BY MIKE ROSE
ROCHESTER, NY — The No. 13 prospect in baseball continued to star in Rochester Friday night. Red Wings outfielder James Wood delivered a go-ahead two-run single in an eight-run sixth inning as the Red Wings defeated the Syracuse Mets 10-1.
It was business as usual for Wood who has not missed a beat since making his Triple-A debut to begin the season. Wood ranks third in the International League in hits, ninth in runs, tied for ninth in stolen bases and 12th in average and on-base percentage. While Wood has started a little slow in terms of run production with just 11 RBI on the season, he drove in a pair in Friday’s win.
“I think a lot of people coming in thought he might struggle because the strikeouts were pretty high in Double-A,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said of Wood. “For me, he’s commanded the zone from spring training on. He’s come here and he’s zoned in. He’s still working on some stuff but I love where he’s at. He’s nice and calm in the box and I think it won’t be long, you’ll see him start rolling off some doubles and homers here.”
The Red Wings began the night 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position before Jack Dunn pushed across the tying run with an RBI single in the sixth. Wood’s two-run single then broke the seal as Rochester pulled away for good. Once the offensive wheels started turning for Rochester they couldn’t stop. The Red Wings sent 14 hitters to the plate in the frame and rattled off the most runs in an inning at Innovative Field since August 2019 to turn a 1-0 deficit into an 8-1 lead. Jake Alu recorded two hits in the inning and drove in a run while Stone Garrett and Erick Meija both plated runs in the explosion. Dunn would also drive in a second run in the frame.
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On the other side, Thaddeus Ward gave Rochester a chance at the rally with his work on the mound. Ward struck out a season-high eight batters allowing one earned run across six innings. It was Ward’s second start of the season against Syracuse after four scoreless innings with six strikeouts in his first appearance of the season back on March 30.
“(Drew) Millas and I drew up a pretty good game plan going into the game today,” Ward said. “We had faced these guys earlier in the year and we pretty much mirrored what we did in the very first start I had.”
It was Ward’s third straight outing allowing one earned run. LeCroy believed Ward flashed why the Nationals were willing to draft him in last year’s Rule Five draft.
“The reason he’s here is to work on his command because if you look at his stuff analytically it’s off the charts,” LeCroy said. “The ball runs, it cuts, it sinks, he’s got good secondary pitches and if he can command the east-to-west he’s got a chance. You look at those things it’s pretty sick and now hopefully starting to gain some confidence and get more in the zone and if he does that the big league team I’m sure will use him at some point.”
It was a big-time bounce-back performance for Rochester after dropping game three of the series, 12-6. In total, the Red Wings racked up a season-high 17 hits, the most for Rochester since April 12 of last year. Wood led the charge finishing 3-for-5 with a run and a walk to go with his two RBI.
“I’m just happy he’s off to a good start,” LeCroy said. “Sometimes you bring up a young kid and you don’t get the hits and it’s not working and all of the sudden it starts to speed up. For him, his makeup is off the chart. He slows the game down and I think that’s gonna be his edge to really hit at the next level.”
Rochester (14-13) will look to carry the offense into tomorrow’s penultimate game of the series against Syracuse (16-13). Joan Adon (1-2, 7.88) is slated to get the start on Saturday while Max Kranick (0-0, 5.40) will get the ball for the Mets with the first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
Adon has been terrible so far and this series has been weird. 3 total blowouts and one low scoring walk-off. Wings continue to hang around .500. good days and bad days. No long winning or losing streaks.