Willians Astudillo hits the go-ahead 2-run 8th inning homer for Rochester.
By Rochester Red Wings
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — A Willians Astudillo 2-run, go-ahead home run in the eighth inning was the difference as the Red Wings beat Pawtucket, 5-3, Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium to complete a 4-game sweep of the PawSox and finish off a 7-1 road trip.
The Wings (27-33) have now won 7 straight games for the first time since June 2017, and are just 8.5 games out of first place with 80 games left on the schedule.
With 2 outs and the game tied, 2-2, in the eighth inning, La Tortuga lifted the first pitch he saw from Kyle Hart over the left field fence for a two-run, go-ahead blast.
Astudillo singled home a run in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1, and since his demotion to Triple-A on Saturday, Astudillo is 6-for-8 with 4 RBI for Rochester.
Jake Cave hit a 440-foot homer in the top of the sixth inning to put the Wings ahead, but Cole Sturgeon answered with a solo homer of his own off Jake Reed in the seventh to tie the game.
Chase De Jong turned in his best outing of the year, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits over 5 innings for the Wings.
Gorkys Hernandez hit a leadoff homer for the Paw Sox off De Jong for an early 1-0 lead.
Zack Littell earned his first save of the season working a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts.
After an off day on Monday, the Wings open a 6-game homestand on Tuesday against the Columbus Clippers.
*NOTES — Rochester has won 6 games in a row, the longest winning streak by the Wings since they won 7 in a row from Game 2 on June 17-22, 2017. The Red Wings have won 6 in a row on the road for the first time since winning 7 straight from July 29-August 5 at Columbus (3) and Toledo (4). The Wings have won 3 straight series for the first time since winning 4 consecutive sets in 2017: June 17-18 at Pawtucket (3-1), June 19-21 vs. Buffalo (3-0), June 22-25 vs. Lehigh Valley (3-1), and June 26-29 at Buffalo (4-1)…The Red Wings have been on an offensive tear during the current six-game winning streak, batting .353/.445/.577 with 22 doubles, a triple, 8 homers, and 56 runs scored. Before the stretch started, the Wings were tied for the second worst run differential in the International League at -44. That has since decreased to -3.