BY JONATHAN SKUZA
ROCHESTER, N.Y.– Any current or former athlete will tell you there is no “I” in team.
Behind a complete team effort and a Franmil Reyes walk-off two-RBI double, the Rochester Red Wings were able to complete the sweep against the Scranton Wilkes/Bare Rairiders 8-7 in the second game Thursday evening.
“Our lineup is way better than it was at the beginning of the season,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy stated about the come-from-behind victory. “It helps to know if we make some mistakes on the mound, that we can come back offensively and get back into the game.”
After going hitless through the first three innings and falling behind 2-0, the Rochester offense came alive in the fourth inning. Matt Adams got the Red Wings on the board with an RBI double to left field that scored Carter Kieboom who tallied a one-out base hit. Travis Blankenhorn gave the Red Wings the lead with a two-run 428-foot home run to right center field with two outs. Blankenhorn’s long ball was his 10th of the campaign and the left fielder now leads the Red Wings in home runs.
“He’s [Jhony Brito] a good pitcher, but I think we just locked it in into getting better pitches to hit,” Blankenhorn stated about the fourth-inning offensive explosion.
Rochester’s offense the next inning with another three runs. Jake Alu picked up an infield base hit that scored recently called-up Jordy Barley who made his Triple-A debut in game one of the doubleheader. Barley hit a lead-off single, stole second base, and reached third on a Derek Hill base hit before coming around to score. Kieboom drove both Alu and Hill home with a single up the middle to give the Red Wings a four-run lead.
After Scranton slowly regained the lead in the sixth and seventh innings, Reyes played hero with his two-RBI double after Alu and Adams reached base with singles to give Rochester the exciting come-from-behind victory.
“We got some good quality guys in the top and the bottom of our lineup,” LeCroy stated about the impact on the depth of his lineup. “That’s just a really good Triple-A lineup right now. I hope they all go to the big leagues. I know they all won’t, but you want them to move up. We will take advantage of why these guys are here and hopefully, they continue to keep hitting.”
Right-hander Paolo Espino struck out three as he pitched five solid innings of two-run baseball for Red Wings. Sean Doolittle and Jose Ferrer made appearances out of the bullpen for Rochester with Ferrer ending up getting the win.
“He [Espino] pitched a great game too,” Blankenhorn stated about his teammate’s start. “I feel like the first three innings flew by between him and Brito. We know what we were going to get from him. He’s an older guy that just pounds his own, has a good curveball, and overall he gives us a solid start every time.”
Scranton jumped on the Red Wings early when Elijah Dunham hit a solo home run in the first inning on the first pitch he saw with two outs. Estevan Florial hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning to score Jesus Bastidas to extend the Railrider’s lead to two. Florial hit his first of two home runs in the sixth inning to pull the Railriders within three. Andres Chaparro made it 6-4 in the sixth with a sacrifice fly that drove in Oswald Peraza who tripled after the Florial homer. The center fielder hit his second home run in the seventh with one out to drive in three runs to regain the lead for Scranton Wilkes/Bare. Florial finished with five RBI on the evening.
Rochester won game one of the doubleheader 6-3 that was led by a Jake Noll two-run home run in the third inning. The Red Wings scored all of their runs through the first three innings of game one. Right-hander Wily Peralta pitched five solid innings for Rochester also giving up two runs while striking out five.
“This team here, they hit a lot of homers,” LeCroy stated about the Red Wings starters being able to limit the Railrider’s offense. “Going into today I thought our two guys starting could give them some trouble because they have really good secondary pitches. Happy with both of those guys’ effort against an outstanding offensive team.”
Rochester is currently in fifth place in the International East Division 13.5 games behind the Norfolk Tides (45-20). The Rochester Red Wings (31-33) will continue the series against the Scranton Wilkes/Bare Railriders (29-36) on Friday at 6:45 p.m. as the Red Wings will send right-hander Jose Urena (0-1, 7.06) to the mound while right-hander Will Warren (2-3, 7.08) will start for the Railriders.
FINAL (7): ROC 8, SWB 7
WP: Jose Ferrer (3-3, 4.50)
LP: Greg Weissert (1-2, 3.60)
SV:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||
| Scranton/WB | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 2 | ||
| Rochester | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
GAME INFORMATION:
First Pitch: 3:51 PM
Temperature: 75°F
Time of Game: 1:54
Attendance: 4,453
HOME RUNS:
SWB – Elijah Dunham (4) solo off RHP Paolo Espino in the 1st (count: 0-0) to left center field
ROC – Travis Blankenhorn (10) two-run off RHP Jhony Brito in the 4th (count: 0-1) to center field
SWB – Estevan Florial (16) solo off LHP Sean Doolittle in the 6th (count: 3-1) to center field
SWB – Estevan Florial (17) three-run off LHP Jose Ferrer in the 7th (count: 2-0) to left field
STARTING PITCHERS:
RHP Jhony Brito: (1-1, 7.08) 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 25 BF, 85/55 (P/S), left down 6-4
RHP Paolo Espino: (3-2, 4.50) 5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR, 18 BF, 61/37 (P/S), left up 6-2
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