GAME STORIES JULY 16-31, 2008

Thursday 7/31/08
UGH! WINGS LOSE ANOTHER LATE ONE (DemocratandChronicle.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) -A costly error at the most inopportune time wasted a solid effort by the Rochester Red Wings Thursday night in a deflating 7-6 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium. Randy Ruiz had three hits, thre RBI and scored two runs for the Wings. In what turned out to be a back-and-forth battle between the teams, Rochester took a 6-5 lead to the bottom of the ninth after Garrett Jones' opposite field single scored Alejandro Machado. The Wings left the bases loaded, however, and that would later prove costly. Closer Bobby Korecky could not find a rhythm pitching for the fourth time in five nights and the defense behind him didn't help much. With runners on first and second with one out, Pawtucket's Chris Carter hit a routine one hopper to first base. Matt Macri attempted to throw out Keith Ginter at second, but his throw bounced off of Sergio Santos' glove and into center field.Jeff Natale scored on the error, tying the game at 6 and the Red Sox completed the rally one batter later when George Kottaras hit a run-scoring single to right.Korecky got the loss and recorded his ninth blown save of the season. Jon Switzer was awarded the victory for Pawtucket despite surrendering the lead in the ninth. The loss prevented Rochester from clinching its fourth consecutive winning month of July as it finished an even 14-14 for the month.Ruiz got the Wings (53-61) on the board in the top of the second with a solo home run to center field.

Tuesday 7/29/08
WINGS TOP PAWSOX; LOSE D-MAC FOR SEASON (DemocratandChronicle.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) -A rookie pitcher's Red Wings season got off to a promising start Wednesday afternoon, while a key veteran's season ended. Designated hitter Randy Ruiz and first baseman Garrett Jones each homered as the Rochester Red Wings piled up 12 hits in an 8-3 victory over the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium. Rookie Anthony Swarzak got the win in his Triple-A debut; the Wings found out after the game that Darnell McDonald would miss the rest of the season with a broken hand.
Starting pitcher Swarzak (1-0), making his Rochester debut, allowed three runs, one earned, on four hits over five innings. Jorge DePaula and Bobby Korecky each pitched two scoreless innings of relief, with Korecky getting his 17th save.
McDonald, Rochester's lone All-Star and the best all-around position player on the club this season, was hit on the left hand in the third inning by Pawtucket starter David Pauley. McDonald walked in his next at-bat, but came out of the game in the fifth inning. Ruiz tied the game 2-2 with a solo homer to lead off the fourth inning and Jones hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to give the Red Wings a 6-3 lead. Ruiz also hit his league-leading 33rd double of the season and centerfielder Jason Pridie his league-leading 14th triple of the year. The Red Wings (53-60) have only won 4 of 12 games against the first-place (68-44) Red Sox this season.

Tuesday 7/29/08
WINGS LOSE LEAD, GAME (PawSox.com/RedWingsBaseball.com) - Former Red Wing Gil Velazquez singled, doubled, and homered against his ex-team on Tuesday night, leading the Pawtucket Red Sox to a 5-3 win over Rochester. The Red Wings led until a three-run Pawtucket rally in the seventh inning. Randy Ruiz had two hits and drove in a run for the Wings. Velazquez is hitting .486 (18-37) against Rochester this season. Knuckleballer Charlie Zink (13-3) became the I.L.'s first 13 game winner, working 7 innings for the victory. Jeff Bailey and Chris Carter had 2 hits each. Kevin Mulvey turned in a fine start, pitching 6 1/3 innings and striking out four with no walks. Pawtucket got to Mulvey and reliever Ricky Barrett (3-5) in the seventh.

Monday 7/28/08
HUMBER DOMINATES YANKS Philip Humber struck out 10 while giving up three runs over 7.2 innings as the Rochester Red Wings defeated the Scranton/Wilkes Yankees, 7-3, Monday night at Frontier Field. The 10 strikeouts ties a Red Wings season high. Wings starter Humber was making his second start since being demoted to the bullpen on July 2nd. Meanwhile, Yankees starter Alan Horne was making his first start since coming off the disabled list, where he's been since July 2nd with a "tired arm". Horne, the Yankees fifth ranked minor league prospect, showed signs of rust early. After walking Jason Pridie and Adam Everett to start the game, Garrett Jones smacked a two-run triple, just out of the reach of a diving Brett Gardner in centerfield, to put the Wings up 2-0. Horne got himself into trouble again in the second. He walked Trevor Plouffe and Jeff Christy to lead off the inning before Pridie lined a single to center, scoring Plouffe. Yankees manager Dave Miley had seen enough and pulled Horne in favor of Chris Britton. Everett greeted Britton with a single up the middle, plating Christy and putting the Wings up 4-0. Britton got Darnell McDonald and Garrett Jones to strikeout before Randy Ruiz knocked in another run with a single to center.While Horne struggled, allowing five runs on five walks and two hits in 1+ innings, Humber (6-7) was dominant early. He struck out four of the first nine batters he faced and gave up only one hit through three innings. The Yankees touched up Humber in the fourth. Cody Ransom hit a two out two-run home run to trim the Wings lead to 5-2. There were some fireworks in the bottom of the fifth. Scranton pitcher Brian Bruney, who just entered the game, beaned Ruiz in the head with the first pitch of the inning. Ruiz started towards Bruney, where they were seperated by the home plate umpire and Yankees catcher Chris Stewart. After words were exchanged, both Bruney and Ruiz were tossed out of the game. Both teams' benches and bullpens cleared during the altercation but both stayed clear of each other. Sergio Santos entered the game for Ruiz and came around to score on Plouffe's fielders choice groundout, pushing the Wings' lead to 6-2. The Wings tacked on another run in the seventh, taking advantage of a Scranton miscue. Howie Clark reached second on a dropped fly ball by left fielder Ben Broussard to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Christy knocked Clark home with a single to center, extending the lead to 7-2. Casey Daigle came in with two on and two out in the eighth. He threw two wild pitches, allowing Chris Stewart to score, before striking out Cody Ransom to end the inning. Daigle came on to work the ninth but did not record an out as Ben Broussard went deep to lead off the inning cutting the Wings lead to 7-4. After walking the next batter, Stan Cliburn removed Daigle in favor of closer Bobby Korecky. Korecky got three quick outs for his 16th save.

Sunday 7/27/08
WINGS PULL AWAY, ROUT YANKS Howie Clark's two-run double broke open a tie game, boosting the Rochester Red Wings to an 10-5 win over the Scranton/Wilkes Yankees Sunday night at Frontier Field. Clark's hit was one of three consecutive doubles in Rochester's three-run sixth inning. Jason Pridie knocked in four runs for the Wings. The Wings started Francisco Liriano, one of the hottest - and arguably the best - pitchers in Minor League baseball, against Alfredo Aceves, a Triple-A rookie but a veteran of six Mexican League seasons. Liriano was 5-0 with a 0.26 ERA in his last five starts before Sunday; Aceves brought a 1.64 ERA after four games (two starts) into Sunday's matchup. But the Yankees struck first, when former Wings Chris Basak stroked a ground rule double down the left field line in the second inning. Basak's two-out hit offset Liriano striking out side in the second, and the Yankees led 1-0. In the meantime, Aceves was perfect through two, racking up three strikeouts. The Wings got back in the game in the fourth. Scranton first baseman Cody Ransom mishandled a throw on a Garrett Jones single, scoring Adam Everett to even the score at one. Rochester took the lead when Randy Ruiz hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Darnell McDonald for a 2-1 Wings advantage. In the fifth inning, the Wings pulled ahead. Trevor Plouffe drew a walk to start the inning, and moved to second on a bunt by Ryan Jorgensen. Pridie followed with his 12th home run of the season, a towering shot that glanced off the tri-motion sign in right field. Liriano (10-2) breezed into the sixth inning, allowing just two baserunners over three innings after the second. But Nick Green quickly tied the game in the sixth with a two-run homer, a blast to center on an 0-1 Liriano pitch that made it a 4-4 game. Aceves was finished after five innings, his longest outing of the season so far. The Red Wings gave relief pitcher J. B. Cox (4-4) a rude greeting, using three hits to post a pair of runs - with Clark's two-run double the biggest hit of the inning. Plouffe's infield out brought in another run, and Rochester led 7-4. Plouffe's eighth inning single plated Ruiz, and Pridie drilled a two-run single for the final Rochester runs. Liriano allowed eight hits over six innings, striking out nine while walking one and hitting one batter. Ricky Barrett relieved Liriano, tossing a perfect seventh inning with two strikeouts. Bobby Korecky retired the side in order in the eighth, and allowed a ninth inning run but still recorded his 15th save.

Saturday 7/26/08
WINGS FALL SHORT AGAINST YANKS The Rochester Red Wings fought back from an early deficit but dropped a 4-3 contest to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Saturday night. Randy Ruiz homered and knocked in two runs for the Wings. The series moves to Rochester for a 6:05 PM contest Sunday night, with Francisco Liriano on the mound for the Wings.The Yankees picked up a pair of second runs against Carmen Cali, making a spot start out of the Red Wings' bullpen. A one-out walk was followed by three straight singles, with J.D. Closser and Chris Stewart getting the RBI hits. The Red Wings fought back with a run in the fourth against Kei Igawa, when Ruiz's sacrifice fly brought home Adam Everett. The game was tied in the fifth after Jason Pridie's RBI single. But the Yankees got a pair against Mariano Gomez in the sixth, on Cody Ransom's 19th homer of the year on a hit that just wrapped around the left field foul poul in fair territory. Bobby Korecky took over for Gomez in the seventh, with a runner on second base. Korecky struck out Matt Carson to escape the threat by Scranton, and added two more strikeouts. Steven Jackson relieved Igawa and struck out three in two innings. The Red Wings added a ninth inning run against Scott Strickland, when Ruiz hit his 15th home run of the season to end the scoring. Cali worked five innings and allowed the second inning runs, scattering four hits and walking one with two strikeouts.

Friday 7/25/08
SLOPPY PLAY DOOMS WINGS, YANKS RALLY TO WIN The Rochester Red Wings dropped the opener of a two-game series with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, losing 7-3 Friday night after jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Randy Ruiz knocked in two runs for Rochester. The Wings staked starter Brian Duensing to an early lead. Ruiz clubbed a two-run double in the first against Yankees starter Jeff Karstens (6-4) , bringing in Adam Everett and Darnell McDonald for a 2-0 lead. Everett's run-scoring single in the second boosted the lead to 3-0 Rochester. Duensing, making his final start before leaving for Team USA Olympic competition, allowed a pair of hits and fanned one while cruising through the first three innings. In the fourth, Matt Carson homered off Duensing (5-11) to get the Yankees on the board; after three more hits and a walk from Duensing, Scranton had pulled within a run at 3-2. Nick Green's sacrifice fly tied the score at 3-3. The Yankees pulled ahead the next inning, taking advantage of the third Rochester error of the game. Juan Miranda's RBI single brought in Alberto Gonzalez with the lead run. When Gonzalez homered off Duensing with one out in the seventh, Julio DePaula came out of the bullpen to take over on the mound. The Yankees added two more runs off DePaula and led 7-3. Sloppy play hurt the Wings, who made a total of four errors in the game. Duensing allowed a total of 10 hits and five runs - all earned - in 6 1/3 innings.

Thursday 7/24/08
FIVE-RUN INNING LEADS WINGS OVER HENS The Rochester Red Wings used a five-run fifth inning to power past the Toledo Mud Hens 6-1, on a rainy Thursday afternoon at Frontier Field. The game was called after five innings. Garrett Jones provided the thunder with a three run homer, helping starter Kevin Mulvey to his first win since May 29. In June and July, Mulvey had been 0-2 with six no-decisions. In five innings, Mulvey (4-8) allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks. The righty allowed baserunners in every inning, but was helped by strong defense, including a nice unassisted double play by Adam Everett to end the fifth. In the first game of a rehab assignment, Everett went 1-3 with an RBI and handled three balls smoothly. Both pitchers were effective early. Mulvey got through five innings with just one run against him, a second inning home run by Toledo shortstop Michael Hollimon. For the Mud Hens, Chris Lambert (10-6) set down the first six Red Wings he faced before allowing a game-tying home run to Sergio Santos in the third inning. Santos, who had gone 2-for-12 during the first three games of the homestand, smacked a line drive that just cleared the fence in left field. The score remained knotted until the bottom of the fifth inning, when it began to rain in earnest. With runners on the corners and one out, Everett hit a seeing eye single through the left side of the infield, bringing Alejandro Machado home. Darnell McDonald followed with a single of his own to add another tally. With two men still on base and the rain pouring down, Jones then stepped into the box and hit a towering home run into the right field bullpen. The three-run blast, Jones' 13th, put Rochester up 6-1 before the game was called at the end of the inning. Lambert gave up six hits on six runs, striking out seven and walking one in five innings of work. The pitcher had been on a streak of solid starts coming into Thursday''s contest, including a complete game shutout on July 12. Wings slugger Randy Ruiz was held hitless in two at-bats, yet still reached base on a hit-by-pitch. Ruiz had accumulated 14 hits in his previous 39 at-bats. For Toledo, center fielder Freddy Guzman singled in the third and proceeded to steal his 30th base of the year, good for fourth in the International League.

Wednesday 7/23/08
SIX-RUN INNING LEADS WINGS OVER HENS The Rochester Red Wings used a six-run fourth inning to power past the Toledo Mud Hens 9-6 Wednesday night. Philip Humber pitched five shutout innings, striking out five to get the win. The Wings got on the board first in the third inning. Alejandro Machado scored when Toledo third baseman Mike Hessman made a throwing error on a Ryan Jorgensen bunt, giving Rochester a 1-0 advantage. Rochester did damage again in the fourth, scoring six runs. Darnell McDonald led off with a double, followed by a Garrett Jones double down the right field line which scored McDonald for a 2-0 Wings lead. Jones scored on a wild pitch by Toledo starter Anastacio Martinez to make the score 3-0 in Rochester's favor. A Matt Macri double drove in Randy Ruiz to give Rochester a 4-0 lead. The third Wings double of the inning, by Jorgensen scored Macri which put the Wings up 5-0. A Jason Pridie home run to right field gave Rochester a 7-0 lead, sending the crowd of 6,703 into a frenzy. The Wings struck again in the seventh. Jorgensen lead off the inning with a home run, his second of the game, followed by a round-tripper by Pridie to put Rochester up 9-0. The back-to-back home runs were the first for the Wings since September 2nd of last year when Glenn Williams and Jones accomplished the feat . Toledo finally got on the board in the eighth. A Michael Hollimon single off Danny Graves, who replaced Gomez at the beginning of the inning, drove in Brent Clevlen to make the score 9-1 Rochester. Graves then walked Kody Kirkland, which brought Jeff Larish across the plate to cut Rochester's lead to 9-2. After Graves was relieved by Tim Lahey, the Wings appeared to be out of trouble when Macri made a heads up double play, catching a line drive from Max St. Pierre, and then doubling up Hollimon off second. However, Freddy Guzman hit a three RBI double, scoring Mike Hessman, Derek Wathan and Kirkland, which made the score 9-5 in favor of Rochester. Toledo continued their rally when Timo Perez doubled to score Guzman, making the score 9-6 Rochester. Bobby Korecky then replaced Lahey, and promptly struck out Clevlen to end the Mud Hens rally. Wings starter Humber had a strong outing, going five innings while striking out five before giving way to Mariano Gomez at the beginning of the sixth inning. Gomez threw two innings, striking out one and giving up one hit. Graves replaced Gomez at the beginning of the eighth, and pitched to five batters, walking two. Graves was relieved by Lahey, who threw two-thirds of an inning, giving up two hits and walking one. The Hens put runners at second and third with one out in the ninth, with Korecky striking out Kirkland for the second out. Korecky ended the Hens' hopes by striking out St. Pierre to end the game.

Tuesday 7/22/08
LIRIANO DAZZLES, WINGS ROUT HENS It's pretty hard to win a ball game when you have more errors than hits, and the opposing starting pitcher strikes out 10 of your batters in seven innings. That was the situation the Toledo Mud Hens faced as they had had five errors to just four hits and were dismantled by Francisco Liriano and the Rochester Red Wings, 13-0, on Tuesday night at Frontier Field. Liriano, who finished with 10 strikeouts, the most that a Red Wing has had since Brian Bass had 11 last Sept. 2 against Buffalo, set the tone starting in the first inning. With just 15 pitches, he struck out the side. The offense did their part in the bottom half of the inning as well. Jason Pridie led off the inning with a triple, his IL-leading 13th of season, and Howie Clark swiftly followed with a laserbeam home run over the left field bullpen The jack put Rochester up, 2-0. The Red Wings scored four more runs in the third, the first coming without a hit and lots of shoddy defense by Toledo, After two errors by the middle infielders to put Clark and Garrett Jones on base, Mud Hens starter Virgil Vasquez whipped the ball past first base, allowing Clark to score. After that, Matt Macri doubled, Trevor Plouffe hit a sacrifice fly and Alejandro Machado doubled to score the fourth, fifth and sixth runs of the game. All the runs in the inning were unearned. The fourth was more of the same after runners scored on a single from Darnell McDonald,a sac fly by Randy Ruiz and a double by Trevor Plouffe, making the score 9-0. Before Plouffe's double, Vasquez was removed for reliever Jeremy Johnson. Vasquez's line was 3.2 innings pitched while allowing nine runs (five earned) on nine hits. The Wings made it double digits, 10-0, in the sixth inning when Plouffe came around to score when Mike Hessman made Toledo's fifth and final error of the night. As he left the field after the seventh inning, Liriano (9-2) was greeted by a standing ovation from the fans. It ended up being his final inning as Carmen Cali was brought in to relieve him. Liriano didn't allow a run and surrendered just two hits while walking two and striking out 10. The Wings brought their tally to 13 in the eighth, just one run short of their season-high 14 runs on June 10 and July 10, both against Durham.

Monday 7/21/08
HENS TOP WINGS The Toledo Mud Hens used an early lead to top the Red Wings 6-4 Monday night at Frontier Field. Garrett Jones and Jason Pridie homered for Rochester. The Mud Hens struck first when Brent Clevlen hit a solo shot off Wings starter Julio DePaula just beyond the left field fence for a 1-0 Toledo lead. Toledo did more damage in the second, scoring four runs. Freddy Guzman doubled down the right field line to bring in Kody Kirkland. Dane Sardinha then scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Timo Perez, despite a fantastic catch by Alejandro Machado made just a shade in foul territory on the right side. The next batter, Clevlen, hit his second home run in as many innings to give Toledo a 5-0 lead at the close of the inning. The Wings answered in their half of the second, when Jones led off the inning with a towering home run to right-center off Toledo starter Eddie Bonine (10-2) to make the score 5-1 in the Mud Hens' favor. DePaula (1-5) was relieved before the third inning, after giving up five runs on seven hits. He was replaced by Casey Daigle. Rochester got on the board again in the third. Toledo catcher Sardinha mishandled a throw by Jeff Larish off a Pridie ground ball, allowing Machado to score. Darnell McDonald then grounded into a RBI force out to third, allowing Jeff Christy to score to cut Toledo's lead to 5-3. However, the Mud Hens increased their lead in the fourth, when Perez hit a solo home run off Daigle, increasing Toledo's lead to 6-3. Ricky Barrett relieved Daigle at the beginning of the sixth. Daigle gave up one run on two hits while striking out two in three innings of work. After two innings on the mound by Barrett, Mariano Gomez took over at the beginning of the eighth and retired the side in order, striking out two. The Wings narrowed Toledo's lead to 6-4 in the eighth when Pridie hit a solo shot, energizing the crowd of 5,839. Blaine Neal, the league's closer, pitched the ninth and allowed a leadoff single to Randy Ruiz. Neal struck out Matt Macri, and pinch-runner Tommy Watkins moved to second on Neal's wild pitch. Trevor Plouffe hit a knuckler to center that Clete Thomas dropped, putting the tying runs on base. Machado flew out to center for the second out, moving Watkins to third base. But Neal got a grounder to short from pinch-hitter Sergio Santos, to seal the win and pick up his 24th save.

Sunday 7/20/08
MACHADO THE MAN IN WINGS WIN Alejando Machado drilled a two-out, bottom of the ninth single to score Trevor Plouffe from second base, and the Rochester Red Wings outlasted the Norfolk Tides 7-6 on Sunday night at Frontier Field. In the ninth, Norfolk went ahead against Wings closer Bobby Korecky, (5-3) who allowed two runs on three hits, the final blow being a single off the bat of Chris Roberson, that put Norfolk up, 6-5. Roberson finished the night 5-for-5, all singles. After Garrett Jones led the ninth inning off with a walk, he was replaced on the basepaths by Tommy Watkins. After stealing second, Watkins scored the tying run when Plouffe doubled off Jim Miller (2-4). That led to Machado's heroics, when he stroked the winning hit on an 0-2 Miller pitch, with Plouffe sliding in around the throw at home for the winning run. The Red Wings scored early in the game thanks to some small ball by Jason Pridie. After he walked on six pitches from Tides starter Chris Waters, Pridie stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored when Jones hit a sacrifice fly to center. After a first inning that didn't provide a hit, the second inning packed a little more punch from an unlikely source. After Plouffe doubled, Machado plastered a home run to left field, his first since Aug. 16, 2006, when he was with Pawtucket. Brian Duensing danced around four Norfolk hits in the first two innings, keeping the Tides scoreless with help in part from a great play in centerfield by Pridie, throwing out Oscar Salazar at third for the final out. But the Tides scraped together a one-run effort in the third inning, scoring a run by combining two hits and an error. Duensing quickly recovered to get three straight outs, ending the inning by striking out Omir Santos with two runners on base. The Wings struck back in the fifth inning. After Darnell McDonald led off the inning with a scorching double to the right-centerfield gap, Matt Macri drove him in with a sac fly two batters later. That made the score 4-1 in favor of the Wings. The Tides rolled right back after Duensing was removed in favor of Mariano Gomez in the top of the sixth inning. After he started inning with a flyout, Gomez quickly found himself in a jam. Jeff Fiorentino walked and then scored after two consecutive singles. Gomez was removed after getting the second out on a force out by Tike Redman. Casey Daigle took over in his place and finished the inning after allowing a walk. Duensing ended up going five innings while allowing one run on nine hits. He also struckout three batters. A solid start was needed by Duensing as he had lost five of his last seven starts and hadn't lasted more than four innings in either of his last two starts. To give him an even better chance for a win, Rochester tacked on another insurance run in the sixth. It happened when Jones drove in Jeff Christy with a single to right, making the score, 5-2. Unfortunately for the Wings, the inning ended on the same play when Howie Clark was tagged out at home. Norfolk answered back in the seventh when Jeff Costanzo, who hit a lead-off double, was plated by Santos' sac fly to left. That inched the Tides closer, 5-3. The next top half of the inning was more of the same. Redman reached on a throwing error by Machado and scored when Eider Torres drove him in with a single. The game nearly was tied after Torres stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch by reliever Carmen Cali. The inning ended when Salazar stroked a liner into left that was caught on a dive by McDonald.

Saturday 7/19/08
NORFOLK FIGHTS BACK TO WIN; RUIZ STREAK ENDS AT 24 The Norfolk Tides were held hitless for the first 5 1/3 innings Saturday night, but racked up nine hits to stun the Red Wings 7-6 at Frontier Field, in front of a crowd of 11,729 - largest of the season so far. Garrett Jones homered and drove in two runs, and Jason Pridie had three hits for Rochester. Randy Ruiz had his 24-game hitting streak snapped in the game. Jones got the Wings on the board early against Andy Mitchell (9-5) with a towering two out, two-run home run over the four-deck billboard in right field, following a Darnell McDonald double. The Wings tacked on two more runs with two out in the second. Jeff Christy knocked home Matt Macri with a single to right and Pridie followed with his league-leading 12th triple of the year, scoring Christy to put Rochester up 4-0. Red Wing starter Kevin Mulvey mowed down the Tides' order through the first three innings. The only baserunner to reach was Luis Hernandez on an error by shortstop Sergio Santos. The Tides broke through in a big way against Mulvey in the sixth. Eider Torres picked up the Tides' first hit of the game with a single up the middle with one out. Oscar Salazar followed with a home run over the left field wall cutting the Wings lead in half at 4-2. Norfolk tacked on four more hits and three more runs in the inning to push ahead 5-4. The Wings came right back and tied the game at five in the bottom half of the sixth. Macri hit a two-out double to right and scored on Santos' bloop single that fell in front of right fielder Luis Terrero. The game didn't stay tied for long as Mike Costanzo hit a two-run home run off Wings reliever Ricky Barrett (3-4) in the seventh to put the Tides ahead 7-5. Rochester answered back in their half of the seventh. Christy lead off with a single and Pridie followed with a beautiful bunt base hit up the third baseline to put runners on first and second with no outs. Howie Clark moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt and McDonald brought home Tommy Watkins, who pinch ran for Christy, with a sac fly to center trimming the Tides' lead to 7-6. Bobby Korecky pitched the final two innings for the Red Wings, allowing just a walk while striking out two. Ruiz flew out in his first two at-bats, and was caught looking at a called third strike in the sixth inning. Ruiz had one more chance in the eighth, but struck out against Kameron Mickolio.

Friday 7/18/08
TIDES' EARLY LEAD PACES WIN; RUIZ HOMERS A six-run first inning paced an 11-5 Norfolk Tides win over the Rochester Red Wings Friday night at Frontier Field. Randy Ruiz extended his hitting streak to 24 games in dramatic fashion, clubbing an eighth inning home run. Ruiz had gone 0-for-3 heading into his final at-bat. Ruiz fanned against Randy Keisler in the second, flew out to center in the third, and hit into a double play in the fifth. Facing Jon Leicester in the eighth, Ruiz golfed an 0-1 pitch to center, just clearing the wall for his team-leading 14th homer of the season. The Tides did serious damage in the top of the first, scoring six runs off Wings starter Danny Graves. Luis Terrero singled, bringing in Tike Redman and Eider Torres for a 2-0 Norfolk lead. After two more Tides scored, Graves was visited by pitching coach Stu Cliburn; Graves eventually got out of the inning, but was replaced by Philip Humber at the beginning of the second inning after giving up six runs on seven hits. The Wings wasted no time in chipping away at Norfolk's lead. Jason Pridie led off the first with a double to center. Trevor Plouffe then reached on an error by Norfolk first baseman Oscar Salazar, making the score 6-1 Norfolk. Norfolk further increased their lead in the third. Jeff Fiorentino hit a solo shot to center field, giving the Tides a 7-1 lead. Rochester got on the board again in the third inning. Ryan Jorgensen led off the inning with a single, and then Garrett Jones brought him home with a single to center field, making the score 7-2 in Norfolk's favor. Humber was relieved by Mariano Gomez at the beginning of the fourth. The Tides scored again in the fourth, thanks to a Rochester error. When Torres broke to steal third base, Jorgensen's throw went past Sergio Santos, allowing Torres to score which put the Tides up 8-2. The Wings answered quickly, scoring twice in the fourth. After Matt Macri led off with a single, Howie Clark hit a stand-up triple to deep center field, driving in Macri to make the score 8-3. The next batter, Santos, made the score 8-4 when his RBI groundout scored Clark. Casey Daigle tossed two scoreless relief innings, followed by Carmen Cali's one-two-three eighth inning. The Tides capped teh scoring with two runs in the ninth against Tim Lahey.

Thursday 7/17/08
RUIZ MAKES HISTORY AS WINGS TOP TIDES Randy Ruiz extended his hitting streak to 23 games and Francisco Liriano's scoreless innings streak ended at 26 2/3 innings as the Rochester Red Wings washed away the Norfolk Tides, 7-4, on Thursday night at Frontier Field. Liriano (8-2) pitched eight solid innings, allowing just one run. "In my opinion he's getting to where he needs to be to be in the majors again," Wings' manager Stan Cliburn said of Liriano. "He's setting up his pitches with his fastball and fooling batters when the ball comes out of his hand." The Wings were up against Tides starter Hayden Penn, who earned his first win of the season against Rochester on April 8. The Wings (46-54) promptly started their revenge as they scored two runs in the first inning. After Darnell McDonald hit a one-out double off the top of the left field wall to move Trevor Plouffe to third, Garrett Jones hit a sacrifice fly to score Plouffe for the first run. The next batter, Ruiz, laced a ball through the infield to left field for another run. The hit extended Ruiz's hitting streak to 23 games, the longest hitting streak by a Wing since day-to-day records began in 1979. Jones kicked off a four-run fourth against Penn, launching an 0-1 pitch to right-center for his 10th homer of the season. Penn, who allowed just four runs over his last three starts, got a quick out before allowing a single to Howie Clark. Matt Macri worked Penn for a walk, then Sergio Santos drilled a two-run double into the left field corner. Jason Pridie's RBI double off the wall in centerfield finished the scoring and the Wings, who owned a 6-0 lead. Penn (4-5) did not come out the next inning as he was removed in favor of reliever Ryan Bukvich. Penn finished with six runs on six hits and only one strikeout. After entering the game with 21 1/3 scoreless innings, Liriano surrendered back-to-back doubles in the sixth to end the streak. His new count of 26 2/3 puts him second on the Red Wings list behind Nick Blackburn (44 innings in 2007) and ahead of Curt Schilling (25 inn. in 1989) for the longest streaks without allowing an earned run since Red Wings records started in 1967.The Wings tacked on their seventh run in the eighth inning. After Ruiz got his second hit of the game, a double, Clark dunked a single into center to score him, making the score, 7-1. After pitching eight solid innings, Liriano was removed in favor of Ricky Barrett. Liriano's line was one run on seven hits and eight strikeouts. After allowing a lead-off double, Barrett allowed two of the next four Tides hitters on, putting himself in a bases loaded situation. Mike McCoy fixed that problem as he hit a bases clearing double to the right-centerfield wall, inching Norfolk (41-58) closer to the Wings, 7-4. After that hit, Bobby Korecky got Tike Redman to fly out to center to end the game and earn his 13th save of the season.

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