Red Wings, RailRiders Split Wins in Sunday Doubleheader

After their Saturday afternoon contest was postponed due to inclement weather, the Rochester Red Wings (13-14) and Scranton/WB RailRiders (14-12) shared the spoils with a win apiece in their Sunday doubleheader. Scranton/WB ran away with a 6-1 victory in game one, holding the Red Wings to just six hits from three different players. CF Christian Franklin, RF Robert Hassell III, and 2B Phillip Glasser each picked up a pair of hits in the loss.

Rochester got things started quickly offensively in game two, highlighted by a four-run third en route to a 9-4 victory. CF Robert Hassell III and LF Andrew Pinckney each drove in three runs in the contest, and 1B Abimelec Ortiz picked up a pair of knocks including a double. On the mound, LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara took the ball for the Red Wings, and turned in 3.2 scoreless innings on three hits.

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Game 1:

Rochester was able to strike first in game one of two on Sunday afternoon. Robert Hassell III led off the top of the second with a double hit the opposite way out of the reach of RailRiders LF Jasson Dominguez. A walk from Andrew Pinckney and a strikeout brought Phillip Glasser to the plate, who sliced a deep fly ball into left that brought in Hassell III for a one-out RBI double. The Red Wings were unable to inflict further damage with runners in scoring position, and ended the inning with a 1-0 lead.

The lead for Rochester would be short lived, as Scranton/WB responded in the bottom of the second. RF Spencer Jones led off the inning with a walk after a seven-pitch battle, and a passed ball moved him to second. That wouldn’t make a difference, because after a strikeout DH Paul Dejong would hit his team-leading sixth home run of 2026 and fourth against Rochester to put the RailRiders back on top, 2-1.

After an efficient six-pitch inning for Scranton/WB that saw Rochester retired in order, the RailRiders bats got back to work in the bottom of the third. 2B Jonathan Ornelas reached base by dropping down a perfect bunt down the third base line, and was able to advance to second on a throwing error. Rehabbing SS Anthony Volpe then came up and smoked a single up the middle that scored Ornelas to extend their lead 3-1. The Red Wings were able to limit the damage to just the one run after a 6-4-3 double play and soft groundout to short ended the inning.

Game one continued to be dominated by the RailRiders. A leadoff double from C Payton Henry in the bottom of the fifth, followed by a groundout brought Anthony Volpe back to the plate. The New York Yankee hit his second RBI single of the game to give Scranton/WB a 4-1 lead. Jasson Dominguez then came up to bat and poked a single into left field which put runners on the corners and one out. Attempting to play some small ball, CF Max Schuemann laid down a bunt to the right side that required Phillip Glasser to charge in from second and would’ve brought in a run. However, Dominguez was advancing to second and interfered with Glasser in the process, ruling him out, returning Volpe back to third, and leaving Schuemann safe at first. Schuemann would quickly steal second putting runners on second and third with two outs for Spencer Jones. The lefty pulled a grounder into right that easily scored Volpe and drew a throw from Hassell III, but his throw would go up the line allowing Schuemann to score as well. A popout would eventually end the inning, but Scranton/WB was able to blow the game open to a 6-1 lead.

The rest of the contest was quiet, and Rochester was unable to get anything going in the top of the seventh giving the RailRiders the win in game one with a 6-1 final score.

LHP Andrew Alvarez made his first start back with Rochester in game one after being called up to Washington for a one game stint. The 26-year-old southpaw ran into trouble in his 4.1 innings of work, allowing five runs (4 earned), seven hits, two walks, and striking out two. LHP Zach Penrod entered the game for Alvarez in the fifth for his eighth appearance with Rochester this season. The former Independent League prospect pitched 1.2 innings of relief, surrendering an earned run while allowing three hits and a pair of walks.

The Rochester Red Wings Player of the Game for game one of the doubleheader is 2B Phillip Glasser. The former Nationals 10th round pick in 2023 logged a two-hit game, going 2-for-3 and cashed in the only Red Wing run with an RBI double in the second. Glasser is now on a five-game hitting streak, which is the longest active streak by a Red Wing. He has tallied an RBI in four of those five games.

Find the box score for game one attached HERE.

Game 2:

The Red Wings came out in game two looking for a spark on offense, and immediately got it from the top of their order. DH Christian Franklin led off the game with a first pitch frozen rope into right-center field for a double. A deep fly out, strikeout, and walk to Abimelec Ortiz brought Tennessee native Robert Hassell III to the plate with two outs. The left-hander smoked a gapper to right-center which brought Franklin in from second for the first run of the game. A flyout stranded runners on second and third to end the inning, but Rochester would possess a 1-0 lead.

The offense kept rolling for Rochester in the top of the second, as SS Trey Lipscomb drew a walk and promptly stole second. A productive groundout from Phillip Glasser advanced Lipscomb to third, which brought C Tres Barrera to the plate. The former Texas Longhorn hit a hard ground ball to third base and was robbed of a hit by an incredible diving stop from Jonathan Ornelas, but a good jump from Lipscomb at third brought in the run to make it 2-0 in favor of the Red Wings.

Another quiet inning from Scranton/WB led to another loud inning from Rochester in the top of the third. The hit parade started with 3B Yohandy Morales and Abimelec Ortiz, who each dropped a single into center field to put runners on the corners. Robert Hassell III tallied his second hit of the game with an RBI single into right that scored Morales and put Ortiz on second. Andrew Pinckney then picked up Rochester’s fourth consecutive hit on a ground ball that hugged the foul line in left all the way to the wall, giving Pinckney an RBI double that put runners on second and third with still no outs, and the Red Wings a 4-0 lead. After a groundout, 2B Phillip Glasser won a seven-pitch battle and smacked a bloop single into left field that brought in Hassell III and held Pinckney at third. Hoping to bring in another run, Tres Barrera pushed a bunt towards first base that couldn’t be fielded cleanly, allowing Barrera to reach safely and score Pinckney. A tailor-made 6-4-3 double play got the RailRiders out of the long inning with a score of 6-0.

The Red Wings offense continued their dominant game two performance in the fourth inning. Two quick outs started the inning, but a double that just stayed fair down the line in left from Abimelec Ortiz set the stage for Robert Hassell III. The former Little League World Series participant laced a single into center field to score Ortiz for his third hit for his third RBI of the game, making it a 7-0 ballgame.

It took until the bottom of the fifth for the RailRiders to be able to put anything together offensively. 1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. started the inning with a line drive single into left field, and a walk to C Alí Sanchez immediately followed. A strikeout brought CF Duke Ellis to the plate, who grounded into a fielder’s choice that resulted in an out at second, putting runners on the corners and two out. Ellis swiped second for his eighth steal of the season, and LF Jasson Domínguez roped a single to left field that plated both runners. Scranton/WB continued to threaten by loading the bases with a walk and hit by pitch, but a groundout to Phillip Glasser at second base prevented a crooked inning and sent the game to the sixth, 7-2.

In the bottom half of the sixth inning, Scranton/WB kept their comeback hopes alive. Paul DeJong led off the frame with a walk, and a sharp lineout to right field made it one out with a runner on first. The next batter hit a groundball to third for a potential two-ball, but the throw was too low to squeeze at second and everyone was safe. Another lineout brought Duke Ellis up with two outs and runners on first and second, who lasered a line drive to the wall in right and used his blazing speed to make it to third safely for a two-RBI triple. Rochester managed to strand the runner on third thanks to a routine fly out, but the lead was narrowed to 7-4.

The Red Wings would respond immediately with a pair of runs of their own in the top of the seventh. Abimelec Ortiz got on base for the fourth time of the game with a leadoff walk, and two batters later Andrew Pinckney crushed a homer the opposite way into right field to extend the lead back to five.

In the final half of the seventh, the RailRiders couldn’t string anything together and were retired in order on five pitches to secure the 9-4 win for Rochester.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara got the start in game two for the Red Wings and shut down Scranton/WB. The southpaw from Fujisawa, Japan allowed just three hits and a walk, and added on three strikeouts over his 3.2 innings of shutout work. RHP Seth Shuman relieved Ogasawara midway through the fourth for his ninth appearance of the season, and labored through an inning of work, allowing two earned on two hits and a walk. RHP Jack Sinclair came in to replace Shuman in the fifth and went 0.2 innings allowing two earned runs on two walks. RHP Orlando Ribalata was called up for the final two outs of the sixth, where he walked a pair but didn’t allow an earned run. Closing out the game for Rochester, RHP Eddy Yean needed just five pitches and retired Scranton/WB’s two, three, and four hitters in order.

The Rochester Red Wings Player of the Game for game two is LF Andrew Pinckney. The University of Alabama product logged his third multi-hit game of the series, going 2-for-4 with a homer, double, three RBI, and a pair of runs scored. He now joins three other Red Wings for a share of the team lead in homers this season with three.

Rochester will get the day off tomorrow and travel back home to the Flower City where they will square off against Worcester for the first time this season. RHP Chandler Champlain will get the nod in the series opener on Tuesday, against WooSox southpaw Jake Bennett. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

Find the box score for game two attached HERE.

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