The final score of a 15-8 blow-out might not give you the full gist of how Triple-A Rochester stormed back from an early deficit due to poor defense to win the final game of the Triple-A regular season schedule to clinch the second-half Triple-A International League title. This is their first postseason since 2013. That is a tribute to Paul Toboni and VP of Player Development Devin Pearson plus all of the other coaches there.
Think about adding all of the new technology and doubling the coaching staff. They added a Trajekt Arc machine to the Triple-A training facility in Rochester. The progress doesn’t happen for no reason. Players improved.
The Red Wings finished the second half with a 45-30 record and a .600 winning percentage, closing the regular season at 90-58 overall. Those 90 wins are the most for a Red Wings team since 1953. The championship marks Rochester’s first postseason berth as a Washington Nationals affiliate and the first for Washington’s Triple-A affiliate since Syracuse qualified in 2014.
While it might have felt like the Washington Nationals sent a ringer to start the game for Rochester, LHP Connelly Early was there for a rehab start and was promptly pulled at 40-pitches and left in a 0-0 game with bases loaded due to a costly error. Paxton Schultz relieved Early with two outs and allowed all three of his inherited runners to score. That made Early’s final line: 1⅔ IP, 0H, 3R, 0ER, 3BB, 2K.
“We had a tough first half, but you know what we did? We fought, and we ain’t finished!”
— said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy
Working out of the bullpen, starter Jack Cebert would need to relieve Schultz who got zero outs and Cebert quickly acted like a fireman to enter with bases loaded, and extinguished the fire quickly. Cebert would also be named the winner of the game. His final line: 2⅓ IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K.
The Rochester offense went on an absolute tear from a 5-1 deficit to stomp on the Bisons with 10 unanswered runs at the time. The Red Wings put up five runs in the 5th inning to go up 6-5 with home run power. Rochester added one in the 6th, five more in the 7th, and three in the 9th inning to put it out of reach against Buffalo. In total, Rochester hit eight homers in total, with Cayden Wallace as the only batter not to reach base in the 19-hit outburst. Wallace also had the error that led to the three unearned runs on Early’s statline.
Your offensive stars were Leandro Pineda who was a triple-shy of a cycle. His statline was 4-6, 3 R, 2 HRs (12), 2B (10), 3 RBIs. The other offensive stars were Andrew Pinckney 3-4, 2R, 2 HRs(16), 4 RBIs, Liover Peguero 2-5, R, 2B (26), HR, RBI, and Ryan Adams 2-6, 2R, 2B (15), HR (16), 2 RBIs. Seaver King added an inside-the-park homer, and Max Romero had a homer. Count them, that is eight in total.
“I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that this group of guys was special, but to see them pull this off and give Rochester playoff baseball for the first time since 2013 is just incredible. I couldn’t be happier for and proud of Matt LeCroy, our coaching staff, and all our never-say-die players who played so hard all year. I can’t thank our fans enough for their incredible support!”
— said Red Wings General Manager Dan Mason
What’s next for the Rochester Red Wings? They get to face the Memphis Red Birds in a best-of-three playoff series to determine the International League champion. The games will be played in Memphis, Tennessee by MLB’s decision even though the Red Wings had the better overall record in the regular season.
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