Wings Bats Fall Silent In Series Finale At Buffalo

The Rochester Red Wings combined to collect one hit in Sunday afternoon’s series finale, snapping a three-game winning streak with a 17-0 defeat to the Buffalo Bisons, their biggest shutout loss since at least 1988. The two teams split their first series of the season three games apiece and will next meet at Innovative Field for a six-game set from May 14-19.

After the Red Wings failed to score in the top of the first inning, the Bisons wasted no time in the bottom half, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. After back-to-back walks to 1B Spencer Horwitz and C Danny Jansen and a 3B Addison Barger hit-by-pitch, a one-out walk to RF Will Robertson opened the scoring. The next batter, DH Damiano Palmegiani plated two more runs on a line drive single to center field to give the Bisons a three-run advantage after one.

The Bisons extended their lead and began to pull away in the bottom of the second inning. CF Steward Berroa led off the inning with a walk, and back-to-back singles by Spencer Horwitz and Danny Jansen led to an RBI groundout off the bat of Addison Barger to push the lead to four. With runners on second and third, Will Robertson pushed two more runs across on a ground ball back to the pitcher to give Buffalo a 6-0 lead heading to the third.

The Bisons padded to their sizable lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as the walk parade continued. After a leadoff double off the bat of Addison Barger, 2B Orelvis Martinez was hit by a pitch and Will Robertson and Damiano Palmegiani walked to extend their lead to 7-0. The next batter, SS Rafael Lantigua blew the game wide open with a double into left field, clearing the bases and giving the Bisons a 10-0 lead. With one out, Steward Berroa pushed another run across for the Bisons with a 96.3 MPH line drive to right field, scoring Lantigua from second base to make it an 11-0 ballgame. The rally continued for the Bisons as Spencer Horwitz doubled to left field as Berroa scored from first base extending the lead again to 12-0.

After going scoreless in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Bisons tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth. After a one-out single to right field from Spencer Horwitz and a C Max McDowell groundout moved him over to second base, Addison Barger tallied his second RBI of the game with a ground ball through the left side of the infield, scoring Horwitz and giving the Bisons a 13-0 lead.

The Bisons extended their lead once more in the bottom of the seventh. Will Robertson led off the inning with a walk, and two batters later, Rafael Lantigua laced a double to center field that scored Robertson from first and gave the Bisons a 14-0 lead.

The Bisons scored three runs in an inning for the third time in the game against the Red Wings in the bottom of the eighth inning. After a leadoff walk to 1B Luis De Los Santos and a one-out single off the bat of SS Leo Jimenez, Orelvis Martinez smashed a 425ft, 109.2 MPH three-run home run to center field to give the Bisons a 17-0 lead. It was Martinez’s first home run of the season. The Red Wings were held off the bases in the ninth, falling in the series finale. This marked their first game without a run since the second half of a doubleheader on April 8, 2023, at Syracuse (150 games).

RHP Thaddeus Ward made his third start of the season for Rochester on Sunday, tossing 1.2 innings and allowing five earned on four hits while striking out two and walking four. Rochester would hand the ball over to LHP Tim Cate in the bottom of the second inning to get Palmegiani for the final out. RHP T.J. Zeuch would get the nod for the third, making his Red Wing debut with 1.0 innings of work, allowing four earned runs on two hits while walking three. Zeuch would give the ball to RHP Robert Gsellman, who inherited a bases-loaded situation with no outs. The California native could not get out of the inning unscathed, going 1.0 inning pitched and allowing two earned on three hits while recording two strikeouts. LHP Joe La Sorsa and RHP Stephen Nogosek covered the final 3.0 innings and combined to allow five earned on five hits.

Sunday’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to 2B Darren Baker. The Nationals 2021 10th-round pick accounted for the only hit of the game for the Wings offense, finishing the day 1-for-3 with a single and a walk. Baker finished the series with a .353 batting average (6-for-17) across five games, with five RBI, six walks, and three stolen bases.

Rochester takes Monday off to travel back home, where they will take on the Toledo Mud Hens in a six-game series beginning Tuesday. RHP Joan Adon (0-1, 7.71) takes the ball for the Wings in the opener. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.

Find the box score attached here.