By: Zach Harnischfeger
The Rochester Red Wings entered the game looking to continue their great start to the second half of the season after winning the first three games of the series against the Indianapolis Indians. A 17-hit performance allowed them to do just that as they defeated the Indians 14-7.
"They jumped out to an early lead, but then we responded with a nine spot," Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. "The at-bats were really, really good. We took advantage of some walks, bad pitches, bad misses, and we had big two-out hits. It was a good team effort. We are on a nice little roll right now and hopefully, we can continue to play well tomorrow."
The Indians got off to a fast start. Ji-Hwan Bae led off the top of the first with a single, followed by a walk from Alika Williams. After Bae got to third on a fielder's choice, former Red Wing Josh Palacios drove in Bae on a single to make it a 1-0 game. Two batters later Malcolm Nunez hit a two-run single, bringing home Josh Bart and Palacios, to give the Indians a 3-0 lead.
The Red Wings put up nine runs and sent 15 men to the plate in the bottom of the first to make it a 9-3 game. Dylan Crews singled and doubled. Darren Baker and Carter Kieboom singled and Lipscomb recorded a hit in the inning. Lipscomb's hit was a grand slam, his first home run as a Red Wing.
"I was trying to work the count," Lipscomb said. "I saw some good pitches. He hung a slider and I put a good swing on it."
In the top of the third after back-to-back singles by Palacios and Liover Peguero, Seth Beer tallied a two-run single scoring Palacios and Peguero to cut the Red Wings lead to 9-5.
In the bottom of the fifth after a double by James Wood, Kieboom doubled and brought home Wood to extend the Rochester lead to 10-5. The next inning, after Lipscomb led off with a double and Alex Call bunted for a single, Baker doubled and brought home Alex Call to make it an 11-5 game.
Later in the inning, Wood hit a two-run double, driving in Crews and Baker, to extend the lead to 13-5. The Red Wings added one more run in the bottom of the eighth after Riley Adams drove in Crews on a sacrifice fly to make it a 14-5 game.
Crews ended the night 2-for-5 with an RBI and four runs scored. He now has 12 hits, seven RBIs, and nine runs scored in 10 games with Rochester since being called up to Triple-A on June 18. He is also on a nine-game hitting streak. Crews credits the team with his success in Triple-A so far.
"You got to learn how to slow the game down, especially in today's game," Crews said. "Learning how to slow the game down and taking it one pitch at a time. Everybody here has been very helpful as far as feedback and the process to keep going forward. It has been great so far."
The Indians tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth after a two-run double by Palacios scored Dylan Shockley and Bae. The game ended 14-7. Palacios ended the night with three RBIs against his former team.
The Red Wings have now won six straight games. Rochester and Indianapolis will face off again tomorrow at Innovative Field with the first pitch set for 6:45 p.m. Jackson Rutledge (4-4, 6.16) is expected to take the mound for Rochester.
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