Red Wings Fall Short In High Scoring Affair Against Bisons

After a close 6-5 loss against the Buffalo Bisons Tuesday night, the Rochester Red Wings fell again in a back-and forth slugfest Wednesday, 12-11. LF James Wood and 1B Juan Yepez combined for eight total bases offensively including a 426-foot two-run homer off the bat of Yepez, while 2B Darren Baker and RF Travis Blankenhorn each knocked in a pair of RBI.

After a scoreless first inning, Rochester jumped on Buffalo pitching in the top of the second. Back-to-back, no-out singles from DH Jake Alu and 3B Carter Kieboom started off the inning. SS Erick Mejia then scorched a 96.9 MPH ground ball that forced a fielding error and allowed him to reach base safely while Alu crossed the plate, giving the Red Wings a 1-0 lead. The Red Wings would score again as back-to-back walks from C Brady Lindsly and Baker scored Kieboom from third, extending the Red Wings lead to 2-0. Wood kept the carousel going with his second hit in as many innings, a 115.3 MPH single to right field, extending the Red Wings lead to 3-0. The single by Wood was the hardest-hit ball in MiLB this season and the hardest by a Red Wing over the last two seasons. With two outs in the inning, Travis Blankenhorn lined a single to center field for the Red Wings’ fourth hit of the inning, plating two more runs and giving Rochester a 5-0 lead.

The Bisons would slash their deficit in the bottom half of the second as C Max McDowell roped a line drive double to center field, scoring RF Will Robertson from first base. 1B Spencer Horwitz then singled to right field and McDowell scrambled home to trim the deficit to 5-2.

After a scoreless third, Buffalo put a crooked number on the board in the fourth. With one out, Robertson opened the offense with a double to left field, followed by a McDowell hit-by-pitch and a CF Cam Eden single to load the bases. The next at-bat, Horwitz drew a six-pitch walk to bring in a run and inch one run closer, 5-3. The score would stay the same until the fourth pitch to rehabbing DH Danny Jansen, who launched a 405-foot grand slam to left-center field to give the Bisons a 7-5 lead. 3B Addison Barger later added to the Bisons’ lead with a double to center field after a two-out single by 2B Orelvis Martinez to make the score 8-5. After a walk to SS Rafael Lantigua, Robertson collected his second extra-base hit of the game, hitting a 396-foot three-run home run to center field for his fourth of the season, blowing the game open and giving the Bisons a six-run lead.

In the top of the fifth inning, after back-to-back walks to Alu and Kieboom, Erick Mejia laced his first double of the season to center field to cut into the Bisons’ lead, making it 11-6. The next batter, Lindsly pushed another run across on a ground ball back to the mound that allowed Kieboom to score and make it an 11-7 ballgame. Baker knocked in another run on an infield single to second base and moved into scoring position on a throwing error, cutting the lead to 11-8.

The Red Wings continued their climb in the top of the sixth inning. After a leadoff walk to Wood, Juan Yepez put the Red Wings within one run with a towering 426-foot two-run home run, his team-leading third of the season, to make the score 11-10. The homer was the Wings farthest of the season and the third-farthest home run hit in the International League on Wednesday.

In the bottom of the seventh, Max McDowell was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Spencer Horwitz laced a line drive double to left field, scoring McDowell and extending the Bisons’ lead to 12-10.

Rochester opened the top of the eighth with three of their first four batters reaching base; Wood with a lead-off walk, Yepez with a double to center field, and a four-pitch walk to Alu. With one out, a Kieboom sacrifice fly scored Wood from third base, putting the Red Wings down only one run at 12-11. After holding Buffalo scoreless in the eighth, Rochester was able to load the bases in the ninth but came up short, falling by one run for the second consecutive night.

RHP Robert Gsellman took the ball to start for Rochester, making his first MiLB start since 2022. The California native allowed two earned on four hits across 3.0 innings pitched before handing the ball to LHP Tim Cate in the top of the fourth. Cate went on to allow nine earned across 0.2 innings pitched, while walking a pair. RHP Adonis Medina replaced Cate to collect the final out of the fourth, and went on to pitch 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out three to keep the Bisons at bay. RHP Luis Reyes entered the game to notch the final out of the sixth and pitched 1.1 innings, striking out three and allowing one earned. RHP Jacob Barnes started and closed what would be Rochester’s last defensive inning with a scoreless bottom of the eighth, while striking out two and walking one.

Wednesday night’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to LF James Wood, who now owns the hardest-hit ball in MiLB this season with his 115.3 MPH RBI single in the top of the second. The RBI knock would be the fifth-hardest hit ball in MLB this season, trailing only Fernando Tatis (116.7), Giancarlo Stanton (116.7, 116.0), and Shohei Ohtani (115.8). Wood finished the night 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and runs scored, and now ranks third in the International League with a .526 on-base percentage.

Rochester and Buffalo are slated to meet for the third game of the series Thursday afternoon. RHP Jackson Rutledge is slated to go on the mound for the Wings, coming off 5.0 strong innings in his first start of the season. Toronto’s No. 1 prospect (MLB.com) LHP Ricky Tiedemann takes the ball for the Bisons, first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Find the box score attached here.