Taylor Rogers is back! That is surely how it looked to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on Sunday afternoon, as the Rochester Red Wings left-hander stymied the visitors for six innings on route to a 5-3 win. The victory gave the Red Wings a split in their four-game series with the Lehigh Valley and moved them into a tie with Pawtucket for the North Division lead in the International League.

For three innings Rogers and Iron Pigs starter David Buchanan kept the game a scoreless tie. Rogers gave up a lead-off single to Chase d’Arnaud in the first, then retired the next ten hitters. Buchanan allowed two runners in the first and second innings, but came out of each frame unscathed. In the third he allowed a one out hit to Eric Fryer but injured himself during the at-bat and was pulled. Adam Loewen relieved and struck out the final two batters of the inning to keep the game a scoreless tie.

In the fourth Rochester finally broke the tie. Three straight singles by Wilkin Ramirez, Ryan Wheeler, and Nate Hanson plated the team’s first run. Ramirez scored on the bloop single by Hanson. Loewen made a great pitch, but Hanson fought it off and dropped the single into shallow center field.

In the bottom of the fifth the Red Wings would blow the game open. James Beresford walked to lead off the inning, and Eric Fryer was hit by a pitch. Josmil Pinto then singled to center field to score Beresford and put Rochester on top 2-0. A walk to Danny Ortiz loaded the bases and that would be it for Loewen.

Jason Berken took over the pitching duties for Lehigh Valley, and gave up a sacrifice fly to Ramirez that scored Fryer to make it 3-0. Ryan Wheeler then stepped to the plate and lined a double into the alley in center field to score both Pinto and Ortiz. Following a walk, Berken was able to retire the side, but the damage was clearly done.

Down by five the Iron Pigs finally plated a run in the sixth. With one out John Hester doubled and d’Arnaud followed with a single to drive him home. Taylor seemed totally unfazed, getting Cody Asche to ground into a double-play to end the inning.

That would be the last inning for the Rochester starter. Taylor (3-2) allowed 4 hits and zero walks in his 6 innings of work. He also struck out 4.

The score remained 5-1 until the top of the eighth. With Tim Stauffer pitching for Rochester, d’Arnaud singled with one out. Asche followed with a line drive single to right field, and Domonic Brown’s single loaded the bases. That was it for Stauffer. Lester Oliveros took over and gave up a sacrifice fly. A single by Brian Bogusevic scored Asche, but Oliveros got a ground ball out to end the inning.

In the top of the ninth, A.J. Achter came on to close out the game for Rochester. He retired the side in order on just nine pitches for his fourth save of the season. Rogers earned his third win of the season, and Loewen (1-2) took the loss.

For the Iron Pigs, d’Arnaud finished with three hits, raising his average to .303. Ryan Wheeler had three hits for the Rochester Red Wings, and he also drove in two runs. It was Wheeler’s first game with Rochester since coming to the club from AAA-Salt Lake.

Lehigh Valley continues their road trip by moving onto Syracuse. The Rochester Red Wings welcome the Durham Bulls tomorrow. Tommy Milone heads to the mound for Rochester with a string of 14 scoreless innings since joining the Red Wings. Game time is 7:05 local time.

Boxscore Provided by MiLB.com

By Robert Pannier