By Dan Glickman
Anyone attending Wednesday morning’s game between the Rochester Red Wings and Syracuse Mets could probably figure out that it was “Education Day” at Innovative Field. Lines of yellow busses led to the stadium, and the crowd of 9,073 had plenty of students there for school.
Wednesday’s early lesson? Longball 101, courtesy of the Rochester Red Wings, who hit three early round-trippers as they beat Syracuse, 6-1. Rochester is now 7-1 in its last eight, including winning both games of the series with Syracuse so far.
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It didn’t take long for third baseman Carter Kieboom to start the lesson. With one out and center fielder Derek Hill on first, Kieboom slammed the second pitch he saw from Syracuse’s Joey Lucchesi into the left field scoreboard for his second home run of the season, putting Rochester ahead, 2-0. It was the first of two hits for Kieboom on the day, and the 25-year-old also drew two walks. Kieboom is 6-for-11 in his last three games, and his skipper believes he may be returning to normal after a few years of fighting injuries.
“He’s getting back to the strength and the quickness he had before,” said Red Wings manager Matthew Lecroy.
In the bottom of the second, Rochester’s hitting lesson continued. Catcher Drew Millas, playing his first home game with the Red Wings since being called up to AAA during the road trip, stepped to the plate. Millas, the No. 29 prospect in the Nationals organization according to MLB.com, says that one of the big differences he’s getting used to in AAA is how the pitchers approach him.
“Guys pitch to your weakness instead of their strength most of the time. There are some guys who are big prospects at AA who just use their big strength, like a big fastball or big slider. Now, they might use their changeup even if the slider might be better because that’s what it says on our report. The big difference is picking out pitches I can really hit, can really drive, and pull the trigger on them.”
With Lucchesi’s first pitch, Millas saw one of those pitches to pull the trigger on, hitting the first ball he saw over the left field fence for a home run in his first at-bat at Innovative Field to make the Rochester lead 3-0.
“I got something up in the zone, something that I like to hit,” said Millas. “I put a good swing on it, and it got out.”
Erick Mejia followed with his first Red Wings home run of the season to extend the lead to 4-0. It was the first time the Red Wings had hit back-to-back home runs since July 29 of 2022, when Riley Adams and Jake Noll hit solo shots in the fourth against Scranton.
The scoring wasn’t over in the second, though. After shortstop Richie Martin walked, Hill came to the plate and hit a single to extend his hit streak to 13 games, lofting one safely into center. Mets center fielder Lorenzo Cedrola misplayed the ball and had it bounce off his glove deeper into center, allowing Martin to score on the error to extend Rochester’s lead to 5-0.
There was another lesson given to the students in attendance, this one on the art of pitching. Starting pitcher Joan Adon went six innings for his second win of the year, allowing just three hits and striking out three. Alberto Baldonado, Tyler Danish, and Jose Ferrer combined to allow four hits in the last three innings, with the Wings nearly pulling off the shutout before Syracuse’s Nick Meyer singled home the Mets’ lone run with an out in the ninth.
“[Adon] probably had his best outing as a Red Wing,” said LeCroy. “He made some adjustments this past week in where he stands on the rubber, and cleaned up some mechanical issues that were happening earlier. He had a nice game.”
At the plate, the Red Wings wouldn’t score again until the bottom of the eighth, when Jake Alu doubled home Mejia for the sixth run of the game, allowing the Red Wings breathing room even after Syracuse scored in the ninth.
The Red Wings continue their series with Syracuse on Thursday. Rochester is expected to send out Cory Abbott against Syracuse’s Denyi Reyes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
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