STAFF REPORTS
Rochester scored two runs in the 9th inning on two errors and two wild pitches and Lehigh Valley left the bases loaded to end the game as the Red Wings won their fourth straight game with an 8-7 victory over the IronPigs Thursday night at Coca-Cola Park.
The Red Wings (38-39) led 4-0 through three innings behind a pair of two-run frames. Jordany Valdespin opened the scoring with an RBI single and newly-named International League All-Star Tomas Telis drove in another with a groundout in the 2nd. Nick Gordon doubled in a run and scored on a Wilin Rosario single in the 3rd.
Deivy Grullon homered off Devin Smeltzer in the 4th but Zander Wiel homered for the second straight game in the following half inning to expand to lead to 5-1. Smeltzer was lifted with two outs in the 5th inning after throwing 81 pitches. He surrendered one run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
Wiel made it 6-1 with a bloop single in the 6th and the Wings were in complete control. Then the Lehigh Valley 7th happened. The IronPigs would score five runs in the inning to tie the game, capped by a three-run homer by Phil Gosselin off Carlos Torres.
Jaylin Davis started the 9th inning with a loud double and would advance to third base on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Telis popped a pitch up that shortstop Malquin Canelo ran in on and called for before overrunning the ball for an error. Davis held at third on the play. He would score a few pitches later on a wild pitch to give Rochester the lead again at 7-6. Brian Schales then ripped a ball to third baseman Mitch Walding that was ruled an error that allowed Telis to score to make it 8-6.
Ian Krol surrendered a leadoff double to Walding in the bottom half. After a groundout that Walding advanced to third base on, a four-pitch walk and a three-pitch strikeout followed. Another walk loaded the bases and a wild pitch scored a run and pushed the winning run to second base. Another four-pitch walk to Grullon filled the bases before Nick Williams grounded out to second to end the game.
Torres earned the win after throwing a perfect 8th inning. He made his team debut tonight.
Rochester has now won four games in a row after sweeping two-game series from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley. The Red Wings put their six-game winning streak at Frontier Field on the line Friday when they host Pawtucket at 7:05 p.m.
