STAFF REPORTS
DURHAM, N.C. — Down 5-1 after one inning, Rochester hit a home run in three straight innings and broke a tie with four runs in the 8th inning as the Red Wings rallied to beat the Durham Bulls 11-8 Tuesday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The Red Wings (25-23) got just two outs from starter Stephen Gonsalves, who was charged with five runs on three hits and three walks with one strikeout. A three-run double from Jeremy Hazelbaker made it 5-1 Bulls (29-21) and chased Gonsalves from the game. Gabriel Moya retired the final batter of the 1st.
Kennys Vargas hit a two-out, three-run homer in the 3rd that cut the deficit to 5-4. Taylor Featherston, a former Bull, gave Rochester its first lead with a two-run blast in the 4th. Jake Caveextended the lead with a solo homer in the 5th to make it 7-5.
Moya tossed 3.0 scoreless innings and surrendered just two hits while striking out a pair. Jake Reed would get the final out of the 4th but the Bulls would plate a run in the 5th and the 6th, the last of which a solo homer from Andrew Velazquez, to tie the game at 7-7.
The Wings would use a combination of good luck and poor Durham fielding to plate the four runs in the 8th. Rochester got five hits, all singles, and two errors that lead to all the runs being unearned.
Nick Anderson (2-0) threw 3.0 innings for the first time in his professional career. He yielded an unearned run in the 9th and struck out four.
Rochester finished with 15 hits as six players had multi-hit games and eight of nine starters scored a run. Vargas drove in four runs and Featherston drove in three and scored twice.
The three-game set continues Wednesday at 1:05 p.m.
