Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) @ Rochester Red Wings (WAS)
June 12, 2024
S: Anthony Misiewicz
Attendance: 5,348
Time of Game: 2 hours, 50 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Rochester, NY
Opened: 1997
Capacity: 13,500
Level: Triple A
League: International
Time of Game: 2 hours, 50 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Rochester, NY
Opened: 1997
Capacity: 13,500
Level: Triple A
League: International
My second of three straight days seeing New York AAA games was in Rochester for a Wednesday matinee. Rochester was one of just two stops on this trip where I did not spend a night in the area. It was a morning drive from Buffalo to Rochester and then a late afternoon drive to Syracuse. So my time in the city was rather limited. This was the third straight game at a downtown ballpark though, so I did at least get a little bit of a feel for the city. Innovative Field is conveniently located on the west part of downtown. Shortly before my trip, I had someone who goes to school in Rochester tell me that it annually ranks as one of the cloudiest cities in America. I can only assume he made that up because it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. A perfect day for baseball.
Like Buffalo, the main concourse here is beneath the seating area and does not encircle the entire stadium. There are no actual seats much beyond the infield on either side. But the main seating bowl is quite large, with sections above and below a walkway. The only outfield vantage points are from party areas down the line in both left and right field. I originally intended to sample some of the most popular food items at each of the parks I've been attending, but often have failed to do so because I don't like waiting in lines when there are other options. But in this case, I had plenty of time to kill and decided to try a local favorite, a beef on weck sandwich. It was worth the wait.
This game featured the Yankees and Nationals AAA squads, both of which I had seen play during my Eastern PA trip a few weeks prior. Being a Yankees affiliate, Scranton had plenty of supporters at this game in the heart of New York State. The home team was well supported too though. Unfortunately, I just missed seeing Nationals top prospect James Wood again, as he returned from his hamstring injury the week after this game. Of course, I've seen him play in person for the Nats in DC a couple times since. With Wood out, the game's biggest prospect was Scranton/Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez, who at the time was working his way back from Tommy John surgery last fall. He went 1 for 5 in this game. Unfortunately, he suffered an oblique injury a few days later, further delaying his return to the big leagues. Ben Rice played first base for the RailRiders and had a pair of hits. He made his MLB debut a week after this game and has given the Yankees offense a nice boost since then. To say Rochester's bats were cold in this game would be an understatement. Despite being handed eight walks, they recorded just one hit the entire game, a fourth inning single by Travis Blankenhorn, and did not score. Josh Maciejewski, who is currently pitching out of the Yankees bullpen, got the start for Scranton and allowed just that one hit with no runs in 4 1/3 innings. Rochester starter Andrew Alvarez pitched five scoreless innings in his second career AAA start. The game remained scoreless until the top of the seventh. Oscar Gonzalez hit a line drive to right which Blankenhorn slipped while charging in on, allowing the ball to skip past him, turning what should have been a single into a one out triple. Greg Allen followed with a double to right to give Scranton/WB a 1-0 lead. In the ninth, the RailRiders added some insurance as Allen once again knocked in Gonzalez with a double. He would then score on a sac fly by Jeter Downs to give the RailRiders a 3-0 lead, which was the final score.
While I didn't see much offense in this game, the following night made up for it. After this fun afternoon at the ballpark, it was on the road again as I drove a little further east to Syracuse where I spent the next two nights.
Next ballpark: NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse, NY
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