ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Several of the stars of the 2026 Rochester Red Wings weren’t in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s 11 a.m. game against the Syracuse Mets. Yohandy Morales – generally regarded as the team’s best all-around hitter this season – was absent. So was Seaver King, who has impressed greatly since his call-up from AA Harrisburg. The speedy Robert Hassell III spent pre-game signing autographs at the team’s sponsored booth.
“It was all part of the matrix, part of the plan,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy.
That plan, however, still had first baseman Abimelec Ortiz and third baseman Brady House playing. They made the Mets wish they hadn’t, though, with both of them going deep twice as the Red Wings won their 10th straight game, 8-4.
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Ortiz, in particular, came up clutch for the home team, hitting a game-tying homer in the first inning and later putting the Red Wings ahead for good with a two-run shot to center in the fifth, 6-4. The 24-year-old Puerto Rican has homered in four straight games and five of the last six, and has tallied nine total round-trippers and 27 RBI in the month of May.
“He’s had some big ones,” said LeCroy. “He’s locked in, his homers have been big homers – game-tying, go-ahead homers, for me if he keeps that bat going, he might not be here long.”
House, meanwhile, put the Red Wings ahead in the first with a solo shot to left, then later added an insurance run with a solo shot to right off a 97.8 MPH fastball from Alex Carrillo to start the seventh. He also singled to lead off the third.
The 22-year-old Georgia native has hit well since he was demoted from Washington on May 19, slashing .348/.375/.652 in five games while being stellar in the field. The right-handed hitter, who’d spent parts of two previous seasons with the Wings, had struggled with the big club this season, hitting .227, although with seven home runs. He’d particularly struggled against right-handed pitching, slashing .174/.220/.330 in 115 at-bats. Part of his success since his return to Rochester, he says, comes from not changing his approach.
“I think I’ve handled [my demotion] well,” he said post-game. “It’s all baseball at the end of the day, and no matter what team I’m on, the mindset of trying to win never changes.”
His manager, meanwhile, believes it’ll only be a matter of time before he’s back in the majors.
“He’s a special talent, he’s come down here to clean up some stuff, and then he’ll go right back,” said LeCroy.
The win marks first time the Red Wings have had a streak of 10 or more wins since July 16-25, 1992. No one on the current Red Wings roster was alive at the time, while LeCroy was 16 years old and Rochester hitting coach Brian Daubach was playing for the low-A Pittsfield Mets of the New York-Penn League. Wings pitching coach Sam Narron‘s cousin, Jerry Narron, was the Rochester manager at the time.
The scoring started early for both squads, as the crowd of 9,410 fans – including several large groups from local schools – saw early offensive prowess. Despite a matchup of Red Wings righty Riley Cornelio (who entered the game with a 5-1 record and a 3.99) and the New York Mets No. 13 prospect in Zach Thornton, neither starter could avoid the long-ball in the opening inning. Cornelio allowed a three-run shot to Andy Ibanez in the top of the first to give the Mets an early 3-0 lead, part of a boom-and-bust first inning for the righty that also saw him strike out three.
The Red Wings weren’t down for long, however. Left fielder Christian Franklin drew a walk to start the bottom half, and then Harry Ford doubled to left to bring him in all the way from first to cut the Syracuse lead to 3-1. It was then that Ortiz hit his first home run of the day and ninth of the season, a 104.7 MPH fly over the right field wall to make it 3-3. House was next, and after falling behind 0-2, he fouled off two pitches and then drew two balls before getting around on a 91.5 MPH fastball in that he sent at 110.5 MPH over the left field fence to give the Red Wings a 4-3 lead.
“Cornelio started the game and struggled out of the gate, they hit a big homer, but we answered with four (runs),” said LeCroy. “That was awesome, I think it gave Riley some life.”
Cornelio ultimately went four innings, striking out six and walking two in the no-decision. He allowed the game-tying RBI single from Kevin Parada in the fourth shortly before he was removed at the end of the inning after 78 pitches.
The Wings went ahead for good in the fifth when Ortiz hit his second two-run home run of the day to give the Wings a 6-4 lead, and then Riley Adams singled in Andrew Pinckney later in the inning to extend the lead to 7-4.
House concluded scoring in the seventh with his home run against Carrillo – the type of right-handed pitcher he’d struggled with in MLB.
It’s something he hopes continues.
“I’m for sure going to keep on working on my approach against righties,” he said.
And at 32-20, the Red Wings will keep on working towards something that hasn’t happened in Rochester since 2013: a playoff spot. At the end of the game on Wednesday, they held a one game lead over Nashville and Memphis for the top spot in the International League first-half.
The Red Wings continue their series with Syracuse on Thursday 6:45 p.m. Rochester expects to send out righty Chandler Champlain (4-0, 2.82) against Syracuse right-hander Xzavion Curry (0-0, 4.80).
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