Red Wings Top Mets in Friday Night See-Saw Battle
IL Rochester Red Wings

Red Wings Top Mets in Friday Night See-Saw Battle

Published on May 8, 2026 under International League (IL)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


In a game that started as a pitching duel and turned into a high-scoring back-and-forth battle, the Rochester Red Wings (18-19) bested the Syracuse Mets (20-16) by a final score of 7-5. The Wings were behind 3-0 going into the sixth, before LF Christian Franklin and 2B Trey Lipscomb each hit homers as part of a five run inning. C Tres Barrera picked up the only multi-hit performance for Rochester including the deciding two-run single in the eight. On the mound, RHP Eddy Yean logged his second win of the 2026 campaign, while LHP Erik Tolman shut the door in the ninth for his first career Triple-A save.

The Mets quickly got themselves on the board in the bottom of the first. CF Nick Morabito reached base on a one-out walk, extending his on-base streak to 20 games, and reached second on a passed ball. CF Ryan Clifford then came to the plate and hit a single through the hole between short and third. Now with runners on the corners, Clifford attempted to advance on a ball in the dirt but got caught in a rundown. During the goose chase, Morabito took off towards home and narrowly beat the throw to score the first run of the contest. A strikeout and groundout ended the inning with Syracuse on top 1-0.

It took until the bottom of the fifth for the next scoring sequence of the game. 3B Yonny Hernández led off the inning with a five-pitch walk, and C Hayden Senger beat out a grounder to shortstop for a single. Following a strikeout and groundout to first that put runners on second and third, Nick Morabito came up and muscled a broken bat single over the shortstop's head that plated both runs and extended the Mets lead to 3-0. The next batter would reach on an error but a popout would retire the side.

The Red Wings bats needed a spark to ignite the offense, and Christian Franklin delivered it in the top of the sixth. Leading off the inning, Franklin stayed back on a changeup from Mets number two prospect RHP Jonah Tong and connected for his second consecutive game with a home run. The Wings would continue to load the bases, with a seven-pitch walk to RF Robert Hassell III, infield single from DH Dylan Crews that deflected off the pitcher, and successful full count ABS challenge from 3B Yohandy Morales. Rochester would score their second run of the inning via a sacrifice fly to deep center from 1B Andrés Chaparro that advanced all three runners. CF Andrew Pinckney would then chop a grounder up the middle fielded on a backhand by Ji Hwan Bae at second, who would throw him out at first but allow the tying run to score and advance Morales to third. The Flower City favorites weren't done yet, as 2B Trey Lipscomb crushed a two-run homer into the 315 Bullpen Bar in left, giving Rochester their first lead of the game, 5-3.

The Mets would get one of their runs back in the bottom of the sixth. 2B Ji Hwan Bae would start the frame with a walk, and promptly steal second. LF Christian Pache would advance him with a fly ball to center, and Yonny Hernández would then bring him in with a productive groundout to short. A strikeout would conclude the inning and send us to the seventh, but the Red Wings lead would be cut to one with a score of 5-4.

After the seventh inning stretch, Syracuse went back to work with the bats. RF A.J. Ewing got it started with a one-out double the opposite way into left-center. Nick Morabito would then be hit by a pitch, and Ryan Clifford would reach on an infield single to shortstop, loading the bases with one out. With a sacrifice fly into center field, DH Christian Arroyo would tie the ball game at five, and a groundout would end the inning.

The Red Wings wouldn't let the game stay tied for long, with Rochester using excellent plate discipline to regain the lead. Yohandy Morales and Andrés Chaparro would each walk to start the frame, and Andrew Pinckney would advance both runners with a sacrifice bunt. With another walk, Trey Lipscomb would reach base and load the bases for Tres Barrera. The former Texas Longhorn backstop would get a high fastball that he sent into the gap in left-center, scoring Morales and Chaparro, but would be thrown out in his attempt to stretch his knock to a double. The inning would come to a close with a groundout, but Rochester would be back on top, 7-5.

With their last attempt in the bottom of the ninth, the Mets would bring the tying run to the plate with a two out walk, but a popout would end the game 7-5 with the Red Wings improving to just a game under .500.

LHP Andrew Alvarez got the start on the bump for Rochester in Friday night's contest. Making his seventh start of the year, the Anaheim native made it into the fifth inning, finishing with a line of 4.2 innings pitched, a trio of runs, hits, and walks allowed, and eight strikeouts. RHP Seth Shuman replaced Alvarez in the fifth, going 1.1 innings and allowing one run on one walk and one hit, while striking out one. RHP Shawn Dubin made his third Red Wings appearance since being signed by the Nationals on 5/1, only recording one out and surrendering one earned on a pair of hits. Replacing Dubin in the seventh would be Rochester's saves leader RHP Eddy Yean, who ended up logging 1.2 perfect innings and adding on a pair of strikeouts. Coming on for the ninth in a save opportunity, LHP Erik Tolman shut the door. The flamethrowing southpaw allowed just one walk and struck out two in his first career Triple-A save.

The Rochester Red Wings Player of the Game on Friday night is C Tres Barrera. The Texas native logged his first multi-hit game in a Red Wing uniform since 6/7/2022, finishing the game 2-for-3 with a walk and a two-RBI double in the eighth that ended up being the deciding factor.

Rochester and Syracuse will meet again Saturday afternoon for game five of their six-game set. The Red Wings look to re-take the series lead, sending RHP Chandler Champlain to the mound against Mets LHP Zach Thornton. The first pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

Check out the Rochester Red Wings Statistics

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International League Stories from May 8, 2026


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