BY JONATHAN SKUZA
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Behind a strong performances at the plate and on the mound, the Rochester Red Wings (14-14) soared to a 10-1 victory over the Worcester Red Sox (15-12) Tuesday evening.
”I thought we did a lot of really good things,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. “We pitched well and got some big hits. In the fourth and fifth, I thought we did a good job of distancing ourselves from them.”
Rochester received a solid start from Chandler Champlain who tossed five innings on the mound. The righty struggled in the first inning when he surrendered his lone run on two walks and a hit. After that, Champlain only gave up two more hits and struck out four during the rest of his stint.
”It was a grind,” Champlain said. “I didn’t quite have my best stuff, but I was able to go out there and compete. I trusted my defense and got on the same page with Harry [Ford].”
The bullpen continued with what Champlain started and kept the Worcester bats quiet by keeping them off the scoreboard by striking out four and giving up only two hits.
”We have a phenomenal bullpen,” Champlain said. “I trust those guys. They’re all hard working and can compete their butts off every time they go out there.”
On the offensive side, Rochester exploded for 10 runs on 12 hits as everyone in the Red Wings lineup reached base during the contest.
”It’s our ability to be able to drive the baseball,” LeCroy said about the offense. “We have not hit a lot of doubles and home runs. Tonight we drove the baseball to all parts of the field.”
After Rochester was set down in order in the first inning, Yohandy Morales tied the ball game on a 0-1 pitch that he hit 384 feet over the Worcester bullpen in the second.
“I was trying to do whatever I can to get on base, to get things going,” Morales said.
Phillip Glasser would give Rochester a lead they never gave back when he drove in Abimelec Ortiz on a RBI single later in the frame.
Andrew Pinckney a few innings later would double the Red Wings run total with a two-RBI double. Trey Lipscomb would drive him in with a base hit.
Lipscomb would come around to score on a play where Harry Ford was caught stealing second to end the inning, but Lipscomb scored before Ford was tagged out.
The following inning saw the Red Wings score three runs on a very interesting play. With the bases loaded and no outs, Ortiz hit what appeared to be a grand slam to give Rochester a 10-1 lead in the fifth. However, upon further review, Ortiz passed Andres Chaparro on the base paths leading him to be called out and the play being scored a single with three RBI.
”I was on third, so I had no idea what was going on,” Dylan Crews said about the play. “It’s a tough call. This game will humble you in a lot of ways and it feels like you see something new every day.”
“I was on second base and had no idea what happened until I got back to the dugout and they said he might’ve crossed,” Morales said. “I haven’t seen the tape, but it’s a grand slam in my books.”
”I was really confused,” Champlain said. “I didn’t understand what that would like on the box score. I don’t think any of us have ever seen that before.”
Dylan Crews would add on a RBI triple to tie Rochester’s season high run total of 10 in the sixth as Rochester coasted the back third of the contest to the victory.
The Rochester Red Wings and Worcester Red Sox will continue their series on Wednesday with first pitch slated for 6:05 p.m. as righty Luis Perales (0-3, 4.91) will take the mound for Rochester while southpaw Alec Gamboa (0-1, 8.59) will toe the slab for Worcester.
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