The Rochester Red Wings first postponement of the season on March 30th in Buffalo resulted in their fifth doubleheader of the season on Wednesday. Rochester fell in both games of the series, 6-3 in game one, and 3-2 in game two. 1B Franchy Cordero sent a missile over the right-center field fence in game one to account for two of their three runs, and 3B Brady House turned in the teams’ only multi-hit performance. Game two was a low-scoring affair, led off by 3.0 dominant innings on the mound from LHP Konnor Pilkington. 1B Juan Yepez accounted for the only extra-base hit from the Red Wings offense with his team-leading sixth double of the year.

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Game 1:

Rochester came to the plate in the fourth with the score still tied at 0-0. 3B Brady House led off the frame with a single, handing the baton to 1B Franchy Cordero. The left-handed slugger turned on a 2-1 slider and blasted it 114.9 MPH over the right-center field fence for a two-run home run, his third of the season, to give the Red Wings a 2-0 lead. This was the hardest-hit homer by a Rochester hitter since the beginning of 2023, and the hardest in the International League this season. RF Andrew Pinckney followed up the homer with an infield single to the shortstop that he beat out. A single from C Andrew Knizner moved Pinckney up 90 feet to third base for SS Jackson Cluff. The BYU product with one out would hit a deep enough fly ball to right field to score the speedy Pinckney from third, making it 3-0 Red Wings after three and a half innings of play.

Buffalo quickly fired back with two runs of their own in the bottom half. After two quick outs, C Ali Sánchez was hit by a pitch, and 3B Damiano Palmegiani doubled to put two runners in scoring position. A Rochester mound visit did not slow the Bisons down as SS Michael Turconi singled to center field, scoring both Sánchez and Palmegiani. That was all for the Bison in the fourth, making it a 3-2 game with Rochester still in the lead.

A silent fifth for Rochester led to more runs for the Bisons. Major League rehabbing CF Dalton Varsho would start the offense off with a line drive single to right field, bringing up 2B Davis Schneider. The Voorhees, New Jersey native doubled to the right-center field gap, scoring Varsho to tie the game at three apiece. After DH Will Robertson was hit by a pitch, Rochester made a pitching change as 1B Rainer Nunez came to the plate. Nunez laced a single to center field that allowed Schneider to score, giving Buffalo a 4-3 lead after five innings of play.

Buffalo looked to tack on insurance runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Damiano Palmegiani worked a walk to lead off the inning and was pinch-run for by PR Steward Berroa. Berroa would advance to second on a disengagement violation, putting a runner in scoring position for the Bisons. LF Jonatan Clase would rope a line drive into left field to move Berroa up to third and place runners on the corners. The very next at-bat, Clase swiped second to put two runners in scoring position. Daulton Varsho cashed in on this opportunity with a ground ball to second base, pushing across Berroa. After a Davis Schneider walk to put runners on the corners, RF Joey Loperfido doubled to right field, scoring Clase and moving Schneider to third. That would be all for Buffalo in the sixth as they took a commanding three-run lead.

Rochester came to the plate in search of three runs, but went down in order to seal the game one defeat, 6-3.

RHP Seth Shuman took the ball to start and made his Triple-A debut for Rochester in game one. The right-hander out of Georgia Southern University allowed four earned on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks across 4.1 innings of work. RHP Daison Acosta took over in the fifth and allowed one earned on a hit with one strikeout and a walk through 1.0 inning of his own. LHP Garvin Alston Came on and finished the job with 0.2 frames, allowing one earned on two hits while walking one.

Game one’s Player of the Game is 1B Franchy Cordero. The veteran drove in two of the Red Wings three runs on one swing, a 114.9 MPH blast that gave him a share of the team-lead in that category. He is now just 14 away from 100 career MiLB homers.

Find the box score for game one attached here.

Game 2:

The first inning of game two went by without a run scored by either side, sending the Red Wings to the plate in the second inning with a chance to take the lead. LF Andrew Pinckney singled to lead off the frame, and took second base with his second stolen base of the season. CF Robert Hassell III then roped a hard ground ball to third, and reached first when the ensuing throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. In the following at-bat with C Andrew Knizner at the plate, Pinckney stole third and trotted home when the throw sailed into left field. Hassell III also took third on the error, and came around to make the score 2-0 on a sacrifice fly from Knizner later in the at-bat.

3B Riley Tirotta and LF Davis Schneider worked back-to-back walks to lead things off for Buffalo in the fourth. After a strikeout, 1B Rainer Nunez roped a double down the right field line that scored Tirotta and moved Schneider to third. C Christian Bethancourt tied the game with an RBI groundout following a pitching change, sending the ballgame to the fifth knotted at 2-2.

Rochester went down quietly in the top of the fifth, and Buffalo went back to work offensively in the bottom half. CF Steward Berroa beat out an infield single to the right side to lead off the inning, and moved to second via a sacrifice bunt. SS Michael Stefanic came through with a go-ahead RBI single in the following at-bat to make the score 3-2.

Rochester came to the plate in the seventh looking for the tying run. 2B Darren Baker ripped a one-out single up the middle, but was stranded at first to seal the doubleheader sweep.

LHP Konnor Pilkington took the ball for his second start of the season, and recorded the first five outs of his scoreless 3.0 innings via strikeout. He allowed one hit and one walk and turned things over to RHP Carlos Romero in the fourth. The right-hander allowed two earned on one hit with a strikeout and a pair of walks before he was replaced by RHP Tyler Schoff due to injury. The Rome, New York native logged 1.2 innings and allowed one earned on two hits. RHP Clay Helvey turned in a clean sixth with a strikeout, retiring all three batters on eight pitches.

Starting pitcher Konnor Pilkington is game two’s Player of the Game. The left-hander became the first pitcher since DJ Herz on May 30, 2024, to notch a strikeout in each of the first five outs of a game. He has now recorded 13 strikeouts in each of his two starts this season in just 6.0 innings of work, without allowing a run.

The Red Wings look to bounce back and tie their series against the Bisons Thursday night. RHP Andry Lara will take the ball for Rochester against Buffalo southpaw Eric Lauer. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

Find the box score for game two attached here.

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