Rochester tops Lehigh Valley 6-4, grabs second series win

Rochester left Allentown with more than one win in hand. The Red Wings beat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 6-4 on April 12, moved back above .500 at 8-7, and secured their second series victory of the season by taking three of four from a club that entered the finale at 9-6.

The game turned in the third inning, when Rochester sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs to break open a tight contest. Andrés Chaparro drove in two during the rally, giving the Red Wings the cushion they needed after a game that had already begun with early pressure in the second. Andrew Pinckney singled, stole second and came home on Yohandy Morales’ hit to put Rochester on the board first, a start that mattered on a road night where one swing or one bad frame could decide everything.

Morales and Phillip Glasser each finished with three hits, a sign that Rochester was not relying on one hot bat to carry the evening. The Red Wings collected 10 hits overall, their second double-digit hit game of the season, and the timing made it more telling. Rochester had already won the series opener 10-8 on April 7 and followed that with a 5-0 shutout on April 11, then capped the set with another offensive outburst against a Lehigh Valley team that had started the series 7-3 and had risen to 9-4 before Rochester answered with back-to-back wins.

Lehigh Valley kept pushing. Paul McIntosh hit a solo home run in the third, and Robert Moore later drew a bases-loaded walk as the IronPigs tried to chip away. But Rochester controlled the bigger moments, turning to a double play and steady bullpen work to keep the lead intact through the late innings.

Seth Shuman earned his first win of the season after working the fifth and sixth and keeping Lehigh Valley in check. The 28-year-old right-hander from Valdosta, Georgia, a 2019 sixth-round pick of the Oakland Athletics, entered the day with an 0-0 record and an 11.25 ERA, making the result a meaningful one both for him and for a Rochester club that is starting to look more complete.

The 6-4 final came before 7,776 at Coca-Cola Park and underscored the way Rochester is winning on the road: early scoring, one decisive crooked number, and enough pitching to protect the lead once it is there.