Wings Snap Two-Game Skid with 11-6 Win

The Rochester Red Wings won their first game of the series Friday night in Syracuse, 11-6. RF Erick Mejia went big fly in back-to-back games, his eighth time this year. LF Darren Baker for the second time this year recorded three straight multi-hit games, logging three hits for the first time since 5/19 against Buffalo.

DH Onix Vega accounted for Rochester’s first base runner on a lead-off walk in the top of the second inning. C Brady Lindsly followed that up with a single to right field that moved Vega up to second. With one out and runners on first and second, SS Richie Martin loaded the bases with a walk of his own. The Wings struck first tonight on a bases-loaded two-out walk from 2B Jordy Barley giving Rochester a 1-0 lead. The lineup flipped over for the Red Wings and LF Darren Baker cashed in with a two RBI single extending the lead to 3-0.

Rochester picked right back up where they left off to start the top of the third with a lead-off single to left field by 3B Jack Dunn. The Georgia native wasted no time getting into scoring position by swiping his 13th bag of the year on the first pitch to 1B Frankie Tostado. Dunn has a combined 30 stolen bases between Double-A Harrisburg and Rochester, which is a career-high for him, topping his previous career-high of 11 stolen bases in 2021 with High-A Wilmington. Tostado was able to move Dunn to third base on a sacrifice fly, and he came around to score on a wild pitch pushing the score to 4-0.

The Wings got the offense going again when RF Erick Mejia and Onix Vega hit back-to-back singles. Mejia went first to third on Vega’s single to left field, which allowed him to score on Brady Lindsly’s sacrifice fly. The Mets caught Vega trying to tag up from first to second but was called out after Mejia had already crossed the plate, giving Rochester a 5-0 lead after the top of the third.

The Mets answered with one run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. 3B Jaylen Palmer hit a sharp line drive single to left field to lead off the inning. He moved up to second base on his first stolen base with Syracuse and was able to move to third on a groundout to second base via the bat of 2B Wyatt Young. Pittsford native SS Danny Mendick came up clutch for the Mets once again, singling to right field which would push across Palmer to make the score 5-1 Rochester after three innings.

Rochester started the fourth with a lead-off single from Darren Baker who proceeded to steal second base on the first pitch of the next at-bat. Jack Dunn was called upon to play small ball and was able to execute the sacrifice bunt to move Baker over to third with only one out. Frankie Tostado cashed in on the opportunity with a ground out to second base that allowed Baker to score, pushing the Wings lead to 6-1.

Syracuse quickly responded in the bottom half of the fifth inning with a walk from Jaylen Palmer. Danny Mendick kept the ball rolling with a single to center field moving Palmer up to second base. 1B Daniel Palka reached first safely and moved both runners up one base, loading the bases on an error by Rochester. Syracuse would then push one run across on a single to center field from DH Abraham Almonte making the score 6-2 Rochester. RF Brandon McIlwain added to the slugfest with a double to left field which pushed across Mendick and Palka to cut into their deficit making the score 6-4.

The Mets held the Wings scoreless in the top of the sixth and pushed one more across in the bottom half of the inning to make it a one-run lead for Rochester. 2B Wyatt Young blooped a two-out single to right field, which opened the door for Danny Mendick to come in clutch once again for Syracuse. Mendick roped a single into left field that allowed Young to move up to third. Mendick was caught between first and second when the ball was relayed back into the infield from the center fielder to Rochester’s shortstop who quickly snapped the ball to first base. Young took off on the shortstop’s throw and scored standing up making it a 6-5 ball game.

Rochester pushed one more across in the top of the eighth. Jack Dunn led off the inning with a walk which was followed up by an Onix Vega walk moving Dunn to second. Brady Lindsly looped a single into right field giving Dunn a chance to score sliding in safe just before the tag extending Rochester’s lead to 7-5.

Syracuse refused to give up in the bottom of the eighth when CF Lorenzo Cedrola got it all going with a one-out walk. Wyatt Young moved Cedrola to second on a single to center field setting the stage for Danny Mendick once again. The Rochestarian made his hometown team pay one more time by hitting a two-out double off of the third base bag scoring Cedrola and once again making it a one-run game, 7-6.

Rochester scored four more runs in the top of the ninth to extend their lead to 11-6. Jordy Barley got it going with a line drive single to center field and proceeded to steal second base getting himself into scoring position. Darren Baker kept his hot night rolling with an infield single that allowed Barley to advance to third. The Northwestern alumni Jack Dunn added pressure in the inning by working a walk to load the bases for Rochester. The first baseman Frankie Tostado cashed in once again with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Barley and extend the Wings lead to two making it an 8-6 ballgame. Erick Mejia wasted no time swinging at the first pitch of his at-bat to blast a three-run home run to right field pushing Rochester out to an 11-6 lead.

RHP Daniel Mengden made his first start of the year for Rochester and just his third of the year all three coming with Omaha (KC). After hitting the first two batters of the game and eventually walking the bases loaded the Houston native found a way to sneak out of the first inning without giving up a run. Mengden finished his night with 2.1 innings pitched, one run, two hits, and three strikeouts. LHP Anthony Banda entered in the middle of the third inning to relieve Mengden and limited the damage in the third by getting two straight outs to end the inning. Banda finished his night going 2.2 innings, giving up three runs only one earned, three hits, and four strikeouts. RHP Tanner Rainey entered the game to start the sixth inning throwing only one inning, and giving up one run, on two hits. RHP Gerson Moreno came on in relief in the seventh inning throwing two innings for the first time since 8/9 against Lehigh Valley. Moreno gave up one run, on only two hits before handing the game off to RHP José Mujica with a five-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Mujica threw the ninth allowing just a lone walk.

Diamond Pro Player of the Game honors for Friday’s game go to LF Darren Baker. The California native picked up three singles for the third-straight game, going 3-for-5, with two runs batted in, two runs scored, and a stolen base. This is his first back-to-back-to-back multi-hit performances with Rochester since he did so from 5/6-11. Baker now has 29 multi-hit games this season, most on the active roster and passes Jake Alu (28) for most by any Wing this season.

Rochester looks to pick up their second win of the series Saturday night. RHP Roddery Muñoz is slated to toe the rubber for the Wings against Mets RHP David Griffin. First pitch is set for 6:35 P.M.

Find the box score attached here.