Jake Alu collects 4 hits in the loss for Rochester.
By Caktus AI / Rochester Red Wings
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings fell to the Scranton/WB RailRiders for the second straight night, 8-7, in extras. The Wings held a 4-1 lead, but couldn’t hold on despite a four-hit performance from 3B Jake Alu and LF Blake Rutherford’s first home run as a Red Wing. Rochester announced a crowd of 10,811 Saturday night, marking the largest single-game attendance figure since August 22, 2019 (11,557).
Scranton/WB struck first Saturday night, scoring a run in the top of the second inning when Brandon Lockridge got the RailRiders on the board with an RBI single that scored 3B Andrés Chaparro. Rochester wasted no time tying up the game, as they added a run on back-to-back doubles in the bottom half of the inning. 1B Matt Adams’ 12th double of the season teed up C Luis Torrens to drive him in with a two-bagger of his own.
The Red Wings continued their scoring in the bottom of the third inning, taking their first lead of the game when 3B Jake Alu recorded an RBI triple, his first since 9/18/22, that scored SS Richie Martin. They extended their lead in the next at bat when DH Franmil Reyes smashed a 413-foot two-run home run that gave Rochester a 4-1 advantage. The RailRiders came back in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game once again thanks to a three-run double from Chaparro.
Scranton/WB then retook the lead on the next at bat when C Carlos Narvaez collected his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot that put the RailRiders ahead 6-4. After going scoreless for three innings, Alu added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 6-5 with an RBI single. Martin scored on the hit, marking Alu’s fourth hit and second RBI of the evening. The run was quickly erased by the RailRiders in the top of the eighth when LHP Sean Doolittle gave up a solo home run to DH Estevan Florial that made it 7-4.
In the bottom of the ninth inning with Torrens on first base, LF Blake Rutherford smashed a game-tying, 408-foot home run 104.4 MPH off his bat to become the first Wing to hit a home run in his debut since Israel Pineda on 9/1/22. Scranton/WB pulled ahead in the top of the 10th, plating a run on a fielding error to take an 8-7 lead. Rochester couldn’t respond in the bottom half of the inning and dropped their second game of the series against the RailRiders.
RHP Joan Adon started on the mound for the Wings, working five innings against the RailRiders. He struck out six batters, walked four, allowed six hits and just one earned run in the outing. Three relievers came in out of the bullpen to work the final four innings, allowing one run, while allowing five hits, no walks and striking out four batters. RHP Tyler Danish (0-1, 3.10) worked the 10th inning, allowing one run while striking out three batters, and took the loss, while RHP Matt Bowman (3-0, 3.62) earned the win.
Rochester went 1-for-4 on ABS Challenges, while the RailRiders finished 1-for-3.
3B Jake Alu is Saturday night’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game after the lefty went 4-for-5 with three singles, a triple and two RBI in the loss. Alu collected his first triple of the season and extended his hitting streak to seven games with his first four-hit game since 9/18/22.
Rochester wraps up its six-game series with Scranton/WB on Sunday, with LHP Anthony Banda taking the mound for the Wings against RHP Mitch Spence. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.