Monday 6/30/08

LIRIANO LIGHTS OUT, WINGS HOLD ON TO WIN Francisco Liriano showed flashes of his 2005-06 form as he mowed down nine Ironpigs in seven innings in the Red Wings 2-1 victory over Lehigh Valley Monday night at Frontier Field. Randy Ruiz's RBI double and Sergio Santos' sac fly in the fourth inning provided the offense for the Wings. The Wings conclude the homestand with a 7:05 PM game with the IronPigs Tuesday. It was a lefty-lefty matchup, with Liriano opposing Lehigh Valley's Travis Blackley. Lehigh Valley was 7-1 in Blackley's last eight starts, and he had a 2.45 ERA in two starts against the Wings this season. Liriano breezed through the first three innings, striking out four and allowing three hits - including two infield hits. Blackley allowed just a walk over the first two innings, issued a one-out walk in the third, but retired the next two hitters. The Wings broke through for two runs in the fourth off Blackley. Darnell McDonald led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a Garrett Jones groundout. Ruiz scorched an RBI double to left scoring McDonald. Matt Macri followed with a single moving Ruiz to third with one out, where he would be knocked home on a Santos sacrifice fly making the score 2-0. Liriano struck out a season-high nine batters over his seven scoreless innings, scattering four hits and walking only one in his best outing of the season. He threw 106 pitches, 70 for strikes. Blackley also finished with seven innings and allowed just three hits, walking five and fanning three. Tim Lahey took over in the eighth inning and tossed a scoreless inning, giving way to Bobby Korecky for the ninth. Korecky allowed a single and a walk sandwiched around a strikeout, then Jon Knott, who started the year with the Wings, knocked an RBI single through the left side of the infield trimming the Wing's lead to 2-1. Korecky battled back, getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the game, and picking up his 11th save of the season.

Liriano's nine strikeouts tied the team high for 2008, with Kevin Mulvey reaching that figure twice...On Sunday, Pawtucket's Jonathan Van Every became only the 10th opponent to hit three home runs in a game vs. Rochester in their 121 seasons in the International League. Buffalo’s Mickey Rocco (6/28/1941) and Chick King (8/12/1954), Jacksonville’s Harry Chiti (6/22/1962), Tidewater’s Gary Rajsich (4/15/1981), Pawtucket’s Julio Valdez (8/29/1984), Syracuse’s Otto Velez (5/17/1973) and Toledo’s Tim Teufel (4/26/1983) and Stine Poole (4/27/1983) are the other players to hit three home runs in one game vs. Rochester....The last Red Wings player to hit three home runs in a game: Leo Gomez April 9, 1990 at Pawtucket. The Red Wings have had 12 players hit three home runs in a game; prior to Gomez, the last three Red Wings to do it: Jim Fuller vs. Charleston 6/7/1976, Curt Motton vs. Richmond 6/11/1974 and Bobby Grich vs. Richmond 6/17/1971)...Beloit OF Ben Revere extended his hitting streak to 23 games Monday night against Cedar Rapids, with a single in his first at-bat. Revere brought a league-leading .411 average into play Monday...Class A Beloit pitcher Santo Arias was named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week. Click here to find out more about Arias. Beloit right-hander Mike McCardell went the distance Sunday, allowing just one run and five hits in a 2-1 Snappers win....Stan and Stu Cliburn's recent fishing excursion with reporter Leo Roth was featured in Sunday's Democrat and Chronicle; check out now at DemocratandChronicle.com..

Sunday 6/29/08
PAWSOX PASTE WINGS The first place Pawtucket Red Sox displayed their league leading offense Sunday afternoon, pounding six home runs in an 10-0 victory over the Red Wings which was called in the bottom of the eighth due to rain. Jonathan Van Every homered three times for Pawtucket; Devern Hansack (4-8), earned the win by holding Rochester's offense, second in batting average behind Pawtucket, to just two hits. Darnell McDonald and Randy Ruiz had the lone Red Wings hits. The Paw Sox struck first in the first inning. Jed Lowrie hit a two-run home run to left field off Rochester starter Brian Duensing (4-8) to give Pawtucket an early 2-0 lead. PawSox starter Hansack, who brought a 16-inning scoreless streak into Sunday's game, retired the first 11 Rochester batters he faced before giving up a two-out double to McDonald in the fourth. Hansack pitched seven scoreless innings Sunday, allowing McDonald's double and a single to Ruiz. Duensing settled down and didn't allow another hit until the 5th inning. However, the hit was a two-run home run by Jonathan Van Every, increasing Pawtucket's lead to 4-0. Casey Daigle relieved Duensing at the beginning of the sixth inning. Duensing threw five innings, giving up four runs on three hits, while striking out three. The PawSox tagged Daigle for four runs in the seventh. Former Wing Gil Velazquez lead off the inning with a solo shot to left for a 5-0 Pawtucket lead. Van Every made it back-to-back home runs, when he took a Daigle pitch to almost the same spot as Velazquez's home run for a 6-0 Paw Sox advantage. A third Pawtucket home run, a two run shot by Lowrie, made the score 8-0 in favor of the Paw Sox. Julio DePaula entered the game in the eighth, and allowed Van Every's third roundtripper of the day. The umpires called for the tarp after steady rain turned much heavier with the Wings batting and two outs in the eighth. Jose Vaquedano had just relieved Hansack. After a 39 minute rain delay, the umpires decided to call the game. Rochester allowed six home runs, the most since April 11, 2003, when the Wings gave up six home runs also to Pawtucket at Frontier Field. The ten-run shutout was the most against the Wings since June 11, 2001, when they were shut out 11-0 by Pawtucket at Frontier Field.

Saturday 6/28/08
MATT'S THE MAN, HELPS WINGS TOP PAWSOX Matt Macri's two-run home run off Jon Switzer in the 10th inning gave the Red Wings a dramatic 8-6 win over first place Pawtucket Saturday night at Frontier Field. Macri had a key two-run double to put Rochester ahead earlier in the game, but the PawSox scored a pair in the ninth to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Garrett Jones drilled a one-out triple off the centerfield wall in the bottom of the 10th against Switzer, and scored the tying run on a flare to right by Randy Ruiz.. Jon Van Every's solo home run in the 10th inning had put Pawtucket ahead. The win snaps Pawtucket's eight-game win streak. The Wings grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third off Pawtucket's knuckleball starter Charlie Zink. Jeff Christy led off the inning with a single to center and was moved to second on a sac bunt by Denard Span. Jason Pridie followed with an RBI double off the right-center field wall. Wings starter Kevin Mulvey was sharp early, allowing only two base runners through the first three innings. However, Mulvey got himself into trouble in the fourth. Back-to-back singles to lead off the frame put runners on first and third with no one out. Mulvey worked out of the jam by getting a shallow fly out to left, a strikeout and a great back-handed play by shortstop Macri to end the threat and keep the Pawsox off the board. The Wings tacked on a run in the fourth on Tommy Watkins' first home run of the season, a solo blast over the 390' sign in left-center. Former Wing Gil Velazquez got the PawSox on the board with a solo home run to left, cutting the Wings lead to 2-1. Rochester fought right back in their half of the fifth, scoring three runs off Zink, who came into the contest holding the second best ERA in the IL (2.33). A one out single by Pridie and a two out walk to Jones set the stage for Ruiz and Macri who each delivered with RBI hits, Macri's a double to center that plated Jones and Ruiz and pushed the Red Wing lead to 5-1. After back-to-back singles to lead off the top of the seventh inning, Mulvey got two fly ball outs before being pulled in favor of Mariano Gomez. Gomez, who has been dominant this season with opponents batting only .128 against him, gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Joe Thurston and Jed Lowrie trimming the Wings lead to 5-3. Gomez caught Chris Carter looking to end the inning. Mike Timlin, on rehab from Boston, struck out two while working a 1-2-3 seventh inning for the Pawsox. The Wings found themselves in a jam once again in the eighth, with runners on first and second and nobody out. Bobby Korecky, who came in at the start of the inning, got the force out at third on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Bryan Pritz, then induced a 4-6-3 double play to escape unscathed and preserve the 5-3 lead. Pawtucket knotted the game at five in the ninth off of Korecky. A one-out Jeff Bailey single was followed by an RBI triple to the gap in right-center by Thurston, cutting the lead to 5-4. Lowrie then squirted a groundball under the glove of Ruiz at first base for an error allowing Thurston to score the trying run. Tim Lahey, the fourth Rochester pitcher, picked up his fourth win against five losses on the year.

Friday 6/27/08
WINGS CAN'T STEAL ONE FROM STREAKING PAWSOX Randy Ruiz connected for a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, but it wasn't enough as the Pawtucket Red Sox edged the Rochester Red Wings, 4-2, on Friday night at Frontier Field. Pawtucket has now won eight consecutive games and hold the best record in the International League (52-31). After pitching two scoreless innings to start the game, Wings' starter Danny Graves allowed the PawSox to strike first in the third inning. After Joe Thurston smoked a one-out double to right field, Chris Carter drove him in with a single to the same spot. The run put Pawtucket up, 1-0. The bottom of the third was when the Wings' managed their first hit, a single by Denard Span, off of PawSox starter Edgar Martinez (3-1). It was their last one for a while. Meanwhile, fast-forwarding to the sixth inning, Pawtucket extended their lead when George Kottaras lined a laserbeam solo home run down the right field line. Kottaras' 15th home run of the season put the PawSox up, 2-0. Darnell McDonald got the Rochester's second hit in the home half of the sixth by smoking a Martinez offering right back up the middle for a single. The single also extended the IL batting leader's hitting streak to eight games. After the hit, Martinez was removed in favor of Michael Tejera, who retired the three of four batters with flyouts to right field to end the threat. Martinez, as the winning pitcher, finished without allowing a run, and gave up five hits. After the sixth inning, Graves (3-3) was removed in favor of Ricky Barrett. Graves finished allowing two runs on nine hits and striking out two. Pawtucket added another run in the seventh inning when Joe Thurston hit a infield single to score Jon Van Every, giving the PawSox a 3-0 advantage. The Wings (37-45) finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh.After Trevor Plouffe singled, and two outs were recorded, he scored from third when Tejera threw a wild pitch while Jason Pridie was batting. The run brought the Wings within two runs, 3-1. The Wings put themselves even closer to contention when Ruiz tatooed a home run to right-center field, inching the score to 3-2. Unfortunately for the Wings, Pawtucket distanced themselves in the ninth inning. After Sean Danielson reached on an error by Garrett Jones, he scored two batters later when Jeff Bailey hit a ball that went under the glove of Sergio Santos for an error. The run put the PawSox up, 4-2. Hunter Jones, who came in to pitch the ninth, earned his third save of the year.

Thursday 6/26/08
WINGS WORK LATE, HEAD HOME WITH WIN (DemocratandChronicle.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) - Starting pitching has been a sore spot for the Rochester Red Wings all season, and this past week has been especially painful. Wings starters had an ugly 8.01 earned-run average over the six games before Thursday night's series finale at Louisville Slugger Field. This time, the script was different. Right-hander Philip Humber pitched five shutout innings and the Wings used three triples to key a 4-1 win over the Louisville Bats. Rochester ended a successful road trip 5-3 and returns to Frontier Field tonight to play the first-place Pawtucket Red Sox, who have won seven straight and 13 of the past 15. Humber (4-6) allowed five hits and struck out six. It was his best start in a frustrating season for the former New York Mets prospect. The strong start lowered his ERA to 5.19.Left-hander Mariano Gomez pitched two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.90. Casey Daigle allowed a run in the eighth on a throwing error by catcher Ryan Jorgensen but stranded a runner at third. Daigle then put two runners on in the ninth before retiring Andy Green on a fly to right to record his first save as a Red Wing. Thursday's game was delayed 2 hours, 32 minutes by rain and didn't start until 9:37. The Wings scored quickly as Tommy Watkins drilled a one-out triple in the first and came home on Matt Macri's grounder to short. A two-out triple in the second by Jason Pridie scored another run, and the Wings made it 3-0 in the fourth when Garrett Jones drilled a leadoff double and scored on Sergio Santos' single.Randy Ruiz tripled to open the ninth and pinch-runner Alejandro Machado scored on Santos' sacrifice fly. The Red Wings belted 10 hits in winning for the third time in the four-game series against the Bats. Cincinnati Reds right-hander Josh Fogg went the distance for the Bats on a rehab stint; Fogg is on the Reds' disabled list with lumbar back spasms.

Wednesday 6/25/08
WINGS WIN WILD ONE 10-8 (BatsBaseball.com/RedWingsBaseball.com) - Louisville was defeated by Rochester 10-8, in front of 10,433 fans Wednesday afternoon. Bobby Korecky went 2 2/3 innings and locked down his tenth save of the season. Darnell McDonald had four hits and two RBI and Trevor Plouffe hit a three-run homer, his first in Triple-A. The early start time might have been a factor into why the Bats had a rough first inning. It did not look good early for starter Adam Pettyjohn, who struggled the entire afternoon. Denard Span drilled Pettyjohn's first pitch to left field to lead the game off with a double. Tommy Watkins would put the Red Wings on the board when he hit a RBI single that flew right over a leaping Michael Griffin's glove. Three more runs would cross the plate thanks to a two-run single by Randy Ruiz and a RBI double by Matt Macri, putting Rochester up 4-0 after one. McDonald's single scored Span in the top of the second and made the score, 5-0. However, Louisville began to chip away at the Red Wings lead in the bottom of the same inning. Adam Rosales blasted a two-run shot into the left field seats, which was his third home run in the past two days, cutting the lead to 5-2. The Red Wings would answer. In the top of the third, a Plouffe three-run homer off Pettyjohn extended Rochester's advantage to 8-2. The Bats fought back again in the fourth with a strong inning that produced four runs to make the score 8-6. The highlight of the inning was a Luis Bolivar solo home run, which was his second of the season. Rochester answered Louisville again in the sixth when McDonald sent his second RBI single of the day to left field, putting the Wings up 9-6. The Bats kept fighting back and rallied to make it a one-run game in the seventh when Herr laced a triple, scoring Drew Anderson. Herr would score on the play as well, as Red Wings second baseman Macri threw the ball into the dugout, attempting to make the play at third. Attempting to preserve the lead in the ninth, Todd Coffey allowed the Wings to load the bases. He looked like he may get out of the jam as he got Sergio Santos to ground into a double play. However, a wild pitch would score Garrett Jones as the Red Wings went up 10-8. Bats starter Pettyjohn (7-3, 5.03) picked up the loss for the Bats. In four innings of work, the lefty gave up 10 hits, eight earned runs and did not strike out a batter. Despite giving up two home runs, nine hits and six runs, Francisco Liriano (4-2) got the win for Rochester.

Tuesday 6/24/08
BATS SWING EARLY, TOP WINGS The Louisville Bats jumped on Rochester starter Brian Duensing for four first inning runs, and easily defeated the Red Wings 8-0 Tuesday night. Adam Rosales hit a two-out, three-run homer in the first to stake Louisville starter Matthew Maloney (7-4) to a 4-0 lead. Maloney was outstanding, allowing four hits without a walk while striking out seven in seven innings. Maloney retired the first 11 Wings before Darnell McDonald singled in the fourth inning. Rochester's best shot was in the sixth inning, when Trevor Plouffe and Ryan Jorgensen both singled to open the frame. But Maloney got a pair of strikeouts around a groundout to stifle the threat. Duensing (4-7) allowed seven runs and seven hits in six innings. Ricky Barrett and Julio DePaula also pitched for Rochester.

Monday 6/23/08
EIGHTH IS GREAT FOR WINGS (BatsBaseball.com.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) -The Louisville Bats gave up four runs in the eighth inning Monday night and suffered an 8-5 loss against the Rochester Red Wings at Louisville Slugger Field. Garrett Jones had three hits and three RBI for the Wings. Louisville tied the game at one in the bottom of the third inning after falling behind early when Drew Anderson singled home Michael Griffin, who had reached on a double and had two hits on the night. In the top of the fourth, Jones put the Red Wings back on top with his second RBI of the night, followed by an Alejandro Machado double later in the inning off Bats' starter Justin Mallett, scoring two more runs and making it a 4-1 contest in favor of Rochester. The Bats wasted little time getting back in the game in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Kevin Barker blasting a 451-foot solo home run to right field, his team-leading 10th of the season. It was Louisville's first home run in their last five contests. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Anderson tied the game at four when he tripled to center, scoring Chris Dickerson and Jerry Hairston, who just joined Louisville on an injury rehab assignment. Later in the inning, Anderson scored on a passed ball to put the Bats ahead 5-4. For the sixth time this season, however, the Bats lost the lead, and ultimately, the game, after the seventh inning, as Rochester put four runs on the board in the eighth. Daniel Ray Herrera (0-3, 2.52) gave up the game-tying run after an Aaron Herr error allowed the tying run to reach base. Herrera was credited with the loss and his third blown save of the season. The Red Wings had already added another run to take a 6-5 lead when Trevor Plouffe tripled home two more runs off Bats' reliever Josh Roenicke to give Rochester a comfortable 8-5 cushion heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Bats, who have now lost five of seven, could not mount another rally, as Casey Daigle (1-3) earned the win for Rochester and Bobby Korecky worked the ninth for his ninth save of the season. Mallett went six innings for the Bats, giving up four earned runs off seven hits, while walking none and striking out two. Red Wings starter Kevin Mulvey was chased after going 4.2 innings, and giving up five runs on seven hits.

Sunday 6/22/08
WINGS COME BACK TO TOP INDIANS (DemocratandChronicle.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) -The Rochester Red Wings rallied from three different deficits to force extra innings and slugged three home runs as they defeated the Indianapolis Indians 7-6 in 11 innings Sunday at Victory Field. Randy Ruiz finished 4-for-5 with a homer for the Wings. Ruiz, Sergio Santos, and Ryan Jorgensen all homered for the Red Wings (34-44), who remain in fifth place in the International League’s North Division. Rochester trailed 6-3 entering the eighth inning but tied the score on homers by Santos and Jorgensen. Santos cut the lead to 6-5 on a two-run homer, his second of the year, and Jorgensen hit his fourth of the season, a solo shot, with two outs to tie the score. The Red Wings had runners in scoring position in both the ninth and 10th innings, but could not get the winning run home until the 11th. After loading the bases with one out, Trevor Plouffe hit a sacrifice fly into foul territory, far enough for Garrett Jones to score and give Rochester a 7-6 lead. Bobby Korecky (4-3) picked up the win with two innings of shutout relief.

Saturday 6/21/08
WINGS FALL SHORT TO INDIANS (DemocratandChronicle.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) -For the second straight night, the Rochester Red Wings were hurt by the long ball. After a three-run, walk-off home run on Friday, the Indianapolis Indians hit three solo home runs, and scored one run in each of the first five innings, to defeat Rochester 5-3 at Victory Field in Indianapolis on Saturday. Jason Pridie had two hits, a run batted in and a steal for the Red Wings. Denard Span led off the game with a single, stole second base and scored on a broken-bat single by Pridie for a 1-0 Rochester lead. Matt Kata hit solo home runs in the second and fourth innings and Brian Bixler added a solo home run in the fifth inning to put the Indians (37-39) ahead.Indianapolis starter Jimmy Barthmaier settled down after allowing a one-out double by Trevor Plouffe in the second inning. Barthmaier retired the final nine batters he faced as he pitched six innings, allowed four hits and struck out eight. Red Wings starter Philip Humber allowed four runs, including three earned, in four innings. It was Humber's first start since June 6, a game in which he retired 12 straight at one point. Humber had has missed his last two starts with a sore elbow. Rochester (33-44) loaded the bases in the eighth inning with only one out. After a force out at home, Span scored on a single by Garrett Jones to cut the lead to 5-2. Plouffe scored on a single by Alejandro Machado in the ninth to pull Rochester within 5-3. Pridie grounded out to second with the tying run on first to end the game.

Friday 6/20/08
PEARCE STUNS WINGS WITH TWO-OUT HOMER WIN (DemocratandChronicle.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) - The Rochester Red Wings were one strike away from winning the eighth game in their last 11, but closer Bobby Korecky allowed a three-run, walk-off home run by Steve Pearce and the Indianapolis Indians rallied for an 8-7 win at Victory Field in Indianapolis on Friday. Korecky issued a one-out walk to Andrew McCutchen and a two-out walk to Neal Walker before Pearce homered to left field on a full count. Darnell McDonald finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two stolen bases for the Red Wings. The Red Wings took a 6-5 lead by scoring three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jason Pridie and Denard Span each tripled to spark the rally. A run-scoring single by Darnell McDonald pushed the Red Wings' lead to 7-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Rochester left-hander Francisco Liriano pitched five innings before being pulled after allowing five earned runs, including two home runs. Liriano, who had won three straight starts, earned a no-decision. He allowed nine hits, walked one and struck out seven but gave up two-run home runs in the fourth and fifth innings.In the second inning, Randy Ruiz hit his 19th double of the season and scored on a ground out by Trevor Plouffe for a 1-0 Red Wings lead. Sergio Santos, who had singled Ruiz to third, scored on a single up the middle by Ryan Jorgensen as Rochester led 2-0.The Indians (36-39) scored a run in the bottom of the third inning and took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on a two-run home run from Adam Boeve off Liriano. Pridie tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning, his fifth home run of the season, and the Wings' only hit from the third to the seventh. Indians third baseman Neil Walker gave Indianapolis a 5-3 lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth. Jorgensen singled with two outs to start the Rochester rally. Span followed with a triple as Rochester cut the lead to 5-4.Span scored on a wild pitch and Pridie followed with a triple to center field. He scored on a single by Darnell McDonald to push Rochester in front 6-5. Pridie went 3-for-5 with a home run, triple, double, three runs scored and an RBI to lead the Red Wings (34-42). Casey Daigle replaced Liriano in the fifth and pitched 12/3 innings without allowing a hit.

Thursday 6/18/08
WINGS START TRIP WITH 9-3 WIN (DemocratandChronicle.com/ RedWingsBaseball.com) - The Rochester Red Wings opened an eight-game roadtrip by posting eight runs in the final three innings, and beat the Indianapolis Indians 9-3 on Thursday night. Ryan Jorgensen's one-out, bases-clearing double in the seventh inning was the key hit of the game. Five players had more than one hit for the Wings, who nearly batted around while scoring four runs on five hits and turning a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 advantage in the seventh inning. Jorgensen hit a one-out, bases-clearing double that scored Sergio Santos, Trevor Plouffe and Alejandro Machado. Jorgensen scored on center fielder Denard Span's single. Rochester continued to pour it on in the eighth when Machado hit a bases-clearing triple, scoring Santos, Plouffe and Randy Ruiz to stretch the lead to 8-2. Left fielder Darnell McDonald hit a solo home run to right field, his 10th of the season, in the ninth to cap the flurry. The next batter, Garrett Jones, popped out to short in his last at-bat, putting an end to his nine-game hit streak. The bottom of the order came up big as Machado and Jorgensen, who bat in the eighth and ninth, combined to go 3-for-6 with seven RBI and two runs scored. Santos was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and McDonald finished 2-for-5 with an RBI. Indianapolis (35-39) jumped out to an 2-0 lead in the first inning. Neil Walker doubled to center field, scoring Brian Bixler to put the Indians on the board, and Walker scored on Craig Wilson's two-out single. Left-hander Brian Duensing shut down the Indians after the tough first, allowing just three hits in his last six innings of work. Duensing (4-6) scattered six hits and struck out five, while allowing just two runs. The bullpen continued its recent roll as right hander Tim Lahey allowed one run while pitching the last two innings. The relievers have allowed just four runs in their last 281/3 innings. Lahey thwarted Indianapolis' final attempt at a comeback in the bottom of the eighth. After the first two batters reached base, he retired the heart of the Indians lineup — Walker, Steve Pearce and Wilson.

Tuesday 6/17/08
WINGS FIGHT BACK, FALL SHORT AGAINST BATS The Red Wings rallied back from an early 5-0 hole, but dropped a 10-9 decision to the Louisville Bats Tuesday afternoon at Frontier Field. Sergio Santos had two hits and drove in three runs for Rochester, who out-hit Louisville 18-14. The Wings have an off day Wednesday, then open an eight-game roadtrip with a game in Indianapolis Thursday night. Louisville captured an early lead in the first inning. Lead-off hitter Norris Hopper landed on base after hitting a double off starter Danny Graves, advanced to third, then went home on two errors by the Wings infield. With the bases loaded, Kevin Barker smashed a grand slam over the centerfield fence, to increase the Bats' run count to 5. The Wings ended the inning with a 4-6-3 double play. Rochester rallied back in the bottom of the first to cut into the Bats lead. To start the rally, Jason Pridie hit a single and then stole second. Louisville pitcher Justin Mallett walked Garrett Jones and hit Randy Ruiz, to load the bases. With 2 outs, Santos hit a double, plating Pridie and Jones, bringing the score to 5-2. In the second, the Bats threatened again with a pop fly fumbled by Chris Basak. The runner then tried to advance to second, but was tagged out by Graves. The Bats followed with a home run by Jeff Keppinger, making the score 6-2. The Wings answered back in the bottom of the second. Basak led off the inning with a home run to left field. Denard Span increased the run count when he drove a double to centerfield, and then scored off a wild pitch. Pridie followed with a single and moved to second when Darnell McDonald was walked. Jones hit a single to plate Pridie, but was out as he tried to advance to second. This increases Jones' hitting streak to nine games. Santos brought home McDonald for the tieing run as he drilled a ball down the third base line for his second double of the game. The inning ended on a fly ball by Trevor Plouffe, with the score 6-6. Graves (3-2) started the third by allowing three consecutive singles by the Bats. Carmen Cali relieved Graves and took the mound with the bases loaded. The Bats took back the lead when Cali hit his first batter, and increased their lead on a two-RBI single by Michael Griffin. The inning ended with a double play, bringing the score to 9-6. Drew Anderson led off the fourth with a home run, increasing the Bats lead to 10-6. In the bottom of the fifth, the Wings got back on the scoreboard. Plouffe hit a base hit, and moved to third on a double by Basak. Span plated Plouffe on a single,, but three runners were left on base as Bats pitcher, Todd Coffey, struck out the last two Wings batters, leaving the score 10-7. The Wings continued to claw back into the game in the sixth. Ruiz hit a double and was brought home by a RBI single from Plouffe. This is Plouffe's first RBI in Triple-A. Span drilled a two-out single in the eighth inning, bringing home pinch-runner Tommy Watkins and pulling the Wings to within a run at 10-9. Ricky Barrett turned in four scoreless relief innings, striking out five while not allowing a baserunner until the ninth. After allowing a pair of singles, Barrett was relieved by Bobby Korecky. Korecky fanned cleanup hitter Ryan Hanigan, then got an inning-ending double play groundball to cut down the Bats' scoring attempt. Josh Roenicke faced the heart of the Wings' lineup in the ninth, and struck out McDonald for the first out. Jones took Roenicke to the deepest part of the park but Hopper tracked down the ball against the fence for the second out. The Bats brought in closer Jon Adkins to relieve Roenicke, and Adkins got ahead 0-2 on Ruiz before Ruiz stroked a single up the middle. Alejandro Machado ran for Ruiz at the first, but Adkins got Santos to fly out to end the game. Adkins picked up his 14th save, with Matt Belisle (4-0) getting the win.

Monday 6/16/08
WINGS' TEAM EFFORT TOPS BATS The Red Wings got a strong pitching effort from four relievers, leading the team to a 9-1 win over Louisville Monday night at Frontier Field. Denard Span returned to the Wings' lineup and reached base five times, picking up three hits and a run batted in. The two teams conclude the series with a 1:35 pm matinee Tuesday afternoon. The Red Wings started reliever Julio DePaula, making his second straight spot start. DePaula threw three innings, giving three hits, no runs and striking out one. Mariano Gomez relieved DePaula at the beginning of the fourth inning. Gomez worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two. Casey Daigle took over with one out in the sixth, 1 2/3 innings and striking out three. Tim Lahey finished up for the Wings with Span, playing in his first game in almost a month, doubled to right field in his first at-bat in the first. Span fractured his middle left finger while attempting to bunt during a game at Syracuse on May 20th. The Wings got on the board first in the third inning. Catcher Jeff Christy, in his first Triple-A at-bat, scored after Louisville shortstop Luis Bolivar overthrew first base while attempting to complete a double play, for a 1-0 Rochester lead. Rochester struck again in the sixth. Randy Ruiz scored when Alejandro Machado hit into a fielder's choice; Louisville catcher Ryan Hanigan missed the tag on the throw home from second baseman Andy Green, which made the score 2-0 in favor of the Wings. Sergio Santos continued the rally when he scored on a RBI groundout by Christy for a 3-0 Rochester advantage. Span continued to show no ill effects of the fractured finger, as he singled to right field, driving in Machado for a 4-0 Wings lead. Darnell McDonald's two-run double opened up the game, making it 6-0 Rochester. Garrett Jones followed with a run-scoring single that pushed the Red Wings' lead to 7-0. The Bats finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh, on a two-out triple by Andy Green. Jones added a two-run homer in the eighth, his seventh homer of the season. Louisville starter Ramon Ramirez, rocked for 12 runs over his last two starts, allowed two hits and two runs in five innings of pitching, while walking seven.