The Rochester Red Wings survived a fourth-inning surge and leaned on six relievers to secure a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Bisons on Sunday at Sahlen Field.
The Red Wings built an early lead, briefly lost it on C.J. Stubbs’ three-run homer, then answered with a two-run fifth and held the Bisons without a run in the final five innings.
Joey Wiemer sparks Rochester's early offense
Andrew Pinckney and Joey Wiemer got Rochester started in the second inning. Pinckney drew a walk and moved up when Riley Adams was hit by a pitch, setting the table against Bisons starter Simeon Woods Richardson. Wiemer followed with a line-drive double to left that scored Pinckney and pushed Adams to third, and Cayden Wallace’s sacrifice fly to right brought Adams home for a 2-0 lead.
Buffalo chipped back in the third,
when Rudy Martin Jr. singled, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. Sean Keys delivered a run-scoring single to center, cutting the margin to 2-1.
Rochester responded in the fourth. Pinckney doubled and Trey Lipscomb singled, and Pinckney came around on Adams’ double-play grounder to shortstop Josh Rivera to make it 3-1.
C.J. Stubbs homer briefly changes the game
The Bisons turned the game around in the bottom of the fourth as Erik Tolman replaced Red Wings starter Andry Lara. Daz Cameron reached on a throwing error by Lipscomb, Ismael Munguia singled to right and Stubbs jumped on a pitch, driving a three-run homer to center that put Buffalo up 4-3.
Rochester answered in the fifth against reliever Sam Gardner. Leandro Pineda opened the inning with a triple to center, and Phillip Glasser followed with a single to right to score Pineda and tie the game. Christian Franklin worked a walk, and after Abimelec Ortiz grounded out to move the runners, Pinckney’s grounder to short brought Glasser home from third for a 5-4 edge.
Red Wings bullpen protects one-run lead
From there, the Red Wings’ bullpen took control.
Tolman still earned the win despite allowing Stubbs’ homer. Jared Simpson, Jack Sinclair, Konnor Pilkington, Gus Varland and Zach Penrod combined to throw five shutout innings with seven strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
Penrod worked a scoreless ninth for his fourth save, issuing one walk but no hits.
Phillip Glasser reaches base three times
Glasser set the table all afternoon, finishing 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored out of the leadoff spot.
Pinckney scored twice and drove in the go-ahead run, while Wiemer doubled twice and had an RBI as Rochester totaled eight hits but left nine runners on base.
Information gathered from milb.com.
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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Red Wings split Buffalo series after bullpen saves the day
