Rochester, Harrisburg, Wilmington, and Fredericksburg all had different kinds of pain on Sunday, but the end result was the same: losses across the board.
The Red Wings were never able to recover from an early burst by Buffalo in a 6-1 defeat. The Bisons put up four runs in the first and stayed in control from there, handing Jared Simpson the loss after he was tagged for four runs on six hits and a walk in just 1⅓ innings.
That dropped Simpson’s ERA from 1.02 to 2.30. Rochester finally got on the board when Max Romero Jr. launched a solo homer in the third, but that was the lone run in a night where the club managed seven hits overall.
Cayden Wallace was the only Red Wing with more than one hit, going 2-for-4.
Harrisburg came much closer to pulling off a comeback, but Chesapeake held on for a wild 9-8 win. Yoel Tejeda Jr. was hit hard from the start, digging the Senators into an 8-0 hole while allowing four homers, eight hits, three walks and one strikeout over 4⅔ innings.
It was his sixth straight start allowing at least three runs. Harrisburg then made things interesting with five runs in the ninth, but that rally left them one run short.
Devin Fitz-Gerald drove the offense with a 2-for-5 night that included two doubles, five RBIs, a run scored, and three strikeouts, while Sam Brown homered and drove in two.
Wilmington’s offense never found a way through in a 2-0 shutout loss at Jersey Shore. Carson Fischer took the loss after giving up both BlueClaws runs across five innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out three.
R.J. Sales was excellent in relief, tossing three perfect innings with five strikeouts to close the door.
The Blue Rocks did put two runners in scoring position when Eli Willits and Yeremy Cabrera each walked and stole second, but Wilmington went 0-for-4 trying to bring them home. Jacob Walsh went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts, and Chris Hacopian also finished with a single.
Fredericksburg’s game had the most dramatic swing of the day, and it still ended in disappointment. Delmarva led 6-1 before the FredNats erupted for five runs in the seventh to tie it up, only to see the Shorebirds reclaim it and win 7-6.
Marlon De La Cruz allowed four hits and four walks over three innings, but only two unearned runs crossed while he struck out two. Jacob Weaver was charged with four runs in 3⅔ innings, and Cesar Rojas took the loss by allowing the game-winning run, his fourth defeat.
Rafael Ramirez Jr. led the Fredericksburg offense with a single, a double, and an RBI, and the FredNats finished with six runs on seven hits and five walks, including a 4-for-9 showing with runners in scoring position.
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