STAFF REPORTS
The Rochester Red Wings came back from a 7-1 deficit to beat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 10-8 Thursday afternoon at Frontier Field. The Wings win snapped a 12-game win streak by the first place IronPigs.
The Red Wings struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Daniel Palka homered to right with two outs off IronPigs starter Mark Appel to give Rochester an early 1-0 lead.
The IronPigs answered immediately in the top of the second with a Dylan Cozens home run off Red Wings starter Jason Wheeler to tie the game at 1. Lehigh Valley continued to swing the bats well in the inning with RBI hits by Pedro Florimon and Logan Moore that extended the lead to 3-1. The big blow, however, came via a Rhys Hoskins grand slam that gave the IronPigs a commanding 7-1 lead as the team batted around the order.
The Red Wings came back to tie the game with a big inning of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Matt Hague began with a solo home run, his fourth of the year, which cut the IronPigs lead to 7-2. Following a single by Tommy Field and a hit batsman and walk by Appel, Rochester had the bases loaded with one out in the inning. An RBI single by Engelb Vielma plated another run, making it a 7-3 ballgame. Appel hit another batter and sent a pitch to the backstop, bringing in two runs. Rochester tied the ballgame at 7-7 after Mitch Garver hit a two-RBI single.
Appel was taken out of the game after 3.1 innings of work – he finished with seven earned runs allowed on six hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. He threw 85 pitches, 46 for strikes.
It didn’t take long for Rochester to regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth against Michael Mariot. A sac fly by J.B. Shuck, who reached first on an error, brought in Field and gave the Wings an 8-7 lead. After another hit batsman and single by Vielma, Zach Granite cashed in with a bases loaded single, bringing in two runs an extending the lead to 10-7.
Buddy Boshers replaced Wheeler to begin the sixth inning. Wheeler finished with 5 innings of work, and gave up seven earned runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out six. Wheeler threw 101 pitches, 61 for strikes.
After a one-two-three inning in the sixth, Boshers gave up a solo home run to Hoskins, his second of the game, cutting the lead to 10-8. He settled down afterwards, retiring the next five batters in a row.
Trevor Hildenberger pitched the ninth inning, after Boshers turned in three relief innings. Hildenberger struck out the first batter he faced, then walked the speedy Roman Quinn. After a 14-pitch, 10-foul ball at-bat, J.P. Crawford’s wind-blown popup over the plate landed fair and was touched by catcher Garver. That play put the tying runs on base with Hoskins coming up. Hoskins lined out to left field for the second out, and Hildenberger fanned Dylan Cozens to end the game and earn the save.
The Red Wings out-hit the IronPigs 13-10.
Lehigh Valley’s 12-game winning streak coming into Thursday was a franchise record; Lehigh Valley had also won the last seven games between the two clubs dating back to the last game of 2016.
Winning Pitcher: Wheeler (3-1)
Losing Pitcher: Mariot (1-2)
Save: Hildenberger (2)
Box Score – Click here for the box score and play-by-play narrative.
Losing Pitcher: Mariot (1-2)
Save: Hildenberger (2)
Box Score – Click here for the box score and play-by-play narrative.
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