BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Trey Lipscomb is entering what will be his third season where he’ll see at least some time with the Rochester Red Wings, but to hear his manager, Matt LeCroy, he’s never come out of a spring training looking better at the plate.
“I think Lip, for me, he had the best spring he’s had the whole time I’ve been here,” he said. “[This] spring training, man… he hit the ball hard, and then he came back here and he’s still swinging really well.”
That swing proved the difference on Wednesday, as Lipscomb hit a game-tying home run and later hit what was the game-winning RBI double as the Rochester Red Wings won their rain-delayed home opener over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 5-4.
Lipscomb’s home run, which tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth, was the first for the squad this season – the first three games of the season, the Rochester Red Wings had two wins, but no homers. Baseball is a funny game, however, so the Red Wings went and hit two in as many at-bats, as Lipscomb and Yohandy Morales each sent balls over the left-field wall against Brendan Beck to start the bottom of the fifth and move the Red Wings ahead against the RailRiders, 3-2.
“The half-inning before, Yoyo [Morales] said we’d go back-to-back,” said Lipscomb post-game. “I guess we just put it into real-life.”
Lipscomb would later give the Red Wings the eventual game-winner. Tied at four with one out and Andrew Pinckney on second after he singled and then stole a bag, Lipscomb worked a 3-1 count against Yerry De Los Santos before lining a changeup to left to bring Pinckney in to make it 5-4.
The Marylander is hitting .308 in 13 at-bats on the young season with a .923 OPS. He credits his good start partly to how the spring went.
“I feel like this year especially, the preparation the coaches put us through is a plus,” he said. “So we go out there and feel all we have to do is just play.”
Despite the win and Lipscomb’s heroics, it certainly wasn’t the Opening Day most would have liked at ESL Ballpark. The rainout on Tuesday – the sixth time since 2004 that the opener was called off — and cold temperatures of Wednesday left the Rochester Red Wings’ second attempt to begin their home schedule far less attended – 2,549 – than it would have been in a more ideal world.
“The ones that came out, man, it was real cold,” said LeCroy. “So glad we could give them something to cheer about.”
Initially, the didn’t have much to cheer about, as Scranton took a lead on the very first batter of thw game. On the third pitch from Riley Cornelio, Jasson Dominguez got hold of a slider and golfed it over the right-field fence to make it 1-0 for the Yankees’ affiliate. Later in the inning, Scranton first baseman Oswaldo Cabrera found the gasp in right-center, hitting the ball between the Rochester outfielders before it came to rest at the foot of the wall. By the time the Red Wings got the ball back into the infield, Cabrera was at third for a triple. A sacrifice fly by the next batter, Max Schuemann, extended Scranton’s lead to 2-0.
Rochester got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning, as Christian Franklin led off with a single to right. He later stole second, and advanced to third on a throwing error – one of four errors on the game for Scranton – by catcher Payton Henry. He then came home on a sacrifice fly by Dylan Crews to halve the lead to 2-1.
Cornelio held off the RailRiders the rest of his 4.1 innings on the mound, ultimately finishing with seven strikeouts and two hits.
The Red Wings jumped ahead 3-2 in the fifth thanks to Lipscomb and Morales’ home runs, and later that inning Harry Ford brought in an insurance run on a double into the left-field corner for his first hit and RBI in the Nationals’ system to up the score to 4-2.
Scranton scrapped its way back, though, scoring a run in the sixth and eighth to tie it up at fourth. Lipscomb’s double put the Wings ahead for good before Orlando Ribalta put the RailRiders down 1-2-3 for the save in the ninth.
The Red Wings and RailRiders continue their series on Thursday at 6:05 p.m., with left-hander Andrew Alvarez (0-0, 11.25) set to face a Scranton pitcher still to be announced.
At 3-1 in the young season, LeCroy says the goal right now is simple: win, and try to win series.
“The Yankees, they always have a good AAA lineup, they’ve got good arms, and for us to come out with a win today, hopefully that sets the tone for the series,” he said.
If there were 2,500 in the ballpark, call me Babe Ruth. Looking at the stands maybe a couple hundred. what a darned shame to have an opening day played in weather like this. Opening Day used to be real special and this is no way to open a season.
Its too early to be playing baseball up north. guess that matters not to MLB. They don’t care about attendance, or scores or anything meaningful in the minor leagues anymore. AFter watching the Red Wings since 1960, I defy anyone to disagree.
I’m glad the Wings are 3-1. thats an improvement that merits some applause, after the lousy seasons we have endured under the wing of the Nationals. Maybe this year we can be competitive. One can only hope.