Red Wings Drop Easter Sunday Contest to RailRiders

Zack Short homers, logs Wings’ only multi-hit performance

By Andrew Westbrook

April 5, 2026

Meeting at ESL Ballpark for the final time until September, the Rochester Red Wings (4-5) fell to the Scranton/WB RailRiders (6-3) for the fourth consecutive game, 16-4, on Easter Sunday. SS Zack Short muscled his first homer as a Red Wing in the second inning, and 1B Andrés Chaparro added

Meeting at ESL Ballpark for the final time until September, the Rochester Red Wings (4-5) fell to the Scranton/WB RailRiders (6-3) for the fourth consecutive game, 16-4, on Easter Sunday. SS Zack Short muscled his first homer as a Red Wing in the second inning, and 1B Andrés Chaparro added a pair of RBI with a two-RBI single.

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Scranton/WB struck first in the opening frame, as 2B Oswaldo Cabrera launched a solo home run to right field on a full count to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead. Rochester recorded three outs via two strikeouts and a groundout to limit the damage.

Rochester responded immediately in the home half, capitalizing on three walks to jump in front. RF Christian Franklin led off with a free pass, followed by another to C Harry Ford after a challenged pitch was upheld. After a strikeout, DH Abimelec Ortiz worked a third walk to load the bases, setting the stage for 1B Andrés Chaparro. The Venezuela native lined a two-run single into left-center to plate both Franklin and Ford and give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead.

Scranton/WB answered right back in the second, stringing together a multi-run inning to reclaim the lead. 1B Ernesto Martínez Jr. sparked the rally with a solo shot to right-center, and after a walk and double put two in scoring position, SS Jonathan Ornelas and LF Jasson Domínguez followed with back-to-back RBI singles to bring in two more. Scranton/WB plated three runs on four hits in the frame to take a 4-2 lead.

Rochester got one back in the home half of the second thanks to a solo shot off the bat of SS Zack Short, who turned on a 2-0 pitch and sent it down the left-field line for his first homer of 2026. The Red Wings trimmed the deficit to 4-3 before a pair of groundouts ended the inning.

Scranton/WB added on in the third without recording a hit, taking advantage of traffic on the bases to extend its lead. Following a pitching change, a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and a wild pitch helped load the bases before Jonathan Ornelas drew a walk to force in a run, making it a 5-3 game.

In the fourth, Scranton/WB extended its lead with a two-out rally sparked by RF Yanquiel Fernández. The Cuba native drove a 1-1 cutter down the right-field line and raced to third for a triple, then came home on a throwing error on the play to bring in the inning’s lone run, stretching the Red Wings' deficit to 6-3.

Scranton/WB broke the game open in the fifth with a two-out surge. C Ali Sánchez led off the inning with a single, and after another base hit from Jonathan Ornelas and a walk to Oswaldo Cabrera loaded the bases, Spencer Jones lifted a grand slam to left-center. The swing cleared the bases and pushed the RailRiders advantage to 10-3.

Scranton/WB added to its cushion in the eighth with another multi-run inning, beginning with a leadoff single from Oswaldo Cabrera. A base hit from Yanquiel Fernández brought Cabrera around to score, and after another pitching change, the RailRiders continued to apply pressure. Ernesto Martínez Jr. reached with a single before Ali Sánchez launched a three-run homer down the left-field line. Scranton/WB kept the line moving with a single and a walk, and Jasson Domínguez capped the inning with an RBI single to right-center, extending the lead to 15-3.

The RailRiders added one final run in the ninth, beginning with a hit-by-pitch to Spencer Jones and a single from Seth Brown to put two aboard. With two outs, Ali Sánchez lined a single into right-center to bring Jones home, making it 16-3.

In the final half-inning, Rochester showed late life at the plate, scoring twice before the game came to a close. LF Andrew Pinckney came around on a sacrifice fly from Harry Ford, and Abimelec Ortiz followed with an RBI single to right-center to bring in another, but the Red Wings were unable to extend the rally as the game ended in a 16-5 final.

RHP Andry Lara took the ball first for the Red Wings and delivered 2.0 full innings while allowing four earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk. RHP Bryce Montes de Oca allowed one earned run with a pair of walks in the fourth, and RHP Seth Shuman surrendered two earned on three hits with a pair of strikeouts across 1.1 frames. RHP Trevor Gott allowed three runs across 1.2 innings with two strikeouts and a walk. RHP Jackson Rutledge provided a clean inning in relief, retiring all three batters he faced. RHP Orlando Ribalta and position player Phillip Glasser combined to cover the eighth, and Glasser covered the ninth to finish the contest.

Rochester’s Player of the Game Sunday afternoon goes to SS Zack Short. The Kingston, New York native finished the contest 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and a single. He now has 47 career homers at the Triple-A level since making his debut with Iowa in 2019, across 386 total games.

The Red Wings will use their scheduled off-day on Monday to travel to Allentown for their first meeting of the 2026 season against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The first pitch of game one Tuesday night is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Find the box score attached HERE.

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