BY DAN GLICKMAN
Second baseman Trey Lipscomb drove in two of the Rochester Red Wings’ three runs, including a solo home run in the fourth, to spearhead a 3-1 win over the Charlotte Knights on Saturday.
The road win, which moves Rochester to 3-2 in the second half and 48-30 overall, ensures the Red Wings will have at least a 3-3 split in the six game series, and they could earn an outright series win if they triumph on Sunday.
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Down 1-0 after an RBI single by Michael Turner in the first, Riley Adams doubled on a liner to right with two outs ahead of Lipscomb, who found a 86.9 MPH cutter off Shane Murphy and sent it safely into left to score Adams and tie the game, 1-1.
After moving ahead in the third on a Brady House RBI single, the Wings had their third and final run in the fourth, when Lipscomb connected 382-foot solo home run (his 14th) to left-center against Murphy, extending the lead to 3-1.
Although the Knights were able to score first, they were unable to do so at all the rest of the game, despite getting the tying run to the plate in the eighth and getting the winning run to the plate in the ninth. Red Wings pitching held the Knights to 1-for-12 on the night with runners in scoring position.
Jackson Kent had the start and went 5.2 innings of four-hit ball, allowing an earned run while striking out six and walking two as he earned the win to move to 4-2 in AAA this season. He was followed by Paxton Schultz, who went 1.1 hitless innings. Luke Young pitched a scoreless eighth before getting pulled after walking to in the ninth for Cole Henry, who retired the next three batters for the save, his second at the AAA level this season.
On offense, shortstop Seaver King went 1-for-2 and scored a run but reached base four of the five times he came to the plate, drawing two walks and getting hit by a pitch in addition to his single. Adams joined Lipscomb with two hits and scored a run.
Rochester concludes its series with Charlotte on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Luis Perales is expected to start for the Red Wings, while Charlotte has yet to name a pitcher.
Wings finished the series with 3 straight wins after blowing a sure victory. Sad thing is that they have won 7 of their last 8 series but the only one they DIDN’T win (they tied 3-3) was the one they had to win to secure the 1st half pennant. Thanks to the MLB’s stupid playoff rules for AAA, finishing 1st in their division was meaningless.
A 4-2 start to the 2nd half is OK. I hope the team remains competitive the rest of the way