By: Liam Hoffmann
ROCHESTER, NY-- The Rochester Red Wings began the "second half" of their season with a 3-1 win atop the Indianapolis Indians. Washington Nationals starting pitcher Josiah Gray made his first Red Wings appearance and with it, turned in a quality start and earned a win.
The 2023 MLB All-Star Gray made his third rehab start after a lower-arm injury that landed him on the 15-day injured list on April 9. On the evening, Gray only allowed one earned run and four hits on top of four strikeouts.
"Gray, he was really good," Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. "He commanded the ball well and he had to pitch us out of a couple of little spots."
Also notable, Dylan Crews played his first-ever game at Innovative Field. His first plate appearance saw him single on a ground ball to the infield. He beat out the throw from Indianapolis' second baseman Ji Hwan Bae, showcasing his highly regarded speed tool that has helped situate him at sixth in the MLB Top 100. Later, to retire the first half of the seventh, Crews made an athletic defensive play to track a flyball in centerfield and garner cheers from Rochester fans. Tuesday was his seventh Triple-A game.
"It's a grind, everybody's really good in this league...you've got to wake up the next day and do it all over again," Crews said. "I feel comfortable...our managers and the players here are helping me out so we are feeding off of each other pretty well."
Riley Adams' sixth-inning solo home run broke the scoring seal for Rochester. James Wood collected two singles with an RBI that scored Dylan Crews. In the seventh, Jackson Cluff followed up a double with good baserunning to be the third Rochester run-scorer.
"I was just trying to be aggressive," Adams said. "I knew (Indianapolis pitcher Ryan Borucki) likes to go to that slider a lot, so I was looking for something down in the zone and thankfully he left that a little bit up so I was able to do something good with it."
Rochester used a big seventh inning to secure the win. Cluff led it off with a ground rule double that initially looked like a chance at an inside-the-park home run until the ball was ruled to be stuck in the wall. Cluff reached third on a balk and then scored on a wild pitch by Indian Geronimo Franzua. Crews drew a walk and then Wood connected on an RBI single that drew in Crews and put Rochester up 3-1.
Both teams first scored in the sixth inning. Indianapolis' Andres Alvarez doubled to lead it off and he reached third on Bae's ensuing single. Joey Bart hit a soft RBI groundout to bring Alvarez across and give the Indians the game's first lead. In the bottom half, Adams took the first pitch of the half-inning deep and knotted the score at one.
Rochester first got a runner in scoring position in the second. Travis Blankenhorn singled the first pitch of the frame to right field before moving to second on a Juan Yepez infield single. But, the next three batters got out in order. In the third, James Wood and Riley Adams delivered singles, but Indianapolis again got the third out before Rochester could crack the scoreboard.
The same two sides will face off again tomorrow at Innovative Field with the first pitch set for 6:45 p.m. Andrew Alvarez (0-2, 9.64) is expected to take the mound for Rochester.
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