Rochester Uses Nine-Run First To Secure Sixth-Straight Win
The Rochester offense exploded for nine runs in the first inning, thanks to the Red Wings stringing together nine straight runners and scoring eight runs with two outs. 3B Trey Lipscomb’s first career grand slam gave Rochester its first lead of the night, and the Red Wings never looked back.
The Rochester offense exploded for nine runs in the first inning, thanks to the Red Wings stringing together nine straight runners and scoring eight runs with two outs. 3B Trey Lipscomb’s first career grand slam gave Rochester its first lead of the night, and the Red Wings never looked back. The Rochester bats combined for 17 hits, tied for the most hits in a single game this season. Lipscomb led the way with a four-hit performance, with a home run and double. LF James Wood and DH Carter Kieboom both had three hits, combining for four doubles and five RBIs en route to the Red Wings sixth-straight victory.
Indianapolis did not wait to score and immediately took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. RF Ji Hwan Bae led off the game with a single, dropping a 1-2 fastball into shallow left field. 2B Alika Williams followed up by working a walk to put runners on first and second. Bae advanced to third on a C Joey Bart fielder’s choice, leaving runners on the corners for DH Joshua Palacios. The former Red Wing jumped on the second pitch of the at-bat and smoked a single to center. Bae scampered home from third, and Bart replaced him, making it 1-0 Indianapolis. Palacios then advanced to second courtesy of a SS Liover Peguero groundout to put two runners in scoring position with two outs. With two strikes, 3B Malcom Nunez lined a single into shallow right field, bringing home Bart and Palacios, extending the Indians’ lead to three.
Rochester responded in kind with nine runs of their own in their first turn at the plate. CF Dylan Crews drove an 0-2 fastball off the wall in the left field corner to kickstart the Red Wings offense. The second overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft advanced to third on a 2B Darren Baker groundout and would score the next at-bat when James Wood reached first and advanced to second on a throwing error, making it 3-1 Indianapolis. C Riley Adamsworked a one-out walk and moved Wood into scoring position. The Nationals top prospect advanced to third on Carter Kieboom fielder’s choice. With runners on the corners and two outs, 1B Juan Yepez worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases for Trey Lipscomb. Down to his last strike, the third baseman pulled a slider into the visitor’s bullpen for his first career grand slam and first career Triple-A homer. Lipscomb’s home run put the Wings ahead 5-3, but the scoring did not stop there as RF Alex Call and SS Jackson Cluff worked back-to-back two-out walks to put runners on first and second for Dylan Crews.
The Red Wing flipped the lineup over for lead-off man Dylan Crews, who drove a ground ball the other way for his second hit of the inning. Call hustled home from second, and Cluff moved up to third, extending the Rochester lead to three. Darren Baker would be the sixth straight Red Wing to reach base with two outs as he pounded a single into left, bringing home Cluff to make it 7-3. James Wood and Riley Adams worked the fourth and fifth two-out walks of the inning for the Red Wings. Adams’ walk pushed Crews across the plate for the eighth run of the Rochester half-inning. The scoring did not stop there as Carter Kieboom jumped on the first pitch he saw, grounding it through the left side of the infield for the fourth two-out hit of the inning. Baker jogged home from third to cap off the offensive explosion, and after one, Rochester led 9-3.
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Indianapolis, showing their resilience, cut into the Rochester lead in the top of the third. Back-to-back singles from Joshua Palacios and Liover Peguero sparked the momentum. The pair advanced to second and third courtesy of a Malcom Nunez ground out. With two outs, 1B Seth Beer lined a single into right, bringing Palacios and Peguero around to score, narrowing the Rochester lead to 9-5.
Rochester extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth, started off by a one-out double off the bat of James Wood. The Maryland native advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Carter Kieboom grounded a ball off the third base bag for his 10th double of the season. Pushing the Rochester lead to 10-5.
Trey Lipscomb led off the Rochester half of the sixth with a double flared into the right-field corner. Alex Call laid a perfect bunt single down the third base line, advancing Lipscomb to third and putting runners on the corners. Alex Call stole second base and advanced to third when Dylan Crews grounded into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Darren Baker roped a double down the left-field line, scoring Call from third, and Crews replaced him, making it 11-5 Red Wings. The next at-bat, James Wood, doubled for the second time tonight when a towering fly-ball fell in right field, allowing Crews and Baker to come around to score, extending the Rochester lead to eight. All three runs in the inning came with two outs, the 10th, 11th, and 12th two-out runs for the Red Wings in tonight’s contest.
The Red Wings added on some insurance in the bottom of the eighth. Dylan Crews worked a lead-off walk, and two at-bats later, James Wood picked up his career-high third double of the game, pushing Crews up to the third. The next at-bat, Crews scampered home on a Riley Adams sac-fly, giving Rochester a nine-run cushion heading into the ninth.
Indianapolis scraped together a couple of runs in the top of the ninth, started off by Ji Hwan Bae’s third single of the night. C Dylan Shockley worked a walk to put runners on first and second. Bae and Schockley both advanced a base on a wild pitch and with two outs, Joshua Palacios smoked a double off the wall in right field for his fourth hit of the night. Bae and Shockley hustled home, but that was all the Indianapolis offense could muster as the Red Wings picked up their sixth straight win, 14-7.
RHP Spenser Watkins got the nod on the bump for Rochester tonight. The right-hander allowed five runs across 5.0 innings on ten hits while striking out and walking one. LHP Joe La Sorsa was the first Red Wing out of the bullpen tonight. The St. John’s product worked a scoreless sixth inning, allowing one hit before turning the ball over to the RHP Eduardo Salazar. The Venezuela native struck out the side in the top of the seventh, his third straight scoreless appearance for the Red Wings. RHP Joan Adon entered the game in the eighth for his second relief appearance of the season. The right-hander worked a 1-2-3 inning by producing three groundouts on six pitches. RHP Amos Willingham toed the rubber for the ninth inning. The Georgia native allowed two earned across 1.0 inning on two hits while striking out two and walking one.
The Diamond Pro Player of the Game is 3B Trey Lipscomb. The University of Tennessee product crushed his first career grand slam in the Rochester half of the first inning, giving Rochester a lead that they would not relinquish. Lipscomb finished 4-for-5 with a double, four RBIs, and a run scored. Four RBIs is a single-game season high for the third baseman, and four hits tie his single-game season best.
Find the box score attached here.
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