Red Wings Bats Come Alive, Secure Series Split In Buffalo
In their final game of the 2024 season against Buffalo Sunday afternoon, the Rochester Red Wings offense came alive and secured a series split with a 10-8 victory. Rochester finishes the season series against the Bisons with a 15-9 record, the first time they have finished with a winning record
In their final game of the 2024 season against Buffalo Sunday afternoon, the Rochester Red Wings offense came alive and secured a series split with a 10-8 victory. Rochester finishes the season series against the Bisons with a 15-9 record, the first time they have finished with a winning record against their Thruway rival to the west since 2018. 15 wins against Buffalo are the most by a Red Wing team in franchise history. Four Rochester hitters put together multi-hit performances in the finale, led by SS Jackson Cluff, who drove in three RBI out of the ninth spot in the order. Six relievers were used to cover the final 6.2 innings, and the barrage of arms combined to hold Buffalo to just one earned on a combined three hits with three strikeouts.
After a scoreless first, LF Stone Garrett singled on a line drive to left field in the top of the second, followed by a CF Jack Dunn single to put runners on first and second. C Brady Lindsly promptly skied a fly ball deep enough to put both runners into scoring position. Jackson Cluff then grounded out, which allowed Garrett to cross the plate to put Rochester up 1-0.
In the home half of the second, 2B Rafael Lantigua drew a walk and was brought home by DH Riley Tirotta, who laced a double on a line drive to right field that allowed Lantigua to score all the way from first. Buffalo and Rochester headed to the third frame tied at one.
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In the top of the third, 2B Darren Baker reached on a fielding error and then progressed to second on a wild pitch. 1B Andrés Chaparro then picked up an RBI single to left field that scored Baker and put Rochester back on top, 2-1. DH Joey Gallo then singled on a line drive to center field that moved Chaparro to second base. 3B Brady House then picked up a single of his own, scoring Chaparro and extending the Wings’ lead to two. The hot hitting continued, and Dunn found a gap on a left-field single for a single that scored Gallo to make the score 4-1.
Buffalo didn't take long to respond, as LF Alan Roden and 1B Damiano Palmegiani launched back-to-back solo home runs that brought the Bison within one run, 4-3. The following at-bat, RF Will Robertson drew a walk and moved all the way to third on a single from SS Josh Kasevich. Rafael Lantigua then worked a free pass of his own to load the bases, and two batters later, Gabriel Cancel picked up the Bisons' third walk of the inning, which forced Robertson home and tied the game at four after three innings.
Rochester bats picked up right where they left off in the fourth, with the game re-tied at 4-4. SS Jackson Cluff roped a hard single over second base and promptly stole his 14th base of the season. RF Dylan Crews was then hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on for Darren Baker. Following a wild pitch that moved both runners up a base, Baker connected on his 16th double of the season just over the glove of Buffalo shortstop Josh Kasevich and into the left-center field gap. Both runners came in to score on the play to give Rochester the lead once again, 6-4.
In the top of the fifth, Garrett delivered his second hit of the game on a line-drive single to lead off the inning. Jack Dunn then reached on a fielding error, and a Lindsly fly ball moved the runners to second and third. Cluff then singled on a line drive that scored both Dunn and Garrett, pushing the Rochester lead to 8-4.
After scoreless sixth and seventh innings, Chaparro and Gallo both drew walks to put runners on base in the eighth. Dunn was then hit by a pitch to quickly load the bases for the Red Wings, and Lindsly picked up the third walk of the inning to send Chaparro home and extend the lead to 9-4.
Josh Kasevich led off the home half of the eighth with a single that ricocheted off the pitcher. The following at-bat, Lantigua reached on a throwing error that allowed Kasevich to move to third with still no outs. DH Joey Votto subsequently grounded into a double play that pushed in a run to make the score 9-5.
With one out in the top of the ninth, Darren Baker reached first base on a fielding error. He stole his 35th base of the season two batters later and came around to score on a single from Joey Gallo to make the score 10-5.
Buffalo needed a big ninth inning to overcome their five-run deficit. C Phil Clarke started things off with a walk and then advanced to second on a balk for the Bison. A few batters later, Roden grabbed a walk of his own. RF Will Robertson then doubled on a sharp line drive to right field, Clarke and Roden scored. SS Josh Kasevich then recorded an RBI single to score Robertson and make the score 10-8. However, Buffalo was unable to bring any other runs home despite having the bases loaded late, and Rochester won the series finale.
RHP Kyle Luckham made his fourth Triple-A start with the Red Wings Sunday afternoon. The Arizona State product worked 2.1 innings and allowed four earned on five hits while striking out and walking three apiece. RHP Ty Tice took over in the third and finished the inning, allowing no runs while walking two. Rochester then looked to LHP Joe La Sorsa, who delivered 1.0 solid innings of work with one hit and one strikeout. RHP Adonis Medinagot the ball next and turned in 2.0 scoreless innings on a hit with a strikeout. RHP Amos Willingham was tasked with the seventh inning, and RHP Orlando Ribalta the eighth, and each tossed 1.0 inning and did not allow an earned run before turning the ball to RHP Rico Garcia for the ninth. The Hawaii native allowed three earned on three hits with a strikeout and three walks.
The Diamond Pro Player of the Game in the series finale goes to SS Jackson Cluff. The lefty roped a pair of singles in the contest and finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. He is now 14-for-14 in stolen base attempts this season, the most of any Triple-A player without a caught stealing.
The Red Wings will take Monday off to travel back home and will return to action Tuesday against Syracuse for a six-game set against their Thruway rivals to the east. The first pitch of game one is 6:45 p.m.
Find the box score attached here.
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