh inning.
Game Two
In game two, it was the RailRiders who jumped in front early. Elijah Dunham got the scoring started with an opposite-field home run to left to make it 1-0. In the third, Jesús Bastidas led off with a double to continue his strong showing in the series where he now has seven hits. Florial brought him on a sac fly to make it 2-0 RailRiders.
Jhony Brito got the start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and shut down the Red Wings through three innings. Brito, who has made nine starts with the New York Yankees this season, allowed just one baserunner until the fourth. Once Rochester broke through however the floodgates opened.
Carter Kieboom got the first hit of game two with a single. Matt Adams followed by drilling a double off the top of the right field wall to quickly make it a 2-1 game. Two batters later, Blakenhorn delivered a two-run shot and gave the Red Wings the lead for the first time.
The momentum built from the fourth carried right into the fifth for Rochester. Jordy Barley, who made his AAA debut today, lined a base hit to lead off the inning. After swiping second he came in to score on an RBI single from Jake Alu. The next batter, Kieboom, came through with a two-run single up the middle to blow the game open heading into the late innings.
The Red Wings bullpen did not hold up late, however. Sean Doolittle made his Red Wings debut in the sixth and gave up two runs, including a solo homer from Florial, to make it just a two-run game going into the seventh.
In the seventh Jose Ferrer was called upon for the save and he let it slip away. Bastidas and Wilmer Difov each singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Florial and he delivered once again. Florial launched his second home run in as many innings to put the RailRiders back in front.
Rochester had one more chance for a hero in the bottom half and on this day it would be Franmil Reyes.
Alu led off with a single and Matt Adams also singled to give Reyes an opportunity with the go-ahead run aboard. He blasted a double into the left field corner scoring Alu and pinch runner Jake Noll to make the Red Wings walk-off winners.
With the pair of wins, Rochester now moves to 31-33 on the season. They'll take on Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in game four of the series Friday, June 16 with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 pm.
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