By Craig Potter
Rochester strands 11 baserunners in the 3-2 loss to the Bats.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings stranded 11 runners on base in the 3-2 loss to the Louisville Bats before the largest crowd of the season, 11,138 on Star Wars Night at Frontier Field on Saturday.
The Bats grabbed the lead on Rochester starter Andrew Albers with 2 runs in the second on a double, walk, and RBI single by Seth Mejias-Brean.
The Wings battled back to tie the game with solo runs in the fourth and fifth frames on a bases-loaded hit by James Beresford, and a solo homer by Kennys Vargas, respectively.
However, the Wings left the bases loaded in the fourth and ninth innings, and a pair of ground-rule doubles by Adam Brett Walker cost the Wings a run in the second and fourth frames.
“We left 11 guys on base with chances in the first four innings to score,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade. “Good chances, too, leadoff walks, leadoff people on; bases loaded in the fourth, bases loaded in the ninth. It’s just one of those things.”
Louisville scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the sixth off Albers (6-2) when Steve Selsky stroked a 1-out double, then later scored on a 2-out single by Mejias-Brean.
Louisville leadoff hitter Scott Schebler attempted a bunt on the first pitch, but the ball went down into the dirt and came up and struck plate umpire Robert Moreno under the mask. He went down and was down for several minutes as trainers from both benches rushed to his aid.
Moreno got up and left the game under his own power. Third base ump Max Guyll then took over behind the plate as they finished the game with just 2 umpires.
Rochester rookie reliever D.J. Baxendale made his Triple-A debut in the sixth and retired all 7 hitters he faced. He struck out 3.
“He was good, real good,” Quade said of the right-hander.
Second baseman Beresford dove to his right to snare a ball, then flipped it from the prone position to shortstop Wilfredo Tovar, who got the force out at second then threw on to first baseman Vargos to complete the double play in the first inning.
In the second, leadoff hitter Selsky lined the ball to the left field corner. Walker threw it to Tovar, who fired to third baseman Miguel Sano in time for the tag out as Selsky got credit for a double.
In the fifth, Walker made another great sliding catch in left, following a Rafael Lopez single, for the first out. With 2 gone, Carlos Triunel singled to center. Eddie Rosario gunned the ball to catcher Carlos Paulino in time for the tag out on Lopez at the plate to end the inning.
Rochester and Louisville conclude their series with an afternoon game on Sunday, starting at 1:35.
Rochester (45-31) maintained its International League North Division lead over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (44-32) by 1 game, but Lehigh Valley (44-32) moved into a tie for second and is just 1 game behind as well.
*NOTES – Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Trevor May will join the Rochester Red Wings on a rehab assignment on Sunday, June 26. May was placed on the disabled list with lower back spasms on June 10. May was 0-2 with a 6.08 ERA in 29 games this season before landing on the disabled list. He made 18 appearances, all starts, for the Red Wings in 2014 and was on the Rochester Opening Day in 2015 but was recalled by Minnesota before appearing in a game. May is 11-17 with a 5.25 ERA in 87 major league games, 25 starts…Twins INF/OF Miguel Sano played his second game of a rehab assignment from the Twins, going 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Sano played 7 innings at third base, and will be DH in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Manager Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/OnvozcUsDYw