The Rochester Red Wings outlasted the Worcester Red Sox, 9-8, on Sunday night at Frontier Field to avoid the six-game sweep.
Veteran starting pitcher Aníbal Sánchez made his second rehab start with Rochester and surrendered three runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings while walking three and striking out seven.
The Red Wings jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Joey Meneses smacked his 16th home run of the season and Riley Adams doubled home a run, making it 2-0.
In the fourth, Devlin Granberg ripped one into the gap for a bases-clearing triple to give Worcester a 3-2 lead. Rochester quickly answered in the bottom half of the frame and tied the game on Adams’ first home run of the season.
Rochester plated two runs in the fifth on a pair of sacrifice flies by Andrew Stevenson and Meneses to put the Red Wings back on top, 5-3.
Worcester’s Pedro Castellano’s made it a one-run game in the sixth with a sacrifice fly. In the home half of the inning, Adrian Sanchez smoked a two-run single to make it 7-4, Rochester.
However, the Red Wings blew the lead again in the eighth as the Red Sox scratched across three runs to tie the game. Christin Stewart and Jaylin Davis scored on wild pitches, and Yolmer Sanchez drove in a run with an RBI single. Cole Freeman gave Rochester their third lead of the night in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run shot. That was his second homer of the season.
Worcester added a run in the ninth on Castellano’s RBI single, but Tyler Clippard was able to close it out and pick up the win in relief.
The Red Wings will open a six-game series with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Monday night at Coca-Cola Park. The first pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].