By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester falls 7-2 to Pawtucket while the IronPigs sweep SWB to gain control of their own destiny in the season finale.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The regular season battle for the International League’s wild card playoff berth is coming down to the final game on Monday.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs gained control of their own destiny by sweeping North Division winner Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 3-2 and 2-0, on Sunday in Allentown to move into a tie with the Rochester Red Wings, who were shut out by the Pawtucket Red Sox, 7-0, before 6,279 fans at Frontier Field.
Both teams have 79-62 records heading into the regular season finale on Monday. If Lehigh Valley wins, the IronPigs will gain the wild card spot as they won the season series from the Red Wings, 13-9.
In order for Rochester to gain the wild card berth, Lehigh Valley must lose to SWB while the Wings need a victory over the PawSox; otherwise the IronPigs will gain the wild card position.
Rochester led Lehigh Valley by 4 games for the wild card on Aug. 23rd, following a double header sweep of SWB, with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
Since then the Wings have gone 4-7 while the IronPigs have gone 8-3 to tie Rochester at 79-62.
The Wings face the PawSox on Fan Appreciation Day with a 1:35 matinee while Lehigh Valley will try to beat Scranton/Wilkes-Barre one final time to earn the wild card spot.
The Red Wings were looking for some help with Hector Santiago starting on the mound. The Minnesota Twins hurler was here on a rehab assignment. Santiago lasted 4 innings plus 2 batters as he was tagged for 6 runs on 8 hits. He gave up 4 runs in the second and 2 more in the fifth.
Rochester was unable to get on track against PawSox hurler Kyle Kendrick who came in with a 6.02 ERA. He shutout the Wings on 3 hits over 6 innings; 2 of the hits were doubles by Matt Hague.
Rochester reliever Chris Heston gave up a solo homer in the sixth for Pawtucket’s final run.
The Wings finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth as an error and hit batsman put runners on base before Daniel Palka blasted a 2-run double to center field.
“We don’t do anything easy around here,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade. “I don’t know if we’re going to need help (but) either way we’re going to need to win a game.
“If Lehigh sweeps them and we can’t get a split here, then it’s too late, obviously. We have to come win a ballgame.”
*NOTES – The game start was delayed 41 minutes by rain and wet grounds…Minnesota Twins outfielder Robbie Grossman joined the Red Wings Sunday for a rehab assignment. Grossman went 0-for-4, reaching once on a fielding error…Matt Hague added two more hits to improve his IL-leading season total to 147 with one game to go; Hague has led the IL in hits 3 times in his career.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – www.redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/PJ0OxCmqWD0