Donovan Casey leads Rochester to its first win of the 2022 season.
TOLEDO, OH. — Donovan Casey hit a three-run homer and collected four RBI as the Rochester Red Wings picked up their first win of the 2022 campaign, beating the Toledo Mud Hens, 6-3, at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio Wednesday night.
After a 26-minute weather delayed the start, the two squads took the field and were scoreless until Toledo’s Ryan Kreidler homered off Wings starter and 2016 AL All-Star, Aaron Sanchez, in the bottom of the second inning. The Wings bounced back in the following half inning as left fielder Andrew Stevenson belted a two-run shot, giving the Wings a 2-1 lead.
Kreidler then stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and connected on his second homer of the night — a game-tying solo shot. Casey answered the Toledo homer with a triple that snuck by Daz Cameron in right field, scoring catcher Tres Barrera.
Two innings later Casey extended the lead with a three-run homer to straightaway center to give the Red Wings a 6-2 advantage.
The Wings pitching staff shined getting four solid innings from Sanchez, who allowed five hits and two earned runs – both Kreidler solo shots – while walking one and striking out four.
Newcomers Jace Fry, Carl Edwards, Jr., Francisco Perez, and Jordan Weems followed Sanchez and shut down the Mud Hens, surrendering just one run (charged to Weems) over the five remaining innings.
Returner Alberto Baldonado relieved Weems in the ninth inning with two outs and struck out Toledo’s Josh Lester to secure the save.
Through the first two games of the season, under new Wings pitching coach Rafael Chaves, Red Wings pitchers have struck out 27 batters over 17 innings pitched.
Barrera picked up three hits, including a double, in the win making it two straight multi-hit games for the Wings catcher, after going 2-for-4 in the season opener on Tuesday.
Luis Garcia, Jake Noll and Andrew Young all picked up a knock in the victory.
The Red Wings and Mud Hens battle each other in game three of the series at 6:35 Thursday night. Top pitching prospect, Cade Cavalli, makes his 2022 season debut against former Red Wings pitcher Michael Pineda.