Stephen Gonsalves hurls Rochester to a 9-1 victory over the RailRiders.
MOOSIC, PA — Stephen Gonsalves turned in another strong start and the offense provided plenty of support as the Rochester Red Wings cruised to a 9-1 win over the Scranton/WB RailRiders Friday night at PNC Field.
After allowing just one run on 2 hits over 5.2 innings Friday, Gonsalves now has pitched to a 0.66 ERA (2 ER/27.1 IP) and allowed just 11 hits – all singles – over his last 5 starts. The southpaw’s run of success has come immediately after yielding 9 runs to this Scranton team on June 11.
The Red Wings got offense from all over the lineup as they pounded out 16 hits on the night. Leonardo Reginatto collected 3 different RBI singles all of which scored Zack Granite, who went 3-for-4.
The Wings (43-44) also got home runs from Gregorio Petit – a 2-run shot in the 5th – and Kennys Vargas — a solo homer in the seventh. For Petit it was his first of the season, meanwhile Vargas collected his team-leading 13th long ball.
Petit added a 2-run single in the 9th as he finished with 3 hits and 4 RBI.
Meanwhile, in 9 July games, Vargas is hitting .395 with 5 doubles, 4 homers, and 11 RBI.
Taylor Motter, Petit, Granite, and Reginatto each collected 3 hits.
The trio of Luke Bard, Jake Reed, and John Curtiss combined to toss up 3.1 scoreless frames as the staff as a whole allowed just 3 over the minimum.
The Wings look to keep rolling in Game 3 of the 4-game set Saturday night. Righty Kohl Stewart (0-0, 8.18) will make his third start of the season for the Wings.
*NOTES — In roster moves, INF Taylor Motter was transferred from Double-A Chattanooga and RHP Luke Bard was reinstated from the disabled list…The Red Wings have the most road wins in the International League this season, going 27-19 away from Frontier Field. Rochester has hit 39 of its 58 home runs (67.2%) on the road. The Wings are averaging 3.7 runs per game on the road compared to 3.1 at home…Rochester leads the International League with a 3.31 ERA despite allowing 19 earned runs over the last 5 games…The Red Wings’ bullpen has pitched to a 2.59 ERA (90 ER, 313.1 IP) so far this season while surrendering 120 total runs on 272 hits and 114 walks with 352 strikeouts coming into tonight’s game.