Rochester erased a three-run deficit and held off a ninth-inning rally to beat Omaha 8-7 on Tuesday night in the opener of a six-game series at Werner Park.
Rochester struck first on Maxwell Romero Jr.'s RBI single in the second inning and extended the lead to 2-0 in the third on Seaver King's 10th home run of the season. Omaha answered immediately, however, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 lead on an Abraham Toro two-run double, Jack Pineda RBI double and Matthew Lugo sacrifice fly.
The Red Wings chipped away at the deficit over the next three innings. Romero hit a solo homer in the fourth, and after Omaha added two runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Carson Roccaforte and Drew Waters, Cayden Wallace answered with a solo shot
in the sixth to make it 6-4.
Rochester pulled even in the seventh when Trey Lipscomb doubled and Riley Adams blasted a game-tying two-run homer to right field, his 13th of the season.
The Red Wings seized control in the eighth. Romero led off the inning with his second homer of the night, and Liover Peguero later scored after doubling when Phillip Glasser delivered an RBI single for an 8-6 advantage.
Romero finished 3-for-3 with two home runs, three RBIs and two walks. Adams went 2-for-5 with a double, homer and two RBIs, while King and Wallace also homered. Peguero added a double and scored a run in his third game with Rochester.
Matt Krook tossed two scoreless innings in his start before Omaha's four-run third inning against reliever Cole Henry. Relievers Carson Palmquist and Andry Lara helped keep Rochester within striking distance, and Justin Lawrence struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh to earn his first win as a Red Wing.
Omaha made things interesting in the ninth. Three Storm Chasers reached base and they scored once on Brett Squires' RBI single, but Gus Varland retired Roccaforte to secure his fourth save. Omaha out-hit Rochester 14-11, led by three-hit performances from Toro and Squires, but stranded seven runners.
Information gathered from milb.com.
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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Five homers power Red Wings past Omaha in wild opener
