By CRAIG POTTER
Nik Turley hurls Rochester to a 3-1 victory with the late morning start.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Red Wings pitcher Nik Turley said he learned a lot about himself that he did not know in his brief outing with the parent Minnesota Twins a few weeks ago. Turley turned some of that knowledge into a 3-1 victory over the Charlotte Knights on Tuesday afternoon before 6,871 fans at Frontier Field on Summer Camp Day.
“It was great. I enjoyed every second of it even though I didn’t do as well as I would like,” Turley said. “It was an awesome experience.”
When asked what he learned, Turley said, “I definitely learned a few things about myself that I didn’t know before. I need to work on those things each day to get better.”
“Make the most out of a 3-run game, and get that insurance run in the eighth,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade. (Turley) was real good tonight…He had a lot of rest and it looked like it agreed with him. His breaking ball was really good for most of the game.”
The southpaw hurler threw 6.2 innings, scattering 4 hits, while giving up 1 run, 2 walks, and striking out 10 hitters.
“My curve ball was working good today,” Turley said. “I don’t know if they were having trouble hitting it or what. I do know that guys don’t like to play morning games, so I took advantage of that.”
The Knights scored first with a solo home run by Rymer Liriano in the fourth inning.
The Wings forged ahead with a pair of runs in the sixth. Mitch Garver drew a leadoff walk and Tommy Field followed with a double down the left field line to put runners on second and third. With 2 outs, Niko Goodrum laced a triple down the right field line.
Rochester tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Garver doubled to left-center. Field beat out an infield hit and Garver crossed the plate on ByungHo Park’s sacrifice fly to center.
The Wings continue to play stellar defense lately, which wasn’t the case for a stretch a short while ago.
“I put something on the board a couple of months ago getting on the defensive guys,” Quade said. “We were at the middle or near the bottom of the league, which was unacceptable, and they’ve played great…They made not only the routine plays, but great plays. Someone makes a wide throw and (shortstop Engelb) Vielma saves them. Stuff like that. It seems like we’ve made pitching and defense work for us.”
The bullpen did not allow a runner past first base. John Curtiss pitched the ninth, striking out 3 to earn his second save of the season.
*NOTES – RHP John Curtiss has struck out two batters in each of his last six appearances…The Minnesota Twins will need to make a roster move prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees, when RHP Bartolo Colon will need to be added to the 40-man and active rosters. Colon made just the one start for the Wings last Thursday at Lehigh Valley. He became the 20th different starting pitcher for the Wings, second most in the league behind Louisville with 21 different starters…Entering Tuesday’s game, Rochester relievers had pitched to a 1.45 ERA (16 ER, 99.0 IP) with 63 hits, 22 walks, and 103 strikeouts in the last 30 games since June 15…Rochester leads the International League with a 3.26 ERA despite using a team-record 35 different pitchers this season…The Charlotte series concludes with a game Wednesday at 7:05 pm.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – www.redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Nik Turley interview – https://youtu.be/FjuYPInak2E
Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/EHM8tmtTe1o