The Rochester right-hander limits Buffalo to 3 hits in the 6-2 win for first place.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Red Wings extended their lead in the International League North Division with a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Bisons before 5,591 fans at Frontier Field on Monday night.
The Red Wings (33-25) lead the Bisons (31-26) by 1.5 games and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (31-27) by 2 games. Rochester also now has the best record in the IL by half a game after the Columbus Clippers (32-25) lost on Monday night.
Right-handed pitcher Jose Berrios returned to his former form as he struck out 11 while yielding just 3 hits, though a pair of those hits were home runs by Casey Kotchman.
Berrios had the roughest game of his pro career his last two starts, both against Indianapolis, were he was tagged for 7 hits and 4 runs in 6 innings, then 10 hits and 7 runs in 5 innings. He lost both games and struck out a total of just 7 batters, his lowest total strikeouts in back-to-back game in his AAA career.
But on this night Berrios returned to his commanding form.
“You have to learn what you do wrong the last time and do adjustments from what I did last time, and that’s what I do,” Berrios said.
“Apparently the early flight home agreed with him,” said Rochester manager Mike Quade as the Red Wings concluded their road trip on Sunday. “We know what kind of stuff he’s got…and the command was so much better tonight.
“In the first inning, I don’t think he threw an off-speed pitch, which was great. He gave up a base hit but he stayed right with it because you’ve still got to build your game around your fastball command. His velocity was very good and he located real well.”
The Red Wings got on the scoreboard first in the second inning as Eddie Rosario continued his hot streak with a single. He stole second and took third on Wilfredo Tovar’s single. Adam Brett Walker drove him home with a sacrifice fly.
Rochester started off the third frame with 3 consecutive hits against Bisons hurler Drew Hutchinson. James Beresford and Jorge Polanco sandwiched singles around a ground rule double by Logan Schafer. Polanco’s hit drove in Beresford. Rosario plated Schafer with a sacrifice fly for the 3-0 lead.
The Wings made it 4-0 with an unearned run in the fourth. Adam Brett Walker led off and reached second on a throwing error by the Buffalo third baseman. John Ryan Murphy followed with a RBI hit to right.
Kotchman homered in the fifth, but the Wings got that back by a solo blast from Schafer in the sixth. Schafer signed a minor league free agent by the Minnesota Twins on June 2. This is his first time playing in the IL as he previously was with the Milwaukee organization.
“I came in and the team has been unbelievable nice to me,” Schafer said. “It’s such a fun team. All the guys are incredible and made me feel right at home…It’s fun to be on a team like this.”
Kotchman belted his second home run over the right field fence in the 7th to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Rochester answered right back in the home half as Tommy Field led off with a double, and scampered home on a 2-out double by Murphy, his first multi-hit game of the season.
*NOTES – The Red Wings gained sole possession of first place in the North Division for the first time this season with the victory on Sunday over Louisville…Rochester (32-25) entered Monday’s game just a half game behind the Columbus Clippers (32-24) for the overall best record in the IL…The Red Wings have hit 28 home runs, or 63.6% of their season total of 44, over the last 21 games since May 14 vs. Syracuse…Rochester leads the IL in triples with 21 as Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler have combined for 11 three-baggers. Indianapolis is next with 18 triples, but 9 teams have 11 or fewer triples to date.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Jose Berrios interview – https://youtu.be/3E5eJRohiyg
Logan Schafer interview – https://youtu.be/enFQwa5pY-k
Manager Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/jSZm6FateT0