Red Wings pound Knights after explosive eighth inning

The Rochester Red Wings broke open a close game with a 10-run eighth inning Wednesday night, routing the Charlotte Knights 13-1 at ESL Ballpark.

The game was tied 1-1 through five innings before Rochester moved ahead for good in the sixth. Seaver King was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, and after Phillip Glasser walked, both runners moved up on a double steal. Yohandy Morales lined a single to center to score King, then Glasser came home later in the inning on Riley Adams' fielder's choice for a 3-1 lead.

The Red Wings' pitching staff made the lead stand. Charlotte was held to three hits and struck out nine times. Kyle Nicolas earned the win with a scoreless sixth inning, while Jared Simpson, Erik Tolman, Zak Kent, Justin Lawrence, Eddy Yean and Gus Varland combined to keep the Knights off the board after the third inning. Kent also picked off Riley Unroe at first base in the fifth.

Trey Lipscomb started the eighth inning with his 22nd home run of the season, pushing the lead to 4-1. After Riley Adams doubled and Cayden Wallace doubled him to third, Maxwell Romero Jr. singled home Adams. Johnathon Thomas followed with an RBI single, and King added another run-scoring hit to make it 7-1. Glasser then drew a bases-loaded walk to force home a run before Lipscomb delivered another RBI single. Adams capped the outburst with a grand slam to left field, his 11th homer of the season, finishing a 10-run frame and extending the lead to 13-1.

Adams led Rochester's 13-hit attack, going 4-for-5 with a double, grand slam and six RBIs. Lipscomb finished 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored. King had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run, while Morales added an RBI single and Wallace contributed a double during the eighth-inning surge.

With the win, Rochester improved to 68-46 on the season.

The Red Wings and Knights continue their series Thursday at ESL Ballpark.

Information gathered from milb.com.

This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Red Wings pound Knights after explosive eighth inning