Cocos Locos Walk It Off In 10 innings Friday Night

Cocos Locos de Rochester picked up the win Friday night against Scranton/WB, 2-1 in 10 innings. The victory guarantees a series split, snapping a four-series skid. RHP Jackson Rutledge tossed 5.0 scoreless innings while striking out seven batters for the third time this season, and RF Blake Rutherford extended his hitting streak to an International League-leading 14 games.

For the second-straight night, both teams went scoreless through the first three innings. Both teams logged a hit apiece heading to the fourth, coming from 1B Andres Chapparo and Cocos Locos’ CF Derek Hill. Scranton/WB led off the fourth with a double from Chapparo, but Rochester starter Jackson Rutledge escaped the jam without any damage to preserve the scoreless tie.

The scoreless trend continued through the sixth for the second night in a row, as RailRiders starter RHP Will Warren retired 17 of the first 20 Rochester batters he faced. RF Blake Rutherford laced a single to left in the seventh to put the Cocos Locos back in the hit column, their first since Derek Hill’s single to lead off the first.

C Carlos Narvaez broke the tie in the top of the eighth, lacing a single to right-center to score CF Estevan Florial and give Scranton/WB a 1-0 lead.

Rochester’s opponents have now scored first in 15 of the last 16 games dating back to 8/13 against Lehigh Valley.

Rochester answered in the bottom half, started by LF Cody Wilson who reached on an error and stole second. 3B Erick Mejia followed suit with an infield single to put runners on the corners. The next at-bat, SS Richie Martin roped a single up the middle to tie the game at one.

The game would head to extra-innings for the second-straight night, the first time Rochester has played back-to-back extra inning games since 4/12-13/2018 at Gwinnett. LHP Tim Cate stranded the RailRiders extra-inning runner at second in the 10th to keep the game tied heading to the bottom half.

Wilson laid down a sacrifice bunt to lead off the 10th. A throw to third in an attempt to throw out PR Jordy Barley sailed into left field, allowing him to cross the plate and secure a walk-off win for Rochester, their ninth of the season.

Jackson Rutledge made his 11th career Triple-A start, logging 5.0 scoreless innings on just two hits while tying his season-high with seven strikeouts. RHP Junior Fernandez came in first out of the bullpen, and logged a scoreless inning on one hit. RHP Hobie Harris and RHP Luis Reyes kept the scoreless trend going with an inning each.

Friday night’s Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to starting pitcher RHP Jackson Rutledge. The Missouri native logged 5.0 scoreless frames on just two hits, while striking out seven for the fourth time this year. Rutledge now leads all Nationals Minor Leaguer’s with 119.0 innings pitched.

The Wings look to clinch the series win Saturday, when they’ll send RHP Roddery Muñoz to the bump to make his seventh start with the Wings. Rochester’s offense will be tasked with RailRiders RHP Clayton Beeter. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

Find the box score attached here