BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings returned from a two-week road trip on Tuesday to find themselves in a pitching duel: they managed just two hits through the first six innings… but that was still more than the Syracuse Mets had through six innings- they’d managed only one off of Wings starter Adrian Sampson, his best start since he was in the Mariners organization in 2016.
“Everything was kind of working today,” said Sampson, who recently returned from an injury that forced him out for a little over a month.
The Red Wings (43-69, 16-24 in the second half) ultimately held Syracuse (61-54, 30-10 in the second half) to four hits in the game, total. The problem came from walks, as Eduardo Salazar walked three in the ninth, including a bases-loaded go-ahead pass with two outs. The Red Wings would get a man to third in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t get him home to tie it as they went down in defeat, 2-1.
“We pitched really good [for most of the game],” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “Sampson was great, we faced a really team and he gave us a shot.”
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“But their pitching has been really good, and we didn’t get anything going. We had some chances, but not a lot.”
The right-handed Sampson, who entered the game with a 2-3 record and a 5.56 ERA, had a masterful showing for the Red Wings, going six innings while striking out four and walking three but allowing a singular hit: a towering 451-foot solo shot off the ad-boards in center by Syracuse left fielder Jared Young in the top of the second to make it 1-0 for Syracuse.
“I’ve played with Jared Young, I know how good of a baseball player he is, and as a person. It’s a guy I want to get out, but I just left one down over part of the plate, and he got a good swing off to make it so that I don’t throw that one again.”
“Other than that, though, I thought I was hitting my spots and getting guys out quick, giving us a chance to win,” he said.
Rochester tied it up in the bottom of the third through the legs of shortstop Nasim Nunez. After drawing a walk off Jonathan Pintaro, the Bronx-born 24-year-old stole second. He then took advantage of a wild pitch by Pintaro to move up to third. A batter later, Pintaro threw a ball wild. While at first it seemed like it hadn’t gone far from Mets catcher Hayden Senger, Nunez took off from home and was able to score safely to tie it up on a bold baserunning play.
“He did it all on his own, you know,”said LeCroy. “He got on, got to second, got to third, and then made a really unbelievable read on that ball in the dirt. It didn’t get by the catcher that far. It was a very aggressive play, and it tied it up for us.”
The rest of the game- until the ninth- continued the pitching duel. The bullpen took over after the sixth for Rochester, with Garrett Davila and Ryan Loutos working scoreless outings in relief. The Mets, however, also continued to find success on their “bullpen day”, as a string of five pitchers held the Wings to four hits on the night.
The Wings did have opportunities. Rehabbing outfielder Dylan Crews came up with two men in scoring position, only to fly out for the third out in the fifth. Trey Lipscomb nearly broke the tie in the seventh, hitting a ball deep into the Rochester night only for it to get pulled down by Mets outfielder Carson Benge. Lipscomb injected drama in the ninth as well, hitting a pitch far only for it to go foul. Andres Chaparro doubled in the ninth and was pinch-run for by Darren Baker, who moved up to third on a groundout but couldn’t be brought home.
The Wings and Mets continue their series on Wednesday with a 1:05 p.m. start. Rochester expects to send out right-hander Riley Cornelio (0-1, 5.40) against Syracuse righty Brandon Sproat (7-5, 4.10). It may prove to be the last game of the rehab assignment for the former top prospect Crews before he returns to Washington- according to LeCroy, the outfielder will play Wednesday before LeCroy says he expects that the big club will “call [him] back” with next steps.
Sorry–the object of the game has not changed. Its called ‘win’. And once again the dreadful Wings bullpen did what they do best….blow a game. As the saying goes,
‘you have only one job’. You come in after wearing your arm out in the pen, and you throw strikes. But our guys can’t do it. Losing a close game by walking in the winning run is an ultimate fail, yet Wings pitchers have been doing it with gusto all season long.
The games aren’t fun to watch when you know you are going to lose once the starter is removed.
the team ERA is around 5.73–worst in the IL. I know someone has the stat for bullpen ERA. Its too ugly to post. 3 teams in the PCL have worse team ERA’s but it should be noted the PCL is definitely a hitters league thru and thru. I suppose at this point in this lost season, you may as well prop up the starter for a real good outing against a good team. What else is there?
In my opinion the recent Norfolk series simply tore whats left of the heart of this team completely out. Instead of forging towards .500, they capitulated. Even their one win was in deep jeopardy in the 9th. The other 5 games were embarrassing.
Many of us still remember too painfully the two hopeless seasons with manager Tom Nieto. It was ugly baseball at its worst. Two of the worst seasons a Rochester pro team ever experienced. This one is right up there. I would say Rochester fans deserve better but that would be understatement. 1997 was our last season to be proud of and that was a long time ago. It was the debut season of Frontier Field. Now we call the place something else…a clumsy name for a ballfield.
Our hitters shouldn’t get a pass either. While they have shouldered the pain most the season, they too have had their ‘moments’ when striking out has killed chances to win. But honestly, its the pitching and often the ‘d’ that has destroyed this team in 2025. I would love to see fun baseball before the season ends. But it won’t be here. The Nats organization overall is soul-less and floating aimlessly somewhere out there. Fans there screaming ‘sell the team’ are aware.
August 12th was the date in baseball infamy when Bud Selig and his spineless cronies killed baseball in 1994 and in doing so killed the Montreal Expos, who were clearly world series bound. The Expos are now the team that we call our parent. Thats also hard for me to take. After Syracuse scored in the 9th, I shut it all down. Too much baseball sadness for one day.