Rochester shuts out Omaha to move into a 4-way tie for first.
By Nick Grasso / Rochester Red Wings
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Despite being outhit 9-5, the Rochester Red Wings shutout the Omaha Storm Chasers, 3-0, Friday night at Frontier Field to take a 3-1 series lead.
With the victory, the Wings moved into a tie for first in the International League East Division following Durham’s loss to Gwinnett. That along with victories by Jacksonville and Lehigh Valley leave all 4 teams with identical 47-41 records.
Both teams remained scoreless until Rochester got on the board in the fifth with a Jake Alu long ball.
In his Red Wings debut, RHP Franklyn Kilome went 5.2 innings strong, scattering eight hits and striking out two while holding Omaha scoreless.
The Red Wings didn’t record a hit until the bottom of the fourth, but they scored in the fifth when 3B Jake Alu smashed a two-run homer that scored 2B Jake Noll and gave Rochester the lead. It was Alu’s first homer in a Wings uniform and it extended his hitting streak to 13-straight games between his time with Rochester and Double-A Harrisburg.
Rochester made it a 3-0 game when SS Ildemaro Vargas scored off an RBI single from LF Josh Palacios. Palacios has stretched his on base streak to 22 games, tied for the longest such streak for Rochester since 2019 when Zander Wiel reached base safely in 22 straight games.
LHP Francisco Perez got the ball in the sixth and held Omaha to one hit across 1.1 innings of work. He was relieved by RHP Curtis Taylor who followed suit in the eighth, holding the Storm Chasers scoreless. RHP Patrick Murphy earned his second-straight save on a groundout and a pair of strikeouts, sealing the shutout victory. The Wings bullpen has held the Storm Chasers scoreless in back-to-back games.
Tonight’s 3-0 victory marks the ninth shutout of the season for Rochester and the second in the last five games.