Team effort guides Red Wings

BY JONATHAN SKUZA

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings (15-13, 60-41) used a complete team effort as they squeaked by the Syracuse Mets (12-15, 50-52) 6-5 Tuesday evening.

”We played well on Sunday and then carried it over into tonight,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. “We did a good job after we got the lead and we held it. We played well Sunday and it carried over into tonight.”

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After a rough first inning that saw the Mets take a 1-0 lead and Rochester going down in order, the Red Wings found their bats in the second inning. Four straight one out base hits led to Cayden Wallace tying the ballgame. Maxwell Romero Jr. gave Rochester the lead after a slow roller allowed him to reach base on a fielder’s choice RBI. Joey Wiemer would score on a wild pitch where the Syracuse catcher lost sight of the ball. Christian Franklin made it 5-1 with a two-RBI double to cap off a five run second inning.

”We stayed on the ball and used the whole field,” LeCroy said. “A lot of good things happened and we were able to get our walks we preached about in our advanced meeting today. When you are missing Seaver King and Yohandy Morales and you are able to win games without them, it says a lot about the guys in the lineup.”

”It felt good,” Franklin said about his performance. I didn’t have a great series last week against Buffalo, so I was happy to just be able to contribute in an RBI situation and help the team.”

The Mets got two-runs back when Nick Morabito launched a two-run home run in the third. Morabito was Syracuse’s best player Tuesday evening as he finished 2-for-4 with the two-run long ball with three runs scored.

Rochester re-loaded the bases in the sixth inning that resulted in an insurance run for Rochester. Wallace drew a walk to score Trey Lipscomb. The walked-in run turned out to be the difference maker in Tuesday’s contest.

”Anytime you can add on to make it a three run game, it’s nice,” LeCroy said. “That run ended up being for us and gave us a cushion.”

Ronny Mauricio brought the Mets within one with a two-run round tripper in the seventh. However, the Rochester bullpen was able to nail down the contest to help the Red Wings win back-to-back contests.

”I am happy with our bullpen at the end,” LeCroy said. “They were able to finish it up with a one run lead.”

Jackson Kent gave Rochester a solid start on the mound as the south paw three five and a third innings where he surrendered three runs on six hits, two walks while striking out four. Kent earned his seventh win of the year.

123455”He battled,” LeCroy said about Kent’s performance. “He didn’t have his best stuff tonight. They got to him a little bit early, but, then he made some nice adjustments.”

Rochester has started to play some strong baseball as they are 7-3 in their last 10 contests and are two games above .500. They look to be in the race for the second-half crown, much like they were in the first-half of the season.

The Rochester Red Wings and Syracuse Mets will continue their series on Wednesday at 11:05 a.m. as lefty Zach Penrod (1-3, 3.56) will take the mound for Rochester while righty Jack Wenninger (4-6, 3.59) will toe the slab for the Mets.