
Coming into their Friday night matchup against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (5-5, 40-45) with a three-game skid, the Rochester Red Wings (5-5, 50-33) played excellent defense and strung together 16 hits in a high-scoring 11-5 win. RF Joey Wiemer led the way on both sides of the ball, launching his first homer as a Red Wing to go along with three hits and five RBI, while making an excellent catch over the wall to rob a would-be Lehigh Valley home run. All nine hitters in the Red Wings lineup reached base safely, including five multi-hit performances.
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In the bottom of the second inning with two outs, the Red Wings' offense came to life as SS Trey Lipscomb singled and later stole second base. Joey Wiemer then singled to score Lipscomb, giving Rochester an early 1-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley answered right away as SS Dylan Moore legged out a triple after some confusion by the Wings' defense. Moore later scored on a sacrifice fly by 1B Felix Reyes, tying the game at 1-1.
After a groundout opened the bottom of the fifth inning, DH Robert Hassell III, sporting a new hairdo, singled to center field. He later advanced to second on a balk, and after a flyout scored on a single by LF Christian Franklin to give the Wings a 2-1 lead. Franklin advanced to second on a single by 1B Yohandy Morales, and both runners scored on a double by 3B Brady House to extend the Wings' lead to 4-1. House later advanced to third on a wild pitch. C Harry Ford then drew a walk on a pitch clock violation, putting runners on the corners. CF Andrew Pinckney kept the rally going with an infield single that scored House and moved Ford to second to give Rochester a 5-1 lead. Trey Lipscomb drew a walk to load the bases as the Wings batted around. Joey Wiemer collected his second single of the game, driving in Harry Ford and Andrew Pinckney to extend the Wings' lead to 7-1 while moving Lipscomb to second. The rally ended on an ensuing groundout.
In the top of the sixth inning, IronPigs LF Otto Kemp singled to begin a rally. After a popout, Kemp advanced to second when CF Dylan Carlson won a challenge and drew a walk. 3B Robert Moore then homered to cut the deficit to three, with the Wings leading 7-4.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, 2B Phillip Glasser responded immediately with a double down the right-field line. He advanced to third on a groundout, and Yohandy Morales drove him in with a double of his own to right-center field, extending the Wings' lead to 8-4. Harry Ford then drew another walk to put runners on first and second, but a popout in foul territory ended the rally.
Trey Lipscomb opened the bottom of the seventh inning with his second single of the night. Joey Wiemer followed by crushing his first home run as a Red Wing, a 407-foot blast with an exit velocity of 101.7 mph, to extend Rochester's lead to 10-4.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Wings added some insurance. Yohandy Morales collected his third hit of the night with a single, and Brady House followed with his third hit of the game, moving Morales to second. Andrew Pinckney then delivered another single to score Morales and extend Rochester's lead to 11-4.
Despite a one-out double from Robert Moore and a single by Felix Reyes that moved Moore to third, Reyes advanced to second on a passed ball. DH Tommy Pham then grounded out to bring home Moore, cutting the deficit to 11-5 in favor of the Wings. However, the six-run deficit proved too much for Lehigh Valley to overcome.
LHP Jackson Kent got the start for Rochester and pitched 5.0 innings, allowing five hits, one run, and two walks while recording four strikeouts. RHP Jack Sinclair relieved Kent and pitched 0.2 innings, allowing two hits, three runs, and one walk while recording one strikeout. RHP Eddy Yean followed and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, recording two strikeouts. LHP Zach Penrod was next and pitched 1.0 clean inning of his own, allowing one hit and one walk while picking off a runner. RHP Cole Henry relieved Penrod in his 15th appearance for the Red Wings, pitching 1.0 inning while allowing two hits and one run.
The Rochester Red Wings Player of the Game is RF Joey Wiemer. The former Cincinnati Bearcat turned in his best offensive performance yet for Rochester, going 3-for-4 with two hits, including his first home run as a Red Wing, a pair of singles, and his first five-RBI performance since June 7, 2023 with Milwaukee. His blast also marked Rochester's 100th home run of the season.
Looking forward to a Saturday Independence Day celebration that also marks game five of the Red Wings six-game set against Lehigh Valley, Rochester will look to string together back-to-back victories. RHP Luis Perales will get the ball for the Red Wings against IronPigs right-hander Andrew Painter. The first pitch will be at 6:45 p.m.
Find the box score attached HERE.
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