Wood Homers Twice, Wings Soar Over Bisons

Coming off a high-scoring 12-11 loss to the Buffalo Bisons Wednesday night, the Rochester Red Wings got back into the win column with a 6-3 rain-shortened win in their Thursday matinée. CF James Wood turned in a career performance at the plate, pacing the offense with four of their 10 hits including a pair of home runs, a double, and four runs scored. RHP Stephen Nogosek made his Red Wings debut and turned in 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of RHP Jackson Rutledge, who left the game in the third inning due to injury.

After both teams left two on base to end a scoreless first inning, Rochester’s SS Jack Dunn launched a towering solo home run to left field to give the Wings a 1-0 lead. Dunn’s homer was just the sixth Buffalo’s LHP Ricky Tiedemann has allowed in his professional career (36 starts).

The Bisons answered in the bottom of the second, taking a 2-1 lead. With the bases loaded after three walks, Buffalo’s C Danny Jansen smacked a double to the left field fence to drive in two, a near grand slam that would have been his second in two games.

In the top of the third, James Wood took back one run with a clobbering solo homer to right field, tying the game 2-2. This was Wood’s first home run of his Triple-A career, a 403-foot shot that soared over the right field fence at 106.8 MPH.

The Red Wings were able to snap the tie in the top of the fifth and take the lead. James Wood put himself into scoring position with his second hit of the game and promptly stole his second base of the season. Three batters later, LF Jake Alu roped a two-out single between first and second, bringing Wood around to score and push Rochester ahead 3-2.

The Wings added to their newfound lead in the top of the sixth, tacking on two more runs. RF Alex Call opened the offense with a ground ball single to center field, and James Wood followed with a 111.9 MPH line drive double to left-center field, advancing Call to third base. DH Juan Yepez then brought Wood and Call around to score on a ground ball single to center field, making the score 5-2 in favor of the Red Wings.

Buffalo was able to cut the lead in the bottom of the seventh, via a solo home run to center field off the bat of 1B Damiano Palmegiani to make the score 5-3. In the top of the eighth, Wood matched Palmegiani’s center-field solo homer with one of his own, launching his second home run of the day 420 feet into the Buffalo sky. The long ball came off the bat at 108.8 MPH, the hardest-hit round-tripper by a Red Wing this season.

With two outs in the top of the eighth, the game was paused for a rain delay and then called, ensuring a 6-3 Rochester win. This marks the first Red Wings win of the series at Buffalo, and they now trail the series two games to one.

Jackson Rutledge made his second start of the season for Rochester, coming off of a 5.0 inning seven strikeout performance that matched his Triple-A career-high. The Missouri native tossed 2.0 innings, allowing two earned on two hits while walking four and striking out one before exiting the game in the third inning due to injury. Stephen Nogosek followed him, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with a pair of walks and strikeouts. RHP Rico Garcia got the last out of the fourth inning and pitched a clean fifth, striking out all four batters and getting credited with the win in the process. LHP Richard Bleier took over for Garcia, tossing 2.0 innings, surrendering one earned on two hits while striking out three between the sixth and seventh innings for the teams’ first save of the season. It was the southpaw’s first save since October 1, 2022, with Miami, and his first Triple-A save since April 28, 2017, with Norfolk (BAL).

The Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to CF James Wood. The lefty slugged his first and second Triple-A home runs while tying a career-high with four hits. The Rockville, Maryland native finished the afternoon 4-for-5, adding a double, a pair of RBI, four runs scored, and a stolen base to go with the pair of long balls. This marks his second career multi-homer game (4/8/2022 with Lake Elsinore) and fourth four-hit game, first since August 26, 2022 with Single-A Fredericksburg. Wood’s .441 batting average and .558 on-base percentage this season are both second-best in the International League.

Rochester looks to string together wins Friday night and even the series at two games apiece. LHP DJ Herz heads to the mound for what will be his second career Triple-A start, against Bisons RHP Chad Dallas. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m.

Find the box score attached here.