Another night, another home loss for the IronPigs.
Robert Hassell homered twice, singled, doubled and drove in four runs to lead the Rochester Red Wings to their fourth consecutive victory, 11-5, in front of a sellout crowd of 10,100 on Friday night at Coca-Cola Park.
Lehigh Valley and Jacksonville, which split a doubleheader at Syracuse, are 46-27 with two games remaining in the International League’s first half. But the Jumbo Shrimp own the tie-breaker: best record in the last 20 games.
The IronPigs took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning on Nick Dunn’s RBI single. But the Red Wings scored at least one run in the next six innings to pull away.
Lehigh Valley, which has scored only seven runs in four games against the Ieague’s worst pitching staff statistically, has led for only two innings in the series. It is 3-7 on this 12-game homestand.
Rochester lost 12 games in a row entering this series.
Keaton Anthony extended his hitting streak to nine games with a sixth-inning double. He has six multi-hit games in his nine Triple-A games since his call-up. Just Crawford’s infield single in the first gave him at least one hit in 12 of his last 13 games, 23 of his last 25.
Roster moves
RHP Wil Crowe was promoted from Double-A Reading to make Friday’s start. The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Tennessee native allowed five runs on five hits, four walks and two wild pitches in 3 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Crowe was 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in five appearances with the Fightins. The 30-year-old great nephew of Red Ruffing was a 2017 second-round pick of the Nationals out of the University of South Carolina.
He made his major league debut on Aug. 22, 2020, with the Nationals, then was traded for Josh Bell on Dec. 24, 2020. He pitched parts of the next three seasons for the Pirates before being released after the 2023 season. He then spent 2024 in Korea before returning to the states.
LHP Nick Vespi (7.85 ERA, 2.02 WHIP in 20 games) was sent to Reading. Catcher Josh Breaux was put on the Development List.
Utility player Weston Wilson was added to the roster and started in left field. He was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
How they scored
Top 1: Robert Hassell hit Wil Crowe’s second pitch for a solo home run, his fifth homer of the year. Red Wings 1-0
Bottom 2: Gabriel Rincones hit his first home run since June 3 and eighth this season to lead off. Oscar Mercado walked, stole his 27th base of the year and scored on Nick Dunn’s first hit with the club, a single to right. IronPigs 2-1
Top 3: Nasin Nunez led off with a walk, took third on Hassell’s single and score on Yohandy Morales’ fielder’s choice. Tied 2-2
Top 4: Trey Lipscomb doubled to lead off and Andrew Pinckney walked. After a bunted popout, both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Lipscomb scored on another wild pitch with Pinckney moving to third. Brady Lindsly and Nunez walked to load the bases. Hassell then doubled in Pinckney and Lindsly. Red Wings 5-2
Top 5: Nick Schnell singled and took third on Lipscomb’s ground-rule double. Both scored on Pinckney’s broke-bat single to center. Pinckney stole second and scored on Nunez’s bloop single to right. Red Wings 8-2
Top 6: Morales doubled, took third on Schnell’s grounder and scored on Lipscomb’s single. Red Wings 9-2
Top 7: Hassell hit his second homer of the game, a 420-footer to right-center, to lead off. Red Wings 10-2
Top 8: J.T. Arruda hit a solo home run with two outs, his fourth of the season. Red Wings 11-2
Bottom 8: Weston Wilson reached on a fielder’s choice, took third on Anthony’s single and scored on a wild pitch. Red Wings 11-3
Bottom 9: Rafael Lantigua walked with one out and Rodolfo Castro followed with a two-run homer. Red Wings 11-5
Up next
RHP Andrew Painter (3-2, 4.35) vs. Rochester RHP Seth Shuman (1-4, 7.35) in a 6:35 p.m. first pitch at Coca-Cola Park. Painter allowed one hit and two walks in five innings in his last start June 15 against Worcester with six strikeouts. He threw 47 of 72 pitches for strikes in the best of his seven Triple-A starts.
Morning Call senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
Source: Berkshire mont
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