Rochester Drops Thursday Matinée In Worcester
After a 45-minute rain delay saw Thursday afternoon’s contest start at 1:00 p.m., the Rochester Red Wings fell in the third of a six-game set against Worcester, 13-4. C Riley Adams and 3B Carter Kieboom delivered multi-hit efforts, and DH Travis Blankenhorn extended his on-base streak to 17 games. Worcester
After a 45-minute rain delay saw Thursday afternoon’s contest start at 1:00 p.m., the Rochester Red Wings fell in the third of a six-game set against Worcester, 13-4. C Riley Adams and 3B Carter Kieboom delivered multi-hit efforts, and DH Travis Blankenhorn extended his on-base streak to 17 games.
Worcester jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first, led off by a single to right field off the bat of 1B Nick Sogard. He advanced to third base when RF Matthew Lugo doubled down the right field line, leaving two runners in scoring position for 2B Nick Yorke. He grounded out to third base, but Sogard came around to score on the play, making the score 1-0. With two outs, three consecutive walks brought Lugo around to score and give Worcester a two-run lead.
Rochester answered in the top of the second, when Carter Kieboom laced a line drive single to center field. A wild pitch and passed ball allowed the Georgia native to advance to third base, and he was able to cross the plate from a single off the bat of SS Jack Dunn, making the score 2-1.
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The WooSox increased their lead in the bottom of the second. Nick Sogard reached first base on a fielder’s choice with one out in the inning. A batter later, Matthew Lugo launched a 428-foot home run to left field, extending the lead to 4-1 going into the top of the third.
The Red Wings cut into Worcester’s lead in the following half innings when Riley Adams reached first base on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third on a double off the bat of 2B Trey Lipscomb. Both runners scored on a ground ball single to left field from the very next batter, Carter Kieboom, bringing the score to 4-3.
In the bottom of the third inning, Worcester struck back, started by a LF Karson Simas single to left field. 3B Chase Meidroth worked a walk, which was followed by stolen bases from both runners, leaving them in scoring position for Nick Sogard. A single from the switch-hitter scored both Simas and Meidroth, extending their lead to three runs, making it 6-3 at the end of four.
After no answer from Rochester, Nick Yorke led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to right field, followed by a hit-by-pitch to SS Eddy Alvarez. The next batter, C Mickey Gasper, singled to center field to bring Yorke around to score and advanced Alvarez to third. Alvarez reached home on a sacrifice fly ball from CF Mark Contreras to end the inning with an 8-3 WooSox advantage.
A one-out, 397-foot solo home run off the bat of Nick Sogard added to Worcester’s lead in the bottom of the fifth. This was the California native's eighth homer of the season and first of the series against the Red Wings. Rochester’s pitching was able to escape the remainder of the inning unscathed, leaving the deficit at six-runs, making it 9-3.
Rochester began to cut into the run deficit in the top of the sixth led off by a walk from CF Alex Call. Travis Blankenhorn crushed a sharp line drive double to center field to bring Call around to score and leave the score at 9-4, going into the bottom half of the sixth.
Matthew Lugo reached first on a fielder’s choice to open up the bottom of the seventh for Worcester. Back-to-back singles from Nick Yorke and Eddy Alvarez loaded the bases with two outs for DH Tyler Heineman. He would then smash a line drive double to center field to score all three runners on base, increasing the WooSox lead to 12-4.
Back-to-back singles kicked off the bottom of the eighth, followed by a double play from Chase Meidroth that scored Worcester's final run of the game, going into the ninth with a nine-run lead. Rochester went down quietly in their final turn at-bat, sealing a 13-4 WooSox victory.
LHP Andrew Alvarez made his Triple-A debut for Rochester Thursday afternoon. In his 10th start of the season, the Californian turned in 2.2 innings, allowing six earned runs on five hits with five walks. RHP Robert Gsellman chased Alvarez, tossing 1.1 innings, giving up two earned on three hits. RHP T.J. Zeuch started the fifth inning, giving up four earned on four hits with a strikeout across his 3.0 innings. RHP Luis Reyes then made his 20th appearance of 2024, going 1.0 inning and allowing an earned run on two hits with a strikeout of his own.
Thursday afternoon’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to 3B Carter Kieboom. The former first-round pick went 2-for-4 on the day with a single, two RBI, a walk, and a run scored. Both RBIs came with two outs, his eighth and ninth two-out RBI on the season. Kieboom is reaching base at a .367 clip this season, fourth-best on the team.
Rochester looks to get back in the win column Friday night against Worcester. RHP Thaddeus Ward takes the ball first for the Red Wings, squaring off against WooSox RHP Josh Winckowski. The first pitch is set for 6:45 p.m.
Find the box score attached here.
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