The Rochester Red Wings were looking to avoid being swept by the Pawtucket Red Sox, but a late rally by the Boston affiliate gave the club their fourth straight victory over Rochester, 4-3. The series sweep moved the Red Sox into first place in the North Division of the International League and dropped the Red Wings to third.

Rochester jumped out on top in the first inning. Aaron Hickes led off the game with a single to centerfield. It looked like he was going to be stuck at first when Eddie Rosario flew out to left field, and Josmil Pinto struck out. However, Brock Peterson delivered a huge two out home run over the left-centerfield wall for his fourth home run of the year.

The 2-0 lead held for six innings, as Red Wings’ starter Pat Dean was absolutely dominant. The left-hander looked like he was going to struggle early on when he hit Jackie Bradley, Jr. to start out the bottom of the first, then allowed a single by Blake Swihart before walking Travis Shaw to load the bases with no one out. Dean then notched it up, striking out Luke Montz and Matt Spring swinging. Deven Merrero then flew out to Eddie Rosario to end the threat, and Dean would then take control.

A fourth inning single by Sean Coyle was the only other hit he would allow, and Swihart’s first inning walk was the only base on balls he allowed. Meanwhile he struck out seven batters, including four through the first two innings. Dean finished with 101 pitches thrown, 61 of which were strikes and lowered his season ERA to 0.50.

After allowing the first inning home run, Pawtucket starter Matt Barnes settled down and kept his team in the game. The right-hander allowed three hits in the first inning, but only allowed three more over the next four innings. Barnes didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.

Ryan Pressly took over in the seventh, and the Red Sox jumped on him right away. With one out Coyle walked, then stole second. Quintin Berry walked one later, then Bradley singled, scoring Coyle. A wild pitch allowed Berry to score, and the game was tied.

In the top of the eighth inning Rochester got back on top. Zeke Spruill took over to begin the inning and was greeted with a triple by Eddie Rosario into right field. A one out walk to Peterson put runners at first and third, and then Reynaldo Rodriguez lined a hit into centerfield to score Rosario and give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead.

With Pressly still on the mound for Rochester, Jeff Bianchi and Matt Spring had back-to-back hits with one out. Michael Tonkin then relieved, and promptly threw a wild pitch that scored Bianchi and tied the score. Later Jemile Weeks, who was running for Spring, scored on an error and Pawtucket took the lead for the first time in the game.

Tommy Layne took over in the ninth and pitched a perfect inning for his third save of the season. Spruill (3-0) recorded the win in relief, and Pressly (0-3) took the loss.

Four players had two hits for the Rochester Red Wings, including RF Aaron Hicks, CF Eddie Rosario, 1B Reynaldo Rodriguez, and LF Danny Ortiz. Rosario added a triple and a stolen base.

Rochester now moves onto play Syracuse tomorrow night. The Chiefs are 4-7 on the season, 1.5 games behind Rochester.

By Robert Pannier