By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Byron Buxton’s Triple-A stint might be for rehab purposes, but the Minnesota Twins top prospect is taking the opportunity to etch his name into Rochester Red Wings lore.
Buxton’s one-out single in the 12th plated Jose Martinez with the game winner as the Red Wings walked off for the ninth time this season with a 3-2 victory over the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders in International League play at Frontier Field on Sunday.
“I went up there just trying to not do too much,” said the Twins first pick in the 2012 draft. “Just trying to hit a ball hard somewhere. It happened to go up the middle.”
Martinez started the stanza with a single back through the box off Scranton reliever, Andury Acevedo. Carlos Paulino followed with a sacrifice bunt to set up Buxton for the game-winner.
The Baxley, Georgia native’s idea of not doing too much was a 3-for-6 day at the plate including a two-out solo shot in the fifth. After reaching on an infield single in the first and popping out to the catcher in the third, Buxton connected on his first Triple-A dinger to knot the game at two.
“I squared it up pretty good,” Buxton said of the round tripper. “Just went up there a little more aggressive than I did the first two at bats.”
Making his first Triple-A start, David Hurlbut allowed two runs on nine hits over 6.2 innings. The southpaw struck out two and walked none. He faced 11 batters and allowed both runs in the first two innings before setting down seven straight from the fourth through the end of the sixth.
“He really wasn’t hit very hard the entire day,” Red Wings manager Mike Quade noted. “It’s a big deal to come up here and make your first start at the Triple-A level.”
Trailing 2-0, Hurlbut induced ground balls for double plays in the third and fourth innings. He needed just 14 pitches to retire the side in the fifth and six in the sixth.
“David started us off really good,” Quade added. “It’s a lot easier to pitch as we all know if you got some run support, a lead and everything else. He did a great job in a tight situation.”
Alex Meyer came out of the bullpen with two outs and a runner on third in the seventh and worked his way back from a 3-0 count to get the final out of the frame on a routine ground ball.
Meyer, Rochester’s Opening Day starter, hurled four and a third for his longest outing in more than a month.
“That’s the best we’ve seen from Alex all year,” Quade stated. “He was throwing strikes for the most part.
“We were toying with the idea of starting [Hurlbut] and Alex, and I’ll be damned if they didn’t both do a helluva job.”
Establishing his fast ball on the inside part of the plate to set up his breaking ball, Meyer worked out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth getting Taylor Dugas looking. The 6-9 right-hander faced the minimum over the next three innings.
“I was able to keep my fastball in and not let them barrel anything up,” Meyer commented.
He got help from Paulino when his battery mate erased a leadoff walk in the ninth.
“That caught stealing was huge,” Meyer said. “He’s as quick as can be back there and made a great throw.”
The light-hitting but fleet-footed Rico Noel (.083 avg./18-for-20 steal attempts) reached on a four pitches to start the inning.
“I remember Noel from playing him in college,” Meyer explained. “He’s been able to run forever. When he got on, I could see he had a big lead. The situation was they were wanting to run. They got the guy on that they wanted.”
One out later, Paulino gunned down Noel trying to steal second.
“I mean honestly it wasn’t all that close,” Meyer said. “He was out by good bit which is pretty impressive on that guy.”
Mark Hamburger tossed a scoreless 12th for the win. He improved to 4-2 on the season.
James Beresford singled to start the fourth and came around to score on a Danny Ortiz fielder’s choice. Beresford finished the day going 3-for-5.
Rob Refsnyder reached on a one-out infield single in the first and moved to second on a Gary Sanchez bloop single. Refsnyder moved to third on an Aaron Judge fly ball and came home on a wild pitch to give Scranton a 1-0 lead in the first.
“Couple of soft hits and a ball Paulie would tell you he should have caught,” Quade commented.
There was a tense moment in the second when Buxton crashed into the wall in center trying to run down a shot off the bat of Kyle Roller. The Red Wing centerfielder remained on the ground for a brief moment before getting to his feet.
“I was glad it was padded,” Quade said recalling his days managing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field with its outfield walls made of brick. “I thought he went open-chested into it, maybe knock the wind out of him. You always worry when a guy leans with his shoulder. I didn’t think he was. It happened so fast. I think he was shook up, but he was fine.”
Roller ended up at third on the play and scored on a Gregorio Petit ground out.
With the win, the Wings took two of three from the North Division-leading Railriders and moved within six games of first.
“We try to treat every game like it’s a playoff game,” Buxton said. “That win just keeps pushing us closer.”
The two teams combined to go 0-for-20 with runners in scoring position until Buxton’s walk-off single. Buxton has hit safely in all 11 games he has played for Rochester. He is batting .404 (19-for-47).
Kyle Hanes started and tossed 5.1 for Scranton. The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits and three walks.
Rochester continues the home stand when Buffalo comes to town on Monday. A 7:05 first pitch is scheduled. Taylor Rogers (8-10, 3.90) is expected to start for Rochester. Randy Wolf (9-1, 2.44) will get the ball for Buffalo.
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