Rocheoes goes 6-6 in 2-week homestand to finish up 1st half, 34-39.
By Caktus AI / Rochester Red Wings
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings fell, 7-3, in the series finale against the Omaha Storm Chasers to close up the first half of the 2023 season. RF *Blake Rutherford *collected his second home run with Rochester in the loss, while SS *Richie Martin *extended his hitting streak to 20 games.
The Storm Chasers collected the first run of the game Sunday afternoon, taking a 1-0 lead after just four batters. C Logan Porter drove in CF John Rave with an RBI single, and a sacrifice fly from 2B Clay Dungan plated DH Kyle Isbel, giving Omaha a 2-0 lead. They added on another run in the top of the second inning after Rave plated LF Tucker Bradley on an infield single. Omaha further extended its lead in the top of the third inning, scoring four runs on five hits and a sacrifice fly.
Rochester loaded the bases in both the second and third inning, but were unable to push across a run until the bottom of the fourth inning, when they cut the deficit to 7-1. A walk and single allowed 3B Jake Alu to drive in SS Richie Martin with a sacrifice fly to left field, plating Alu’s 36th RBI of the season. The Wings tacked on another run the following inning thanks to a solo home run from RF Blake Rutherford that registered as his hardest-hit ball since 4/17/22 as a member of CLT.
“Blake is a professional hitter. He can help us. I’m glad he’s here with our team. Hopefully he’ll be a part of that push to win the second half,” manager Matt LeCroy said.
The Wings managed to get 10 runners into scoring position Sunday afternoon, but were only able to cross two of those runners. CF Alex Call led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, and Rutherford drove him in with another double, cutting the lead to 7-3. Rochester would only plate the one run and fall to the Storm Chasers.
RHP Wily Peralta (2-5, 5.64) started Sunday afternoon’s contest in his eighth appearance (6th start) against the Storm Chasers. He worked three innings, allowing seven runs off eight hits, while striking out two batters and walking two. RHP Odalvi Javier relieved Peralta, working two scoreless innings, his third scoreless outing of two innings or more. LHP Sean Doolittle and RHP Luis Reyes, and Tommy Romeroworked the final four innings of shutout baseball, striking out six Omaha batters while allowing just one hit.
The Red Wings went 1-for-2 on ABS Challenges Sunday, while Omaha went 1-for-1.
RF Blake Rutherford earned Diamond Pro Player of the Game honors Sunday afternoon, after he went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and RBI double. Rutherford extended his on-base streak to eight games and logged his first game at Triple-A this season with two extra base hits.
The Wings finish the first half 34-39, good enough for sixth place in the International League East Division. With the loss, Rochester finishes with a 34-39 record, 14.0 games back of first place Norfolk, who clinched the first half earlier this week.
“We really got going offensively as a unit in Toledo. We started winning ball games. We’ve played well at home. We’ve had great team play,” LeCroy said.
The second half of the season will start on Wednesday when Rochester travels to Lehigh Valley to take on the Phillies’ top affiliate in the IronPigs. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
We get a clean slate. Hopefully we can go out and win every series. If we win every series, we should put ourselves in a good spot to play for something in the second half,” LeCroy said.
Rochester Red Wings, IL, Dan Mason, Naomi Silver