Red Wings Halted by IronPigs in Thursday Night Tilt
IL Rochester Red Wings

Red Wings Halted by IronPigs in Thursday Night Tilt

Published on April 9, 2026 under International League (IL)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


With a chance to take a commanding 3-0 series lead Thursday night, the Rochester Red Wings (6-6) instead came up short, falling 8-1 to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (8-4). CF Andrew Pinckney picked up a pair of hits and an RBI at the plate, and RF Christian Franklin added two hits of his own out of the leadoff spot. 2B Trey Lipscomb picked up the Red Wings only extra-base hit of the night, a double down the right field line in the third.

Rochester struck first in this matchup for the third-straight night. Trey Lipscomb smoked a double down the right field line that narrowly stayed fair to lead off the third frame. DH Phillip Glasser then came to the plate and did his job, hitting a fly ball deep enough to right to advance Lipscomb to third. SS Zack Short then jumped on the first pitch of his at bat, and laced a four-seam fastball that landed in front of the left fielder, bringing in Lipscomb for the first run of the game. A groundout and deep flyout brought the inning to an end with a 1-0 Red Wings lead.

An inning later in the bottom of the fifth, Lehigh Valley posted four runs of their own. 1B Felix Reyes blooped a one out base hit that landed between the retreating second baseman and charging right fielder. A wild pitch moved Reyes to second, and a walk to RF Bryan De La Cruz put two runners on with one out for DH Carter Kieboom. The former Red Wing fought a nine-pitch battle before staying back on a slider, pulling it down the left field line for a double that scored both Reyes and De La Cruz. A strikeout brought 2B Liover Peguero to the plate, who delivered a two-out RBI single into right field to score Kieboom and make it 3-1 IronPigs. The hometown team wasn't finished, as lefty hitting C Caleb Ricketts hit a double the opposite way that brought Peguero in from first for their fourth run of the inning. A squared up groundout to Zack Short ended the fifth inning with a 4-1 score in favor of Lehigh Valley.

Rochester threatened in the top of the fifth but to no avail, and the IronPigs kept the offense rolling in the bottom half. SS Sergio Alcántara barreled a one out double over the right fielder's head that one-hopped the wall. After a lineout, Bryan De La Cruz brought Alcántara in with a single between short and third to make it a 5-1 Lehigh Valley lead through five.

After no action in the sixth, the IronPigs got back to work after the seventh inning stretch and threatened quickly. LF Óscar Mercado hit a leadoff single and promptly stole second. A hit-by-pitch to 3B Christian Cairo and hard single into right from Sergio Alcántara loaded the bases with nobody out for Lehigh Valley. A grounder to first from Felix Reyes gave Rochester a chance for a double play, but Reyes hurried down the line and made it safely to first, bringing in Mercado and leaving runners on the corners with one out. The Red Wings minimized the damage in the inning to one, after throwing out an attempted base stealer and getting a punchout to end the inning, leaving it 6-1 IronPigs.

Rochester went down in order in the first half of the eighth inning, and Lehigh Valley aimed to extend their lead further in the latter half. CF Pedro León drew a one out walk, and stole second on the second pitch of the next at bat. A shallow fly ball to no man's land from Liover Peguero dropped between the shortstop, second baseman, and center fielder for a single. León attempted to score on the single, but was gunned down at the plate by Zack Short for the second out of the inning. The IronPigs tacked on two more runs with a double from Caleb Ricketts followed by a single from Óscar Mercado, sending the game to the final inning with an 8-1 Lehigh Valley lead.

The Red Wings were able to plate a run in the top of the ninth after singles from LF Robert Hassell III, 3B Yohandy Morales, and Andrew Pinckney, but Lehigh Valley took home the 8-2 victory in the third game of the series.

LHP Mitchell Parker manned the mound for Rochester in tonight's contest. The 26-year-old southpaw made it through 3.0 smooth innings, before running into trouble in the fourth. He was replaced by RHP Trevor Gott with a final line of 3.2 innings, four earned runs, four hits, four punchouts, and a pair of walks allowed. Gott stayed in for the fifth inning, pitching a total 1.1 innings while allowing one earned run and two hits. RHP Jack Sinclair entered in the sixth and allowed one earned on two hits over his 2.0 innings of work, adding on a strikeout. RHP Andre Granillo made his Red Wings debut in the eighth inning, allowing two earned on three hits, one walk, and one strikeout.

RF Christian Franklin is your player of the game for the Red Wings. The Arkansas alum finished the game 2-for-4, raising his batting average to .300 (12-for-40) on the season, and extended his on-base streak to all 10 games since the start of the season.

Rochester and Lehigh Valley square off again tomorrow night as the Red Wings look to avoid dropping below .500 in 2026. RHP Luis Perales will get the start for Rochester and the Phillies affiliate will be sending out RHP Connor Gillispie.

Check out the Rochester Red Wings Statistics

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International League Stories from April 9, 2026


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