By Craig Potter
Tommy Field drives in 3 runs and Logan Schafer scores 3 runs for Rochester.
Greece family gets a surprise when their son in the Air Force returns home from overseas.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After erupting for 13 runs the previous night against Pawtucket, the Rochester Red Wings opened a key series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs with a 4-2 victory on Friday night before 10,409 fans at Frontier Field.
The victory moves Rochester (62-46) to within 3 games of Lehigh Valley (64-42) for the International League’s Wild Card berth. The Wings also picked up a full game on North Division leader Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (67-39) and now trail the RailRiders by 6 games.
Rochester got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when Logan Schafer drew a 2-out walk and stole second. Darin Mastroianni followed with a RBI single.
The IronPigs utilized a couple of scratch hits and a bloop, 2-run single off Red Wings start Pat Dean to forge ahead 2-1 in the fourth.
“Dean pitched real well,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade. “Fourth inning, what are you going to do? I wish we had a challenge flag. A couple of soft singles, that’s baseball.”
Dean (4-6) hurled 5.1 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 2 batters.
“A little bit of tough luck in that inning, but I tried to do my best and make sure that doesn’t get to me,” Dean said. “Not much you can do about it. I tried to get the next guys, I lucked out.”
The Red Wings put a pair of runs on the scoreboard in the fifth to regain the advantage for keeps. Schafer led off the frame with another walk. With one out, Wildredo Tovar doubled off the left field wall. Field then laced a single up the middle to plate both runners for a 3-2 Rochester advantage.
“I was trying to be aggressive,” Schafer said of the steal. “If I got thrown out, we had Mastro leading off the next inning.”
Schafer has the green light to steal anytime, unless he is given a signal not to steal.
The Wings concluded the scoring in the seventh on a leadoff single by Field. Tovar walked with one out, and John Ryan Murphy singled to load the bases. Field lofted a sacrifice fly to score Schafer with an insurance run.
“Two huge at bats for Tommy,” Quade said. “He just does a great job.”
The bullpen blanked the IronPigs the rest of the way behind Neil Ramirez, Ryan O’Rourke, D.J. Baxendale, and J.T. Chargois.
“Can’t say enough about the bullpen. What a job they did,” Quade said.
Game 2 of the series is Saturday night when members of the 1997 Governors’ Cup Championship team will make an appearance. Fireworks will follow the game.
*NOTES – The Minnesota Twins traded SS Eduardo Nunez to San Francisco Giants for LHP Adalberto Mejia, who then was optioned to the Red Wings…INF Jorge Polanco was called up to the Twins following the trade…INF Tommy Field now has reached base safely in 22 straight starts.
Surprise homecoming
Jesse Bonacci plotted with brother Matt to surprise their parents, Joanne and Vince of Greece, their grandmother, Terry, and aunt, Gloria Cambisi, on his return from deployment to southwest Asia with the Air Reserve on Friday night during the Rochester Red Wings game.
Matt planned the surprise to get his family to come to the Red Wings game by saying he was going to throw out the first pitch as part of the Veterans Outreach Service program for disabled veterans, which he did.
Then his family was made part of the Fan Feud at the end of the second inning, to get them on the field as Jesse and his finance, Ashley, were standing in the runway of the Red Wings dugout.
When the No. 1 answer to the question was revealed, “A military member coming home for a surprise,” Jesse came walking out of the dugout to greet his family to gleeful hugs and kisses.
Surprise reunion – https://youtu.be/4VyiAMgqR0g
Bonacci interview – https://youtu.be/lTS5jyuJito
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Logan Schafer interview – https://youtu.be/Dh3leQwh9o0
Pat Dean interview – https://youtu.be/JNyB5wCtchw
Manager Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/DZFi43ZAHn8