Red Wings Soar Past IronPigs, Take 2-0 Series Lead

The Rochester Red Wings used an eight-run third inning to pull away and beat Lehigh Valley Wednesday night, 10-5. Rochester’s offense combined for 13 hits, including homers from 1B Juan Yepez, DH Carter Kieboom, and LF James Wood. Red Wings starting pitcher RHP Joan Adon delivered 6.0 strong innings en route to his second win of the season and 30th of his MiLB career.

After two scoreless frames, Carter Kieboom kicked off the Wings’ offense in the top of the third with an infield single back to the pitcher. SS Jack Dunn moved Kieboom up to second with a sacrifice bunt, and 2B Darren Baker’s line drive single to center would move him up to third. With runners on the corners, C Drew Millas scored Kieboom with a sacrifice fly to right, giving Rochester a 1-0 lead. Baker moved up to second as well, and James Wood brought him around to score by smoking a 2-1 fastball through the infield for a single. RF Travis Blankenhorn followed up with a double down the right field line, putting runners on the second and third. 3B Trey Lipscomb made it three hits in a row for the Red Wings after roping a single into the left-field gap. Wood and Blankenhorn both scampered home on the play, making it 4-0 Rochester.

Juan Yepez worked a walk to keep the two-out rally going, and CF Alex Call immediately added on by crushing a first-pitch double into the corner in left. Lipscomb came around to score from second, and Yepez stopped at third, extending the lead to five. In his second at-bat in the inning, Carter Kieboom left the yard for the first time this season, scooping a three-run homer 359 feet over the high wall in right field to give the Wings an 8-0 lead. Eight runs in the third ties a season-high in a single inning this season (8 runs in the 6th inning on 5/3).

Juan Yepez led off the top of the second inning and became the second Red Wing to homer in the contest with a solo shot to left-center field, extending the Rochester lead to nine. This was his fifth homer of the season and first since April 21 against Toledo.

3B Weston Wilson answered Yepez’s homer with one of his own to lead off the IronPigs’ half of the fifth, a solo shot that went 411 feet over the center field wall to get Lehigh Valley on the board, 9-1. Rochester's pitching was able to escape the remainder of the inning unscathed, sending the game to the sixth with an eight-run lead.

Lehigh Valley cut into the Red Wing lead again in the sixth with another solo shot, this time off the bat of SS Scott Kingery. The blast traveled 376 feet to right field, making the score 9-2. The next batter, DH David Dahl, was robbed of extra bases when Alex Call made a spectacular leaping grab up against the right-center field wall.

James Wood added to the Red Wings’ lead in the eighth with a towering fly ball that found its way over the left field fence for his second home run in as many days. The Nationals No. 1 Prospect’s ninth home run of the season made it 10-2 for Rochester. All nine of his homers have come on the road, and four have come against left-handed pitching.

1B Nick Podkul began a two-out rally for the IronPigs in the bottom of the eighth with a double into the right-center field gap, and Scott Kingery followed with a sharp single into left. David Dahl made it three hits in a row, driving a fastball 424 feet into the Pennsylvania night sky for a home run. The lefty’s first three-run homer of the season made it 10-5 Rochester heading to the ninth.

After holding Rochester scoreless in the top of the ninth, Lehigh Valley came to bat for the final time down five runs. C Rafael Marchan lined a single into right to lead off the IronPigs half of the ninth, but nothing came of it as Wings pitching induced a double play and a fly out to preserve a 10-5 win. The victory puts the Red Wings in front two games to none in the series.

Red Wings right-hander Joan Adon made his eighth start with Rochester Wednesday night and turned in 6.0 innings of work for the Wings’ fourth quality start of the season. The Dominican Republic native allowed two earned on just two hits while striking out two and walking one. RHP Nash Walters took over in the seventh and allowed three earned on three hits across 1.2 innings, adding three strikeouts and a walk. RHP Luis Reyes entered with two outs in the eighth and recorded the final four outs, only giving up one hit.

Wednesday night’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game once again goes to LF James Wood. The former San Diego Padres farmhand came up a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with his ninth homer of the season, a double, two RBI, and a walk. He extended his on-base streak to 28 games in the win, tied for the second-longest active streak in Minor League baseball. Since the streak began on April 20 against Toledo, Wood is hitting .379 (39-for-103) with seven homers, seven doubles, 25 RBI, and is reaching base at a .480 clip.

Rochester looks to push their series lead against the IronPigs to three games Thursday night. RHP Spenser Watkins toes the rubber for the Red Wings against Lehigh Valley RHP Ricardo Pinto. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

Find the box score attached here.