BY MIKE ROSE
A three-run first inning was all the scoring needed for the Rochester Red Wings to knock off the Syracuse Mets (46-28) on Sunday, 3-2. The win capped the first half of play in Triple-A with the Red Wings (38-35) closing on back-to-back wins. Rochester has enjoyed an up and down stretch so far as they moved back to .500 in the month of June with a record of 10-10.
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Dylan Crews began the day with the double and advanced to third on a Darren Baker groundout. After James Wood walked, Travis Blankenhorn plated the first run with a sacrifice fly. Juan Yepez capped off the big first inning, blasting his ninth home run of the season to left to give the Red Wings a 3-0 lead. Rochester would not score again the rest of the day.
Brad Lord made his Triple-A debut on the mound for the Red Wings, earning the victory. The 24-year-old has burst onto the radar in the Nationals organization this season after posting an 8-1 record with a 1.33 ERA and 78 strikeouts across 74.2 innings for High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg. In his first Red Wings appearance Lord pitched five innings scattering nine hits and allowing two runs while striking out four.
Both the runs against Lord came in the second. After back-to-back singles to lead off the inning Luisangel Acuña cashed in with a two-out, two-run single. After Lord handed the baton to the bullpen they slammed the door shut. The combination of Orlando Ribalta, Amos Willingham, Joe La Sorsa and Rico Garcia was nearly perfect in the final four innings of work. The quartet allowed one hit and retired the final 11 batters of the game in order to seal the victory. Garcia picked up his 11th save of the season in finishing things off in the ninth.
Crews had two hits on the day for the Red Wings to extend his hitting streak to five. After a 0-for-5 showing in his Triple-A debut Tuesday, Crews has hit .291 with three extra-base hits out of the leadoff spot. He will make his Innovative Field debut this coming week. Yepez also added a two-hit effort for the Red Wings. Wood had a hit and two walks before giving way to pinch-runner Jack Dunn in the eighth as he continues to work back from the hamstring injury that sidelined him for nearly a month. Acuña led the Mets’ offense going 3-for-4 and driving in the lone two runs in the game for his team.
Blade Tidwell started on the mound for Syracuse. He worked six innings and surrendered just three hits and one walk after the first inning outburst from the Red Wings.
Rochester will return home to begin the second half on Tuesday when they host the Indianapolis Indians. Nationals manager Davey Martinez said that if all goes according to plan, Josiah Gray will start for the Red Wings in the opener as he continues his rehab stint. The first pitch from Innovative Field is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
After their first 4 game losing streak, thanks to the Mets, Wings finished the first half with some dignity by winning their last 2 games.
Despite mostly terrible pitching thru the first 73 games of the 2024 season, Rochester somehow managed to finish 4th overall in the 20 team IL..even though they were only 3 games over .500!
Strange league for sure. There’s no reward or accolades for this decent finish and its hard to really imagine that 16 other teams fared worse than the Wings.
Perhaps Washington will send us some arms for the second half giving the Wings at least a little shot at glory. They have correctly jettisoned a few of the 10.00+ ERA pitchers that littered the Wings bullpen. First half champs Omaha easily won the title. Syracuse gave them a little pushback but Omaha was clearly the class of the league.
Remains to be seen how long James Wood will remain a Wing. After a sizzling start Blankenhorn has really cooled off as has Yepez. Would be nice to see those two start bashing again. Hoping for some decent weather to allow the big summer crowds to return to …the Stadium.