By Craig Potter
Rochester breaks up a no-hit and shutout bid with a hit and run in the 9th.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The chase is over for the Rochester Red Wings.
Before the largest crowd of the season (12,889) at Frontier Field, the Red Wings were eliminated from the Governor’s Cup Playoffs by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 7-1, on Friday night.
The IronPigs, who qualified for the playoffs for just the second time since they joined the International League in 2008, will be the Wild Card. The other 3 teams in the playoffs are the 3 division leaders: North – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre; West – Columbus; and South – Gwinnett, despite having a below .500 record.
The IronPigs are the Philadelphia Phillies farm club. For the franchise’s first 15 years of existence, it was the Ottawa Lynx.
Lehigh Valley put the game away early with 5 runs in the first inning of Rochester starter Jason Wheeler (11-6). Wheeler retired the first batter, but the next 7 hitters all reached base, including a pair of 2-run, bases-loaded singles.
That was the first time this season that Rochester manager Mike Quade made a pitching change in the first inning.
“I don’t remember the earliest I’ve been to the mound this year, but I don’t think it was before the third inning,” Quade said. “I can’t believe I’ve been out there in the first, unless somebody got hurt.
“Wheels had such a great year for us. It’s tough to take. It doesn’t take away from all that he’s done.
D.J. Baxendale came on in relief and threw 5.2 innings. He yielded his first home run of the season in the second inning on a solo blast by Nick Williams for a 6-0 Lehigh Valley advantage.
IronPigs starter Ben Lively fired a no-hitter through the 7 innings he worked, striking out a career-high 10 batters in earning his 11th win against 5 losses.
“Lively is good, and he’s been good against us before,” Quade said. “I’m glad to see Reynaldo get that hit, though.”
The regular season concludes with 3 games in Allentown over the Labor Day weekend.
“That’s just not the way you want it to end,” Quade said of the 1-hit loss. “But I’m so proud of the group there (in the locker room).
“What I’m proudest of is we played very well in a really good division.”
*NOTES – Rochester now is 80-61, and for the first time since the Governor’s Cup playoffs began in 1933, a Red Wings team that won 80 games will fail to qualify for the playoffs…The Red Wings are the only team in the IL to have a winning record each of the past 4 seasons…The crowd of 12,889 was the largest crowd at Frontier Field since the Wings season finale in 2009, which was 13,120…The Minnesota Twins recalled pitcher Buddy Boshers from his rehab assignment with the Wings.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Crowd – https://youtu.be/o7iP2hCGI8E
Fireworks1 – https://youtu.be/xLrmgD7uoag
Fireworks2 – https://youtu.be/TZvAz30-5oE
Manager Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/7on_4zD-RvA