Eight-Run First Inning Propels Red Wings Over Bisons
Rochester used another huge first inning Tuesday night, crossing the plate eight times before Buffalo came to bat en route to a 10-4 victory. SS Jackson Cluff drove in three more runs, two of which came from his sixth home run of the season with Rochester. CF Dylan Crews and
Rochester used another huge first inning Tuesday night, crossing the plate eight times before Buffalo came to bat en route to a 10-4 victory. SS Jackson Cluff drove in three more runs, two of which came from his sixth home run of the season with Rochester. CF Dylan Crews and RF Alex Call each drove in a pair of runs and connected on a pair of hits, and 2B Darren Baker joined the party with two hits of his own.
Rochester bats came alive early in the first, kicked off by a one-out single up the middle from Darren Baker. Walks to DH Riley Adams and 1B Juan Yepez then loaded the bases for 3B Trey Lipscomb. The 2022 third-round pick drew the Red Wings third walk of the inning to bring in Baker to score the first run of the ballgame. Jackson Cluff came to the plate with the bases still loaded and dumped a single to right field that allowed Adams to come around to score. The floodgates then opened as Alex Call smoked a 2-2 fastball into center field to plate two more Red Wings. C Brady Lindsly became the ninth Red Wing to come to the plate in the inning following a Bisons pitching change. Lindsly singled to left-center field to score Cluff and make it a 5-0 Rochester lead. Turning the lineup over, Dylan Crews was brought to the plate again with runners on the corners and crushed his fourth Triple-A double down the third base line into the corner to score two more runs and swell the lead to seven. Baker, who had already singled to get the party started, came to the plate again and dropped his second hit of the inning to center field to score Crews and drive in the eighth run of the inning.
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Buffalo offered a response immediately in the home half of the first. Leadoff batter CF Steward Berroa worked a full count and promptly sent the sixth pitch he saw 378 feet over the left-center field wall for his eighth home run of the season. 3B Gabriel Cancel reached on a single following a groundout, but Rochester starter LHP Andrew Alvarez induced a pair of ground balls to escape the inning without further damage.
The Bisons came out swinging in the bottom of the second as 2B Miguel Hiraldo and C Max McDowell singled to left field with one out to put two runners on. Berroa then walked, loading up the bases with two outs. A wild pitch brought home Hiraldo in the following at-bat making the score 8-2 after the second inning.
Following a clean third, DH Will Robertson led off the bottom of the fourth and crushed his 13th home run of the season to left field. The 374-foot shot cut the Rochester lead to five runs heading to the fifth.
Rochester struck right back as a Yepez walk brought Jackson Cluff to the plate in the ensuing half-inning. Cluff saw a 1-0 sinker and put it 394 feet to right field for a two-run home run. This marked Cluff’s sixth home run of the season and gave Rochester a commanding 10-3 lead.
Buffalo responded quickly and clubbed their third home run of the night in the bottom half of the fifth, this time off the bat of 3B Gabriel Cancel. His fourth home run of the season came off the bat at 109.0 MPH to straightaway left field to cut the lead to six, making things 10-4 after five full frames. This marks the fourth straight game Cancel has homered, the first time a Buffalo hitter has done so since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2018.
Pitching prevailed on both sides following the Cancel homer, and the score stayed at 10-4 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Gabriel Cancel walked to lead off the frame, and LF Damiano Palmegiani singled to put two runners on. Three consecutive outs ensued to seal a six-run Rochester victory.
Southpaw Andrew Alvarez took the bump for his fifth start with the Red Wings. He turned in 5.0 innings and earned his first Triple-A win, allowing four earned on seven hits while striking out two and walking three. RHP Orlando Ribalta took over to begin the sixth and pitched 1.0 clean inning on one hit with a strikeout before giving the ball to RHP Amos Willingham. The Georgia native pitched a hitless seventh with a strikeout and a walk. RHP Joan Adon, making his third relief appearance of the season, came on for the eighth. He turned in 1.0 hitless inning of his own with a walk, and RHP Rico Garcia finished the job with a scoreless ninth while allowing a hit and collecting a strikeout and a walk
Tuesday night’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to SS Jackson Cluff. The BYU product went 2-for-4, with a homer, three RBI, and two runs scored. He has now driven in at least three runs in each of his last three games, including a career-high five RBI performance on Sunday afternoon. 11 total RBI across all three games are the most by any Minor League player over that stretch. Cluff’s homer was his sixth with Rochester and seventh overall this season after hitting one with Double-A Harrisburg, tying his career-high set a season ago.
Rochester looks to string together wins in their third matchup against Buffalo on Wednesday night. RHP Thaddeus Ward is set to take the mound first for the Red Wings, squaring off against the Bisons’ RHP Beau Sulser. The first pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.
Find the box score attached here.
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