The Rochester Red Wings rallied late to beat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 6-5, on Thursday night at Coca-Cola Field.
Jefry Rodriguez got the start for Rochester and had trouble throwing strikes. He issued five walks and allowed three runs, but did not allow a hit over 3.2 innings. Erik Manoah Jr. was the first one out of the bullpen and he surrendered a pair of runs over 1.2 innings. Tyler Clippard and Carl Edwards Jr. each tossed two scoreless frames.
The Red Wings scored four of their six runs in the first three innings. Joey Meneses opened the scoring in the first with a solo home run to left. In the third, Meneses hit his second homer of the game, this time a two-run shot to left-center to make it 3-0. One batter later, Nick Banks sent one over the right-field wall to extend the lead to 4-0.
Lehigh Valley scored three runs in the fourth to cut Rochester’s lead to one. Drew Maggi worked a bases-loaded walk to the put the IronPigs on the board. Later in the inning, Jorge Bonifacio scored on a wild pitch and Will Toffey scored on a passed ball.
The IronPigs took a 5-4 lead in the fifth after Dustin Peterson hammered a two-run double to left.
Donovan Casey homered to center in the eighth to tie the game at five.
Luis Garcia grounded one through the right side for a RBI single in the ninth to put Rochester on top, 6-5. That ended up being the difference in the game as the Red Wings held on for the victory.
Rochester finished with 13 hits and Garcia had three of them.
The Red Wings will try to even the six-game series on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].