The Rochester Red Wings will return to Rochester on Tuesday to host the Buffalo Bisons with a winning record and a two-game winning streak after a series win in Lehigh Valley.
The Wings, 8-7, recovered from losses on Thursday and Friday to take both games over the weekend over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 5-0 on Saturday and then 6-4 on Sunday.
The Saturday win, the first shutout victory for Rochester this season, was paced by five shutout innings by Andry Lara, who allowed two hits and a walk while striking out five for his first win of the season. A bullpen relay of Julian Fernandez, Jackson Rutledge, and Eddy Yean allowed just one more run the rest of the way, while a solo home run from Andres Chaparro, a pair of RBI from Abimelec Ortiz, and an RBI double from Dylan Crews provided most of the offense.
Sunday saw the Red Wings take an early 6-0 lead thanks to a Yohandy Morales RBI single in the second and then five runs in the third, including a two-run double by Chaparro. The IronPigs staged a comeback over the following innings, as Paul McIntosh hit a solo shot against starter Riley Cornelio in the third to make it 6-1 and later the Phillies prospects added three more – all against reliever Andre Granillo – in the seventh. Fernandez came in and escapes without any further damage, and then Orlando Ribalta and Jack Sinclair had a scoreless eighth and ninth to give the Red Wings a win.
Although Rochester now enters their series with Toronto’s Buffalo affiliate on a winning streak, they will do so without two of their best relievers: Rutledge and Ribalta were called up by Washington on Monday to fill spots opened up after a few injuries hit the big league roster. Rutledge, a 27-year-old righty, had a 5.40 ERA in six games and five innings pitched on the young season for Rochester, but his heightened ERA was largely the result of a small sample size: he’d thrown scoreless innings in four of his six appearances so far. Ribalta, meanwhile, had a 3.38 ERA over six games and 5.1 innings, averaging a 0.75 WHIP (walks/hits innings pitched) while recording a win and a save.
As of Monday night, no official moves have been announced to replace Ribalta and Rutledge on the Red Wings, who will be facing a Buffalo club that enters the series with a 7-8 record. Rochester is three games back of the league-leading Memphis RedBirds for the best record in the International League first half, while Buffalo is four games behind. Buffalo features eight players on MLB.com Pipeline’s rankings for the Toronto organization, including four in the top 10: lefty-hander pitcher Ricky Tiedemann (no. 5), right-hander Jake Bloss (no. 8), outfielder RJ Schreck (no. 9), and outfielder Yohendrick Pinango (no. 10).
The series starts on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m., with Rochester expected to send out lefty starter Andrew Alvarez (2-0, 4.50 ERA) against a starter still to be announced.
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