By MIKE ROSE
The Rochester Red Wings entered Friday night having won nine of their last 10 games. However, another rocky start on the mound from Jackson Rutledge put them in a hole they would not recover from as they fell to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 6-2.
Rutledge surrendered six earned runs in the first two innings to the IronPigs as Rochester (30-19, 68-54) dropped its second consecutive game that Rutledge started. The Red Wings had an opportunity to strike in the first with the bases loaded but could not cash in. In the bottom half of the inning, the trouble began after a lead-off walk to Kody Clemens, followed by an RBI triple from Buddy Kennedy to give Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, David Dahl delivered a two-out RBI single and the IronPigs were off and running.
Rutledge seemed to be settling in after retiring the first two batters in the second but the wheels would fall off. Cody Roberts singled and scored on a Clemens double. After a hit by pitch brought Darick Hall to the dish he blasted a middle-in fastball 445 feet to make it 6-0.
The Red Wings were able to get one back on Travis Blankenhorn‘s 26th home run of the season in the third but were unable to gain much traction from there. They stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings with the best chance coming in the eighth.
Rochester loaded the bases for Dylan Crews with two outs after Carter Kieboom singled, Stone Garrett was hit by a pitch and Jack Dunn walked. A wild pitch allowed Kieboom to score and cut the margin to 6-2. Crews’ at-bat eventually ended when he bounced out to second base to end the threat.
Rutledge ultimately labored through five innings of work and allowed the six early runs on six hits and one walk with six punchouts. Offensively, Rochester mustered six hits and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Despite the loss, Rochester remains 1.5 games back of the first place Columbus Clippers (31-17, 63-59), who dropped their second game in a row to the Indianapolis Indians on Friday night. They’ll look to regain momentum in the series in game five against Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Rochester’s starting pitcher is yet to be announced while Kolby Allard (2-7, 5.45) is slated to get the start for the IronPigs. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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