Red Wings take step toward playoffs with blowout win

The Rochester Red Wings moved a step closer to the playoffs with a 14-1 blowout win over the Toledo Mud Hens on Saturday at ESL Ballpark. Rochester scored 11 runs in the sixth inning and improved to 45-27, strengthening their hold on first place in the International League East. Toledo led 1-0 in the fourth on a solo homer by Max Anderson, but Christian Franklin tied it in the bottom half with his own solo shot and Harry Ford put Rochester ahead with a homer in the fifth. In the decisive sixth, Phillip Glasser singled, Seaver King reached on a fielder’s choice, and Yohandy Morales added an RBI single before a sequence of hits and walks pushed the inning to 7-1. Morales later hit his team-leading 16th homer in the eighth. Pitching included a scoreless fifth by Zach Penrod and a scoreless ninth by Trevor Gott. With one game left in the first half, Rochester (45-27) is ahead of Memphis by winning percentage (.625 to .622), and winning the first half would secure a berth in the International League Championship Series in September.