Rochester notches a 10-4 victory over the Louisville Bats while the IronPigs lose to Charlotte, 8-3.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Tommy Field belted a grand slam to lead the Rochester Red Wings to a 10-4 victory over the Louisville Bats on Friday night.
The victory, coupled with Lehigh Valley’s loss to the Charlotte Knights, upped the Red Wings (72-53) lead to 2 games over the IronPigs (70-55) in the chase for the International League’s wild card spot. Both teams have 17 games remaining in the regular season.
Rochester wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, as J.B. Shuck led off the game with a triple to center field and later came around to score on a fielder’s choice. The Bats grabbed the lead with 4 runs in the second.
An inning later, the Red Wings regained the lead for good with a five-run explosion, highlighted by a Tommy Field grand slam.
Shuck, Daniel Palka, Niko Goodrum, and Engelb Vielma each collected 2 hits for Rochester.
Kohl Stewart made his debut for the Wings and pitched 5 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits as he walked 1 and struck out 5 batters in gaining the win. John Curtiss and Michael Tonkin finished out the game as each gave up one hit and struck out 2 hitters.
The Bats and Red Wings will be back in action again tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m. Left-hander Amir Garrett (1-3, 5.93) will start for Louisville while right-hander Chris Heston (0-1, 7.63) will get the ball for Rochester.
*NOTES — Minnesota’s rainout on Wednesday set off chain of roster moves on Thursday. RHP Aaron Slegers, the scheduled Rochester starter yesterday, was addded as the 26th man and pitched well in the second game of the Twins doubleheader vs. Cleveland (6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 SO). He became the first Twins pitcher to throw at least 6.0 innings and allow two or fewer hits in his MLB debut since Pat Mahomes in 1992; LHP Nik Turley was recalled between games and LHP Buddy Boshers was optioned to Rochester; RHP Kohl Stewart and C Carlos Paulino were transferred to the Red Wings from Double-A
Chattanooga today. Stewart will make his Triple-A debut tonight. Paulino was sent to the Wings after C Mitch Garver was recalled by Minnesota. Garver replaces Robbie Grossman, who fractured his left thumb with Minnesota in game two last night. Garver ranks among the International League leaders in OPS (2nd, .928), SLG (2nd, .541), XBH (T-3rd, 46), 2B (T-3rd, 29), OBP (4th, .387) and AVG (.291) this season…Kohl Stewart will become the 23rd different starting pitcher used by Rochester this season, most in the International League. Stewart also will become the 39th different pitcher used by the Red Wings this year, a team record…Rochester leads the International League with a 3.20 ERA despite a revolving door of pitchers. A Red Wings team has not led the league in ERA since the 1976 squad posted a 3.51 mark…Daniel Palka had his 11 game hitting streak end after finishing 0-for-4 on Thursday. He batted .347 (17-for-49) with 3 doubles, a homer, 8 RBI and 6 runs scored during the stretch. Since returning from the disabled list on July 23, Palka has hit .298 and is tied for fifth in the league with 31 hits…Pitcher Tim Melville has been named the Batavia Downs Gaming and Hotel Player of the Week for Aug. 7-14. Melville was 1-0 in two starts, allowing four earned runs and five hits in 13.2 innings while striking out 15.