Rochester fails to gain ground on division leader Buffalo with the defeat.
By Nick Grasso / Rochester Red Wings
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings dropped their second straight game to the Worcester Red Sox, 6-5, to go down 2-0 in the series. The Wings showed signs of life, sending the game to extra innings with a chance to win but ultimately falling short. The loss drops their extra inning record to 4-2 on the year.
RHP Cade Cavalli got the ball first but struggled in his first start since June 16, giving up three hits and three runs through three innings of work.
The Wings owned a 2-1 lead in the third thanks to a sacrifice double play from 1B Joey Meneses that scored CF Matt Lipka, and an RBI single from RF Josh Palacios that scored LF Andrew Stevenson. RHP Curtis Taylor walked a pair of batters and hit a batter in the fourth as the Mets poured on three more runs to take a 4-2 lead. RHP Luis Avilan replaced Taylor in the fourth and pitched for 1 1/3 innings before LHP Alberto Baldonado took over for two innings.
The Wings made some noise in the eighth as Lipka scored his second run of the night to put Rochester within one. They tied it up in the ninth on an RBI double from DH Donovan Casey that scored pinch runner Cole Freeman as the game went to extra innings. Syracuse’s Jeter Downs smoked a two-run homer in the tenth to put the Mets up 6-4, and Rochester’s lone tenth inning run wasn’t enough to score the win.
The Mets left 10 runners on base and struck out just six batters on the day compared to Rochester’s 17, but the Wings were unable to capitalize.
The Wings would call on RHP Patrick Murphy and RHP Jordan Weems late in the loss.
The loss drops Rochester’s record to 40-34 as they remain in a second-place tie with Durham and Lehigh Valley. Rochester’s last nine games have been decided by one or two runs, with Rochester going 3-6 over that span.
The Wings will look to bounce back in Thursday’s 1:05 p.m. afternoon game at Frontier Field.