Brent Rooker has homered in three straight games for Rochester.
By Rochester Red Wings
COLUMBUS, OHIO — The Red Wings split a doubleheader with the Columbus Clippers Thursday afternoon at Huntington Park.
The Wings (33-36) – who dropped two of the three games in Columbus – lost their first series since May 28-30 at Scranton/WB.
Zander Wiel provided the pop in Game One – the resumption of Wednesday night’s suspended game – with a three-run home run in the 7th inning that turned a 1-1 game into a 4-1 game.
Wednesday’s game was suspended by heavy rain in the bottom of the fifth inning with the score tied, 1-1.
Adam Bray – just called up from Double-A Pensacola – earned the win in his Red Wings debut tossing 3.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits.
Brent Rooker – who hit a solo homer in Wednesday’s suspended game – hit a three-run blast in the third inning of Game Two that extended the Wings lead to 4-0.
Rooker has now homered in three straight games for Rochester.
But the Clippers would come back on the strength of three home runs – including two from Bobby Bradley who now leads the International League with 24 round trippers on the season. His second came in the sixth inning off Chase De Jong to tie the game at 4-4.
After the Wings failed to push a run across in the eighth inning, Ryan Flaherty doubled home the winning run for the walk off win in the bottom of the frame.
The Wings could have easily swept the series as they blew an 8-2 lead on Tuesday and a 4-0 lead in Game Two.
Rochester West Division road trip continues Friday with another doubleheader in Toledo. First pitch of Game One is set for 6:05 pm.
*NOTES — Entering today’s doubleheader, Brent Rooker ranks among International League leaders in on-base percentage (1st, .533), batting average (2nd, .393), RBI (3rd, 18), walks (T-3rd, 14), runs (T-4th, 14), OPS (5th, 1.123), and hits (T-5th, 22) since being reinstated from the Injured List on June 1. He has a hit in 18 of his last 19 games since May 15 despite his career-high 13-game hitting streak being snapped on June 12.