In a thrilling late-game rally, the Rochester Red Wings extended their winning streak and kept Chandler Champlain's record unblemished with a 3-2 comeback victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Friday night at ESL Ballpark.
The win lifts Rochester to 23-20, while Lehigh Valley slips to 20-23 in what's shaping up to be a tightly contested division race.
Champlain delivered another stellar outing, improving to 4-0 on the season. The right-hander scattered five hits over seven innings, surrendering just two runs while walking one and striking out three. His command was on full display, keeping the IronPigs off balance throughout the night.
The Red Wings drew first blood in the second inning when Trey Lipscomb crushed a two-out solo home run to center field off Lehigh Valley starter Alan Rangel. It was all the offense Rochester could muster early, as Rangel settled in to hold them to just that one run on three hits over six innings, punching out seven.
Lehigh Valley answered in the fourth, tying the game when Otto Kemp singled and came all the way around from first on Liover Peguero's RBI double to left. The IronPigs grabbed the lead an inning later, as Christian Cairo worked a walk, stole second, and scored on Sergio Alcántara's sacrifice fly to left.
The game's pivotal moment came in the seventh. After Bryan De La Cruz led off with a double, Cairo's sacrifice bunt moved him to third. But the Red Wings defense stiffened—Caleb Ricketts hit into a fielder's choice that cut down De La Cruz at the plate, and Champlain struck out Carter Kieboom to escape the jam.
That momentum carried into the bottom half against reliever Zach Pop. Yohandy Morales, who finished 2-for-2 with a double and a walk, ignited the rally with a double to right. He moved to third on Andrés Chaparro's groundout and scored when Abimelec Ortiz lined an RBI double to left, tying the game at 2-2.
Andrew Pinckney followed with a clutch RBI single to right, bringing home Ortiz and giving Rochester a 3-2 lead. The three-hit inning was too much for Pop, who was charged with both the blown save and the loss.
Zach Penrod locked it down from there, working two hitless innings for his second save. He struck out three, walking one, and closed the door in the ninth when Peguero and Cairo both went down on foul tips around a De La Cruz lineout handled by Lipscomb at shortstop.