MEMPHIS (Interstat) — The Rochester Red Wings opened their Triple-A International League playoff series with a 4-3 victory over the Memphis Redbirds on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at AutoZone Park. Joe Glassey earned the win in relief for Rochester, Kyle Nicolas recorded the save, and Jurrangelo Cijntje took the loss for Memphis. The game, Game 1 of the series, took 2 hours, 47 minutes and drew 4,617 fans. Rochester improved to 90-57, while Memphis fell to 79-68.

Rochester struck first in the opening inning. Seaver King singled on a soft ground ball to right fielder Chase Davis, Trey Lipscomb doubled on a sharp line drive to left fielder Zach Levenson, and Riley Adams lifted a sacrifice fly to center fielder Colton Ledbetter that scored King. Cijntje limited further damage by striking out Leandro Pineda. Memphis answered in the second when Levenson hit a line-drive home run to left field. The Redbirds could not build on the homer, as Noah Mendlinger and Trey Paige were retired on grounders to first baseman Liover Peguero.

Rochester regained the lead in the fifth on King’s home run to center field. The Red Wings added two more runs in the sixth. Leandro Pineda doubled to right field, Andrew Pinckney doubled to left to score Pineda, and Pinckney moved to third on Sam Petersen’s single. Maxwell Romero Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly to left that brought Pinckney home. Memphis escaped further trouble when Liover Peguero grounded into a double play.

Jimmy Crooks kept Memphis close with a home run to center field in the sixth. Ramon Mendoza followed with a double, and walks to Bligh Madris and Chase Davis loaded the bases. The rally ended when Noah Mendlinger grounded into a double play started by second baseman Trey Lipscomb. Crooks finished 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, and Levenson also homered for Memphis.

Seaver King went 3-for-5 with a home run and one RBI for Rochester. Cijntje, who fell to 5-10, worked six innings for Memphis, allowing eight hits and four earned runs while walking two and striking out six. Sandro Santana struck out three in one scoreless inning, Matt Svanson struck out two in a scoreless inning, and Hancel Rincon allowed two hits in a scoreless inning. Rochester pitchers combined for 22 strikes, 38 balls and 22 balls in play. Memphis pitchers combined for 22 strikes, 67 balls and 22 balls in play.

Glassey, now 6-0, tossed two scoreless innings for the win, allowing no hits with one walk and one strikeout. Matt Krook allowed one hit and one earned run over two innings with one walk and two strikeouts. Eddy Yean pitched a scoreless inning with one walk. Nicolas, who has two saves this season, allowed two hits and one earned run in 1.1 innings, walking one and striking out three. He recorded the final out after Memphis threatened in the ninth. Trey Paige singled, Colton Ledbetter walked, and Crooks singled home Paige to cut the Rochester lead to 4-3. Nicolas then got Ramon Mendoza to fly out before striking out Madris to end the game.

Rochester finished with 10 hits and made two sacrifice flies while grounding into two double plays. Memphis had seven hits and grounded into two double plays. The Red Wings improved to 90-57 and took a 1-0 lead in the series. The Redbirds fell to 79-68. Rochester had won four of its previous five games, while Memphis also had won four of its previous five entering the playoff opener. The series continues Wednesday at AutoZone Park.

Before the game, Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Rochester 7, Memphis 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave Rochester a 51.2 percent probability to win. The Red Wings will look to take a 2-0 series lead when the teams meet again Wednesday, while Memphis will try to even the series.