Red hot Red Wings win fourth straight

BY MIKE ROSE

Rochester, NY — The Rochester Red Wings (9-2, 47-37) continued their torrid pace in the second half as they knocked off the Buffalo Bisons (3-8, 40-45), 7-3. The win was Rochester’s fourth in a row as they maintain the top spot in the International League. The win came in come-from-behind fashion once again as Rochester continues to find ways to win games no matter the situation.

“It feels great. It doesn’t matter if we’re down by a few runs or down by however many runs we’re always putting ourselves back into the game,” Red Wings outfielder Dylan Crews said. “We’re fighting every game so it’s been great so far.”

The Red Wings have received contributions from all over the roster during their strong second half start. On Friday, Stone Garrett delivered one of the biggest hits of the night with a two-run double that tied the game in the fifth. Drew Millas also drove in two runs after returning on Wednesday from a stint with the Washington Nationals.

“They pull for each other and they expect good things to happen no matter if people are hot or people are cold they believe in one another and to me that’s a big, big deal,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “I think I’ve been fortunate and blessed back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023 we had high makeup, high work ethic and had all the right ingredients for what you want as a manager but we just didn’t really have that much talent. We got a group of guys that love each other, they work, they hold each other accountable and it’s really fun.”

Rochester began the night behind on the scoreboard after a rocky start for Red Wings starter Jackson Rutledge. After escaping traffic in the second the Bisons got to Rutledge in the third. The first four batters reached in the inning on a walk, single, hit by pitch and then an RBI single from Will Robertson. The Bisons extended the lead on a ground ball to Darren Baker which could’ve resulted in an inning-ending double play. Instead, it hopped over the glove of Baker and into right field allowing two runs to score and giving Buffalo a 3-0 edge.

In the bottom half of the inning, Crews got one back. He launched a towering shot for his first Innovative Field home run to cut the margin to 3-1. The score held there as Rutledge was able to settle in and work into the fifth before giving way to the Red Wings bullpen which continued to perform as well as any unit in the International League. Tim Cate finished things off in the fifth to jumpstart what would end as the fourth consecutive game in which the Rochester bullpen allowed no earned runs.

“The bullpen for me is how you win ballgames,” LeCroy said. “We’ve been able to piece things together to give guys rest and they all can pitch in big spots and that’s why I feel really good about them.”

After Cate ended the threat in the top half of the fifth the offense came alive in the bottom half. The Red Wings sent nine hitters to the plate jumpstarted by Garrett’s two-run double. Travis Blankenhorn and Trey Lipscomb also drove in runs in the four-run fifth to give Rochester its first lead of the night, 5-3. They would not relinquish the edge from there.

Joan Adon followed Cate out of the bullpen and combined with Joe La Sorsa, Orlando Ribalta and Rico Garcia to close out the final four innings of the night.

“They’ve been lights out,” Crews said of the Rochester bullpen. “I always say, you command the strike zone good things will happen and that’s what they’re doing so hats off to them.”

Rochester would add on in the seventh on Millas’ two-run triple to help put the game out of reach for good. The Red Wings’ fourth straight win pushes their early second half standings lead to two games over the trio of Syracuse, Memphis and Lehigh Valley who are tied for second.

Rochester will wrap up the series with Buffalo tomorrow at Innovative Field. Brad Lord (1-0, 5.79) is slated to get the start for the Red Wings while the Bisons are expected to call up James Kaprielian to make the start tomorrow. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.