RailRiders hurler Jonathan Holder strikes out 12 of final 13 batters he faces.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It was a good night for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, but a blow to the Rochester Red Wings playoff hopes as the visitors from Pennsylvania posted a 3-1 victory before 8,093 fans at Frontier Field.
SWB reliever Jonathan Holder came on in the sixth inning, after the RailRiders forged ahead 3-1 with a pair of runs in the top half of the frame, with two Red Wings runners on base and no one out. He proceeded to get out of the jam by striking out the next three batters.
Holder then fanned all 3 hitters in the seventh and eighth innings, and the first two batters in the ninth. John Ryan Murphy popped up between first and home. The ball dropped in for a single.
When asked if the players let the ball drop on purpose, Holder said with a smile, “I thought he was going to catch that.”
Holder then faced Byron Buxton, who represented the tying run at the plate, and he had hit a home run in each of his last four games. But Holder also got him to strike out to end the game.
For the first time in Red Wings history, 11 consecutive Wings were retired via strikeout. The previous high was 9 straight in 2003 by a Pawtucket pitcher.
“I just threw strikes and it happened to go my way today,” Holder said. “I’ve never had anything like that, at any level,” he added of the 11 straight K’s.
“I had four pitches I threw for a strike. Any pitcher wants to throw strikes with three pitches, and I happened to throw four tonight…My fastball command today was above average. I felt like I was commanding a high fastball, which was to my advantage, and a big curve ball was off my high fastball.
Red Wings announcer Josh Whetzel said on the air that just 3 major league pitchers ever struck out 9 in a row – Tom Seaver (10 in 1970), Ricky Nolasco (9, ’09), and Aaron Harang (9, ’12).
So for Holder to strike out 12 out of 13 batters he faced in Triple-A ball likely is something that will not be duplicated for a long, long time.
The New York Yankees prospect started his professional career in 2014. This season he began in Class A (Advanced) with Tampa, was promoted to Double-A Trenton before being called up to Triple-A SWB.
Holder said that he was in the bullpen three years in college and just this year professionally.
“I enjoy being back in the pen,” said Holder.
The RailRiders also clinched a playoff berth with the victory.
“I was with Trenton most of the year and they clinched last night,” Holder said. “I saw them celebrate and they had a good time.
“This team has been so great, I kept up with them the whole time I was in Double-A. When I got here I realized how special this team really is.”
Loss hurts playoff drive
The loss also hurt Rochester’s playoff drive for the International League Wild Card berth as the Red Wings dropped another game to the Lehigh Valley and now trail the IronPigs by 4.5 games with 8 remaining in the regular season. Lehigh Valley (80-55) and Rochester (76-60) opposed one another in the final 5 games of the regular season.
“It’s an up hill deal,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade. “We’re still within range.”
“We have a lot of confidence,” said Wings outfielder Adam Brett Walker, who had 2 doubles in the game. “We’ve been a pretty good team all year.”
The Wings scored in the first when Buxton led off with a single and advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw by SWB starting pitcher Bryan Mitchell. Buxton scored easily on a double by James Beresford.
“Mitchell struggled and we got just one run,” said Quade. “I thought we missed our opportunities to do more damage than the one run we got in the first. A lot of times that comes back to bite you.”
SWB hurlers fanned 21 Red Wings in the game.
“A fairly dominating performance by their starter and bullpen, at least from a strikeout standpoint,” Quade said of the RailRiders. “Holder is good. Mitchell is good (7 K’s). Both guys pitch up in the zone to make it very difficult on guys at any level, then combine that with good downward breaking balls.
“They’re very tough. We needed to take advantage of Mitchell’s control issues early. Holder was just as good as he can be today. Make no excuses, there’s a reason why they’re first in the league in pitching.”
The RailRiders tied the game in the fourth on a solo homer by former Red Wing Chris Parmelee off starter Jason Wheeler (11-5). Wheeler tossed 7 innings, scattering 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 3 hitters.
The series concludes on Monday night at 7:05 pm Brian and Stephen Gionta will be on hand to sign autographs prior to the game. Brian, 37, is in the final year of his contract with the Buffalo Sabres, and Stephen, 32, is an unrestricted free agent after spending the last 3 full seasons with the New Jersey Devils.
*NOTES – Logan Schafer was scratched from the lineup as he got called up to the Minnesota Twins, following an injury to Danny Santana…The last IL team to win 80 games and not make the playoffs was Ottawa in 2002 when the Lynx finished 80-61…Irondequoit native Cito Culver did not in the game for SWB.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
From milb, Jonathan Holder fans 11 straight – http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=1109740983&sid=milb
Jonathan Holder interview – https://youtu.be/WEqRpF4nlnA
Adam Brett Walker interview – https://youtu.be/7k_re9O3UsE
Manager Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/PZ21G_9RNNE