Wings Storm Back In Ninth, But Fall In Extras

The Rochester Red Wings dropped their fourth consecutive game against Lehigh Valley Saturday night, falling 5-2 in 10 innings. The loss marks the Wings 14th series loss of the season, and fifth at Innovative Field. LHP Alemao Hernandez tossed his second consecutive quality start on the mound, while 2B Darren Baker tied a career-high with his 116th hit of the season. C Brady Lindsly tied the game late with a two-run homer, his third in a Red Wing uniform.

Lehigh Valley jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second. With two outs in the inning, 2B Jim Haley tripled in the left-center field gap and came around to score on a single from 3B Drew Ellis.

Pitching took control until the sixth, when LF Brewer Hicklen launched a solo shot to straight away center field to give the IronPigs a 2-0 lead. With one out in the eighth, 1B Frankie Tostado doubled to put himself in scoring position for Brady Lindsly. The lefty promptly tied the game at two with a two-run shot that traveled 360 feet.

Lindsly has now driven in a run in seven of his last eight games dating back to 9/3.

Lehigh Valley answered in the top half of the ninth, kicked off by a walk to PH Darick Hall and a two-run shot from Drew Ellis to give the IronPigs a 4-2 lead. Four walks followed the homer to make the lead 5-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth. A single from CF Derek Hill and a walk to RF Blake Rutherford put runners on first and second in the Wings final turn at the plate. LF Erick Mejia delivered an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch to cut into the lead in the following at-bat. Tostado followed the single up with a triple into the left-center field gap, scoring Rutherford and Mejia to tie the game at five at the end of the scheduled nine innings.

LF Brewer Hicklen laid down a sacrifice bunt in the top of the 10th, and Darick Hall singled to score the extra-inning baserunner and give Lehigh Valley a 6-5 lead. Rochester limited the damage to just a run, heading to the bottom half. The Wings would go down in order however, falling in their fourth consecutive contest by a score of 6-5.

LHP Alemao Hernandez made the start on the mound for Rochester Saturday night. The southpaw worked 6.0 innings, allowing two earned on seven hits while striking out three. RHP Tanner Rainey came in first in relief, and tossed a scoreless innings with a strikeout. LHP Joe La Sorsa followed with a scoreless inning, and RHP Gerson Moreno and RHP Odalvi Javier combined to allow three earned in the ninth. RHP Hobie Harris pitched the 10th, allowing one unearned run on two hits while striking out one.

Saturday night’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to LHP Alemao Hernandez. The southpaw allowed two earned over 6.0 innings for the teams’ 14th quality start of the season. He has logged a 2.03 ERA (6 ER/26.2 IP) over his last five starts after allowing six earned over 3.0 innings in his Triple-A debut on 8/23.

Rochester looks to snap their four-game slide in the final home game of the season Sunday afternoon. RHP Cory Abbott takes the mound in what will be his 14th start with the Wings. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

Find the box score attached here.