Morales Caps off Red Wings Comeback with Walk-Off Bomb
IL Rochester Red Wings

Morales Caps off Red Wings Comeback with Walk-Off Bomb

Published on August 22, 2025 under International League (IL)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


The Rochester Red Wings stormed back from a five-run deficit in the eighth innings, scoring six runs to beat the Toledo Mud Hens, 10-9, on Grateful Dead night. 1B Yohandy Morales delivered the decisive blow, a two-run shot deep into the night with one out in the bottom of the ninth. LF Christian Franklin recorded three hits in the contest, including the Red Wings' fifth leadoff home run of the season. DH José Tena, 3B Trey Lipscomb, and 2B J.T. Arruda also produced multi-hit games to pace the Red Wings.

Toledo once again got on the scoreboard in the first inning. Back-to-back walks with one out put runners on first and second, and each advanced a base after a wild pitch. With two outs, 3B Max Anderson laced a double into left-center field, making it a 2-0 game after the first half-frame.

Rochester responded right away in the bottom of the first. On a full count, Christian Franklin roped an outside pitch over the left field wall at 106.8 MPH, his fifth hardest hit home run this season, to give Rochester a 1-0 lead.

The Mud Hens' offense stayed red hot in the second inning. After a leadoff walk from RF Gage Workman and a walk, C C.J. Stubbs threw out Workman trying to steal third base. However, Toledo C Brian Server sent a ground ball through the right side to bring one run home. The Mud Hens held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the second.

The top of the third proved to be more of the same for the Mud Hens' offense. SS Trei Cruz and DH Jace Jung led off the inning with singles, putting runners on first and third with no outs. After Rochester picked up the first out of the inning, 1B Eduardo Valencia grounded a ball through the middle to bring in the fourth run of the game for Toledo. After another single loaded the bases, RHP Seth Shuman came in and picked up two outs to escape the frame.

The Red Wings struck back in the bottom of the third. C.J. Stubbs cut the Wings' deficit to two with his first career Triple-A home run. The ball came off the bat at 106.2 MPH and sailed 417 feet over the right center field fence. After three innings, Rochester trailed 4-2.

Rochester continued to cut into Toledo's lead in the bottom of the fourth. Yohandy Morales led off the inning with a double, but was thrown out at third on a fielder's choice by CF Andrew Pinckney. The Red Wings center fielder stole second base during the next at-bat and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Trey Lipscomb. The Tennessee product also stole second and came home to score on a single into left by J.T. Arruda. By the end of the fourth inning, Rochester and Toledo were locked in a 4-4 tie.

CF Akil Baddoo put the Mud Hens back on top in the sixth inning. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Baddoo launched a ball over the right-center fence for his 12th long ball of the year to give Toledo a 5-4 lead through six innings.

After a scoreless seventh inning for both teams, Toledo extended their lead in the eighth. A single from 2B Hao-Yu Lee and a walk from Akil Baddoo set runners on first and second for DH Jace Jung, who singled into left field to bring home a run. Max Anderson then cleared the bases, blasting a three-run home run just over the fence and into the Rochester bullpen to give the Mud Hens a 9-4 lead.

Rochester kept their comeback hopes alive in the bottom of the eighth. Singles from Christian Franklin and José Tena and a walk from Yohandy Morales loaded the bases for RF Nick Schnell, who brought them all home on a triple to deep center field. Schnell came home a batter later, with Trey Lipscomb powering a ground ball past a drawn-in infield to bring the Wings within a run. J.T. Arruda singled to move Lipscomb to third with one out, but Rochester was unable to bring in the tying run on third home. The Red Wings entered the ninth still down, 9-8.

After a shutout top of the ninth inning, the Red Wings came up to bat down one with the top of the order coming up. After the first batter of the inning flew out, José Tena drew a walk to bring the winning run up to bat. Yohandy Morales then put a jolt in the third pitch he saw, sending it 112.8 MPH into the night sky to give Rochester the 10-9 win.

RHP Kyle Luckham made his third start of the season for the Red Wings on Friday night. In 2.1 innings, the California native allowed four runs on seven hits, walking three batters and striking out four. RHP Seth Shuman relieved Luckham in the third and recorded 2.0 scoreless innings, surrendering just one hit. LHP Garrett Davila was the next out of the bullpen, throwing 1.2 innings. The former fourth-round pick gave up two hits, one run, and struck out a batter. RHP Mason Thompson threw the seventh inning for Rochester, recording a scoreless outing. RHP Ryan Loutos came in for the eighth inning, finishing the inning while allowing four runs on three hits, and picked up two strikeouts. RHP Holden Powell closed out the game with a scoreless ninth, allowing just one hit.

1B Yohandy Morales is Friday night's Player of the Game. To cap off his multi-hit performance, the Florida native sent the final pitch of the game 433 feet to center field to give the Red Wings the win. This is Morales' second walk-off home run of the season, with his first coming on July 12 vs. Worcester. He is the first Red Wing with multiple walk-off homers in one season since at least 2004.

Rochester and Toledo will play game five of their six-game series on Saturday evening. RHP Adrian Sampson will start for the Red Wings, squaring off against veteran RHP Randy Dobnak. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM.

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International League Stories from August 22, 2025


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