Rochester Completes Series Sweep With 3-0 Win

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - A pitching-dominated series followed the same script in the finale Sunday afternoon, as the Rochester Red Wings blanked the Pawtucket Red Sox, 3-0, at Frontier Field.
The Red Wings (21-16) scored a run in each of the fourth, fifth and eighth innings and limited the PawSox (17-22) to six hits in stamping the three-game sweep. Pawtucket, which has now lost 10 of its last 12 games during a travel-filled month of May, pitched effectively in the series but dropped the trio of games by 2-0, 2-1 and 3-0 scores, tallying just 13 hits total. The PawSox have now been shut out eight times this season. In the 2017 season, Pawtucket wasn't shut out for the eighth time until August 26th in its 133rd game of the season.
Pawtucket starter Marcus Walden (L, 0-2) made his fourth Triple-A outing of the season and allowed one run over 3.1 innings with one strikeout, no walks, a hit batter and five hits. After 1.2 innings of one-run ball from right-handed reliever Kyle Martin, southpaw Williams Jerez impressed by striking out five in two scoreless stanzas. Jerez issued a walk in the sixth but struck out the side, then worked around a pair of seventh-inning singles with two more punchouts.
PawSox second baseman Iván De Jesús Jr. went 3-for-4 with a ninth-inning double to provide a spark out of the No. 6 spot in the Pawtucket order.
Rochester starter Aaron Slegers (W, 5-1) dealt seven shutout innings with five strikeouts and didn't issue a free pass, as he finished his economical outing in 96 pitches. Red Wings righty reliever Tyler Duffey racked up four strikeouts over the final two innings to finalize the victory.
The PawSox threatened in both the second and third innings, placing a pair of baserunners aboard in both frames, only to fly out to the warning track in left field to end the two innings.
Rochester broke the scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double from left fielder Nick Buss that pushed the Red Wings in front, 1-0, and ended Walden's afternoon.
The Red Wings doubled their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth when designated hitter Kennys Vargas ripped an RBI single to right.
Buss greeted Pawtucket reliever Fernando Rodriguez Jr. in the bottom of the eighth inning by tugging a solo homer to the right-field bullpen.
Following the weekend series in Rochester, the PawSox now return home to McCoy Stadium to open up a four-game series with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Monday at 6:15 p.m. Pawtucket left-hander Jalen Beeks (2-2, 1.93) is scheduled to start opposite RailRiders righty Erik Swanson. The game will be broadcast live on NESN, and radio coverage on WHJJ (920 AM and 104.7 FM) and throughout the PawSox Radio Network begins with the pre-game show at 5:45 p.m.
The nine-game, eight-day homestand runs through the following Monday (May 28). Good seats are available, and fans can visit the McCoy Stadium box office, which is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m., and during all home games. Fans can also call (401) 724-7300 or log on to PawSox.com for tickets.