By Craig Potter
Jose Berrios strikes out 9 in blanking the Tides for 6 innings to get the win.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings completed a sweep of the 4-game series against the Norfolk Tides on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 triumph before 7,019 fans at Frontier Field.
“I’m actually not a fan of 4-game series, but if you play them it’s always nice to get a sweep,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade.
The victory extended the Red Wings’ winning streak to 5 games.
Left-hander Jose Berrios (9-4) struck out 9 in blanking the Tides for 6 innings. He struck out the side to begin the game, and allowed just 4 hits and 2 walks in gaining the win.
“When I go out I want to win every time,” Berrios said. “Today my change-up was really, really nice.”
Adam Brett Walker laced a double down the left field line, scoring Daniel Palka, who had reached on a single, for a 1-0 lead.
In the second, a 2-out single by John Ryan Murphy was followed by singles from Tommy Field and James Beresford, who had the RBI.
Rochester made it 3-0 in the third when Palka beat out an infield hit, then 2 Tide errors allowed him to score what proved-to-be the game-winning run.
“We just gave away some opportunities, especially early in the game,” said Quade. “And then we were given a gift in the third inning by mistakes they made.”
Reliever Buddy Boshers pitched the 7th for the Wings, and Marcus Walden came on in the 8th. He faced just 4 batters, yielding 3 singles and a walk as the Tides pulled within 3-2.
Sean Burnett was called upon to put out the fire.
“I feel healthy and I’ve had success in my career when I am healthy,” said Burnett, who has had two Tommy John surgeries.
“Marcus has been so good for us all year, it’s nice to be able to bail him out.”
He recorded outs on the first two batters he faced. Audry Perez singled to left. Dariel Alvarez raced around third and headed for home with the tying run.
Rochester left fielder Adam Brett Walker retrieved the ball and fired it to catcher Murphy., who applied the tag for the final out of the inning.
“If you’re playing on the corners and your throws are accurate, you will get 80 percent,” Quade said of Walker’s arm. “He’s made a lot of strong throws and has 2 or 3 assists.”
Walker leads the Wings outfielder in assists as Quade said he has worked hard to improve and has come a long way this season, his first in Triple-A.
Rochester (56-40) leap-frogged over Lehigh Valley (55-40) into second place in the International League North Division, but remained 4.5 games behind first place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (60-35).
The Wings open a 3-game series with the Durham Bulls on Monday night at 7:05 p.m., with former Buffalo Bills star Darryl Talley signing autographs before the game.
*NOTES – Buffalo Bills legendary linebacker Darryl Talley will be signing autographs from 6-6:45 p.m. and again from 7:15-8 p.m. on Monday at Frontier Field as the Durham Bulls come to town…Class A Cedar Rapids infielder Zander Wiel is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. He appeared in games for the Kernels, hitting .444 (8-for-18) with 1 double, 3 home runs, 12 RBI, 4 walks, and runs scored. In 83 games for the Kernels this season, Wiel is hitting .246 (80-for-325) with 18 doubles, triples, 10 home runs, 51 RBI, and 43 runs scored. The Tennessee native was drafted by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Jose Berrios interview – https://youtu.be/-1vFZNdNSqw
Sean Burnett interview – https://youtu.be/KVtUF56jlvg
Manager Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/-llDIP8bzfw