By Dan Glickman
ROCHESTER, NY – Rehabbing outfielder Victor Robles went 3-for-3 with two home runs, Jake Alu hit a grand slam, and Jake Noll had his first four hits of the season as the Rochester Red Wings scored a season-high in runs to defeat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 18-10, on Tuesday.
“We had some big inning situations, we did some things that I really liked,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy.
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Both teams got on the board in the first inning.
Scranton catcher Carlos Narvaez doubled with two outs in the top of the inning, driving in two runs against left-handed Rochester starter Anthony Banda. The next batter, left fielder Brandon Lockridge, then singled to right. Narvaez headed for home to try and make it a 3-0 game, but a good throw from Wings right fielder Nomar Mazara struck him down to end the inning with a tag at the plate.
Then, it was Rochester’s turn.
Left fielder Derek Hill, who homered to lead off the first for the Red Wings during Sunday’s game in Worcester, did so again in the bottom of the first on Tuesday, sending a 1-1 pitch from Mitch Spence deep over the left field fence for his eighth home run of the season, narrowing the score to 2-1.
The lead-off home run was Hill’s fourth such long ball this season. It was the second time this season that Hill had gone yard to start the contest in two games straight, having previously done so on June 4 and 6.
Robles knocked in his first RBI of the game later in the inning to tie it up, 2-2, by doubling in Alu on a hit to right. Robles came around to score two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Mazara to put Rochester ahead, 3-2.
After Scranton jumped ahead 4-3 in the second, Robles struck again in the third. With one out, the 26-year-old got hold of a 2-0 pitch and sent it into right. Initially, the ball seemed headed to a flyout, but it continued to carry through the Innovative Field air before landing in the Rochester bullpen to tie the game 4-4.
Scranton again gained the lead in the top of the fourth on an Estevan Florial sacrifice fly, but then came one of the “big inning situations” for the Red Wings that LeCroy was so glad to see. Rochester sent ten batters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six to leap to a 10-5 lead.
Among those driving in runs was Noll, who doubled with a man on to tie the game at 5-5 before moving to third on a throwing error. Noll’s season had started late due to injury, and he’d gone 0-11 so far. He wasn’t even in the lineup initially but he was sent in after Erick Mejia hurt his wrist diving for a ball early in the game. The double would be the first of four hits for the infielder, who drove in two.
“He got a chance to go in, and he got it going,” said LeCroy. “He’d relaxed a bit, it was a bit of a surprise for him going into the game, so I think it relaxed him a little bit, and he ended up having a big day.”
It was something that Noll agreed with… and a bit of a surprise to him.
“For sure, when I was starting, you think about things a lot,” he said. “When you’re hanging out on the bench, you don’t really think about it, and you go back to playing it as a little kid and having fun.”
“That was the first time in my life that I got a hit after coming in as a replacement, hopefully that continues, I’m glad to get that first hit out of the way.”
Robles made one last impact in the fifth, hitting a home run to dead-center for his second four-bagger, extending the Red Wings lead to 13-5. Robles, who is expected to play in Rochester through Thursday, left the game in the seventh with five RBI and four runs scored.
The RailRiders scored two on a deep home run by Florial in the sixth and then scored three more in the seventh to narrow Rochester’s lead to 13-10.
In the eighth, the Red Wings got a cushion, as Noll had an RBI single before Alu later hit a grand slam to give Rochester the final 18-10 score.
“Alu made a big blow there in the end,” said LeCroy. “It gave us some breathing room, they had the momentum going in there late.”
The Alu grand slam ended whatever momentum Scranton had, as Gerson Moreno sent them down in order in the top of the ninth for the win.
Tommy Romero earned the win for Rochester, his third of the year, after allowing two hits and two runs over three innings of relief.
The Red Wings continue their series with Scranton on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. Right-hander Wily Peralta is scheduled to start against Scranton’s Randy Vasquez.
FINAL: ROC 18, SWB 10
WP: Tommy Romero (3-3, 5.60)
LP: Mitch Spence (4-3, 5.21)
SV:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | | R | H | E | |
| Scranton/WB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 2 | |
| Rochester | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | x | 18 | 16 | 1 |
GAME INFORMATION:
First Pitch: 6:46 PM
Temperature: 68 °F
Time of Game: 3:08
Attendance: 4,941
HOME RUNS:
ROC- Derek Hill (8) solo off RHP Mitch Spence in the 1st (count: 1-1) to left field
ROC – Victor Robles (1) solo off RHP Mitch Spence in the 3rd (count: 2-0) to right field
ROC – Victor Robles (2) three-run off RHP Michael Feliz in the 5th (count: 1-1) to center field
SWB – Estevan Florial (15) two-run off LHP Joe La Sorsa in the 6th (count: 2-0) to right field
ROC – Jake Alu (4) grand slam off RHP Michael Gomez in the 8th (count: 2-0) to right center field
STARTING PITCHERS:
RHP Mitch Spence: (4-3, 5.21) 3.2 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 2 HR 25 BF, 81/47 (P/S), left down 10-5
LHP Anthony Banda: (3-3, 8.83) 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 13 BF, 56/31 (P/S), left down 4-3
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