By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester squanders a 3-0 lead and falls to Pawtucket, but LV was rained out and will play 2 on Sunday.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings squandered a 3-0 lead and missed a chance to lower their magic number following a 5-3 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox Saturday night before 7,354 fans at Frontier Field.
“We don’t have a whole lot of what I call cigar games where we sit back and bury people,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade.
With Lehigh Valley game against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rained out Saturday night in Allentown, the Wings’ magic number for clinching the International League’s wild card spot remained at two. The IronPigs (76-62) control the tie-breaker as they won the season series from the Red Wings (78-61), 13-9.
The Wings and PawSox series continues Sunday at 6:05 pm, with fireworks after the game and a Byron Buxton bobble head giveaway.
Rochester rookie starter Felix Jorge worked around a single in the top of the first inning, helped out by a nice sliding catch in left field by J.B. Shuck.
PawSox starter Hector Velazquez set down the Wings in order in the bottom of the first, then exited the game as scheduled with former Red Wing Marcus Walden taking over on the mound.
After back-to-back singles by Anthony Recker and Tommy Field to begin the bottom of the third inning, the Red Wings broke on top on a 2-run double by rookie Levi Michael. A Matt Hague sacrifice fly later in the frame plated Michael with the third run.
The visitors from Rhode Island cut into the deficit when Dan Butler smacked a 2-run double in the top of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, the PawSox knotted the count at 3-3 on a sacrifice fly by Matt Dominguez.
Rochester manager Mike Quade replaced Jorge at that point and brought in Luke Bard. Jorge hurled 4.1 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. He had no strikeouts.
The Wings proceeded to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning on a hit batsman (Jonathan Rodriguez) and singles by ByungHo Park and Leonardo Reginatto. However, they were unable to capitalize on the opportunity as Pawtucket averted trouble via a pop out and two strikeouts.
“It’s not how you start but how you finish,” Quade said. “Our pitching was meh (5 Red Wings pitchers needed 162 pitches to record 27 outs). We didn’t score with the bases loaded…You’re looking for a big inning, but you’ve got to get something.”
Michael Kohn relieved Bard to begin the top of the seventh inning, making his first appearance for the Red Wings this season. Bard finished with 1.2 scoreless innings while striking out four.
The Red Sox took their first lead of the contest when Jeremy Barfield blasted a 425-foot solo homer over the “Bermuda Triangle” off Kohn to give Pawtucket a 4-3 advantage in the seventh.
Pawtucket added an insurance run off reliever Jake Reed in the eighth inning.
Reginatto was the lone Wing to reach base in the final two innings on a walk in the eighth.
*NOTES – The Minnesota Twins minor league clubs entered play Saturday with a winning percentage of .592 (440-303), tops in baseball and just ahead of the New York Yankees (.589, 512-358 with one additional minor league club)…Rochester is 56-16 when scoring first and leads the International League with a .778 winning percentage when scoring the first run of the game.The Lehigh Valley vs Scranton/Wilkes-Barre double header is schedule to begin at 5:35 Sunday, but the remannents of Hurricane Harvey could play havoc with the twinbill…Rochester squares off against Pawtucket at 6:05 Sunday with fireworks after the game…Minnesota Twin Robbie Grossman will be in a Red Wings uniform and be the DH on rehab assignment on Sunday against the PawSox.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – www.redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/UCXs6xWey3U