By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester scalps the Chiefs with an 8-2 victory.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Mitch Garver became the first Rochester Red Wings player to hit 3 home runs in one game at Frontier Field. The catcher/outfielder did it on Sunday afternoon in front of a paid crowd of 6,335 to lead the team to an 8-2 victory over the Syracuse Chiefs.
“I’ve done it before in 2014, right about this time of year,” Garver said of his feat. “A day game, just like this.”
Garver had an opportunity to become the first Red Wing ever to hit 4 homers in one game in the eighth inning, but flew out to center.
“It was exciting,” he said of his chance for a fourth HR. “There were a lot of people in the stands and all cheering. It was a very special feeling to have. I was trying to get the ball into the air…I knew if I got enough barrel it would have a chance.
“I have a tendency to tell the guys all the time that on any given day you can do something special. You never know when something special is going to happen.”
The previous time he hit three HRs, however, he did not have a chance for his fourth.
“I was 4-for-5, a single and three home runs,” said Garver.
Though Garver caught this game, lately when he alternates with John Ryan Murphy, he plays left field, and quite well.
“It’s a position I’ve played in college,” Garver said. “I take pride in shagging balls in PB. I like to run around in the outfield. It’s kind of an easy transition out there and I’m having fun. It’s a little bit easier on the body when I’m not catching. It’s nice to have versatility.”
After grounding out his first time up, Garver smacked his first of the three home runs, all of which went over the left field fence. His blast in the second inning was a 2-run shot with Engelb Vielma on base. Vielma reach with the third consecutive double, following hits by Bengie Gonzalez and Ryan Strausborger as the Wings scored 4 runs in the rally to take a 5-0 lead.
Garver came up again in the fourth and sixth frames and belted a solo homer each time, the last one travelling 411 feet.
The last Red Wing to hit 3 homers at home was Jim Fuller on June 7, 1976 at Silver Stadium. Garver is the first Rochester catcher to hit 3 homers since 1929, and the 11th Red Wing to accomplish the feat.
No Red Wing has ever hit 4 home runs in a game, but a Rochester player did hit 4 homers in one game in 1919, but the team he was on was the Rochester Jeffersons (1898-1925).
The Red Wings scored in the first inning when Matt Hague was hit by a pitch with two outs. ByungHo Park then ripped a double to center for the RBI.
The Wings final run came in the eighth when Tommy Field was hit by a pitch and scampered home on a 2-out double by Hague.
Nik Turley (3-2) picked up the win with two innings of relief, following Justin Haley and Craig Breslow, who both are with the Wings on rehab assignments from the Minnesota Twins.
The win put Rochester (49-39) 10 games over the .500 mark for the first time this season entering the mid-season All-Star break.
*NOTES – Mitch Garver’s 3-home run game Sunday was the first by a Red Wing since ByungHo Park did it in Pawtucket on July 28, 2016…In a roster move, LHP Craig Breslow began MLB rehab assignment from the Minnesota Twins…In the Express Mart Thruway Cup Series, the Red Wings are now 20-7 in the season-long competition for the Thruway Cup…Aaron Slegers is tied for the International League lead with 9 wins, and he is fourth with a 2.16 walks per 9 innings ratio…Rochester leads the IL with a 3.29 ERA entering Sunday’s game. The Red Wings have not led the league in ERA since the 1976 squad posted a 3.51 mark…Pitcher Drew Rucinski and trainer Larry Bennese will represent Rochester in the Triple-A All-Star game Wednesday in Tacoma, WA. Zack Granite was chosen to be a starter for the IL in the game, but since his call-up to Minnesota on Friday, he is ineligible to play.