BY DAN GLICKMAN
The Rochester Red Wings broke a four-game losing streak and opened their series at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs with a 10-8 victory on Tuesday, powered by a five-run fifth that included a three-run home run from first baseman Abimelec Ortiz and a 4-for-5 night from right fielder Robert Hassell III that included a double and an RBI.
Rochester jumped out to the lead first with a five-run top of the third, as Christian Franklin drove in two runs with a groundball single before later coming home on Ortiz’s 380-foot blast to right-center. The Wings added three more runs over the following two innings to take an 8-1 lead.
The IronPigs staged a comeback in the final innings against the Red Wings bullpen, scoring four in the seventh and three in the ninth, but two insurance runs – including an RBI single from Hassell in the eighth – helped the Red Wings hold on.
Harry Ford, Dylan Crews, and Phillip Glasser also drove in runs for the Red Wings.
Right-hander Riley Cornelio earned the win, his first of the season, by going five innings of three-hit ball, striking out six and walking two while allowing an earned run. Eddy Yean earned his first save of the season with a three-out relief appearance in the ninth after the IronPigs scored three runs off Erik Tolman.
The Red Wings aim for a second straight win on Wednesday when they play the Phillies’ top affiliate again at 6:35 p.m. Left-hander Andrew Alvarez, who is coming off being named the International League Pitcher of the Week, will take on rehabbing three-time major league All-Star Zack Wheeler.
Wings fans remember all too well the abysmal pitching staff of the dead last 2025 team. this year’s pitching staff doesn’t look much better at all. They have been slaughtered twice already this season and last night they nearly blew an 8-1 lead, giving up 8 runs in a narrow 10-8 win.
Nationals pitching, organizationally, has not improved. Might be a long summer if things don’t improve significantly.
Nice that they got the win, but they can’t be expected to score 10 runs every night in order to win many games.