Omaha Drop Series Opener in Rochester 15-4

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Omaha Storm Chasers dropped the first of the six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings, falling 15-4 Tuesday at Innovative Field, the team’s largest loss of the season.

The Red Wings opened the bottom of the first inning with a pair of runs as Joey Meneses hit a two-run homer to left field for an early 2-0 lead Omaha starter Anthony Veneziano. Three more runs scored for Rochester in the third on a pair of singles and two-run homer, pushing the Red Wings up 5-0.

The Chasers mustered just one hit off of Red Wings starting pitcher Kyle Luckham over the first three innings, then worked onto the board in the fourth. Drew Waters led off the inning with a single and Tyler Gentry added another hit for two runners on base. Two at-bats later, Nelson Velázquez crushed his third homer of the season with a three-run shot to left field and the deficit was cut to 5-3 in favor of the Red Wings.

Rochester added four more runs in the fifth, all unearned, and extended its lead to 9-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Veneziano exited three batters into the fifth, charged with eight runs (five earned) on six hits and four walks over 5.0 innings. Austin Cox followed Veneziano and allowed an inherited runner to score, then one of his own crossed in the inning.

Four more runs crossed for the Red Wings in the sixth, as Cox allowed was knocked out of the game on a two-run home run, at the time a 13-3 score. The lefty charged with five runs (two earned) over 1.2 innings. Andrew Hoffmann entered the game behind Cox with two outs in the sixth and worked the final out of the inning, but the righty was tagged for a two-run homer in the seventh for the final runs of the night for Rochester.

Omaha added another run in the seventh as Nick Pratto doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Cam Devanney ground out, at the time for a 13-4 score.

Rochester’s two runs in the seventh ballooned to the 15-4 score that held final, with Carlos Hernandez tossing a 1-2-3 eighth inning. The 11-run defeat was Omaha’s largest margin of loss this season.

The Storm Chasers continue this week’s series against the Rochester Red Wings on Wednesday, July 31 as first pitch is slated for 12:05 p.m. CT with left-handed pitcher Noah Cameron on the mound for his Triple-A debut.