Courtesy of RedWingsBaseball.com
James Beresford had three hits and scored two runs, helping the Red Wings defeat the Charlotte Knights 5-3 Sunday afternoon at Frontier Field.
Sunday’s starter for the Wings, Andrew Albers, beat the Knights May 17 in Charlotte. He allowed a pair of one-out singles, including a hit by J.B. Shuck that extended Shuck’s hitting streak to 11 games. Albers responded by striking out the next two batters to escape the jam.
Knights starter Jacob Turner, who was tagged for six hits and five runs in six innings against the Wings May 18, got another shot on Sunday and the Wings had an early scoring chance of their own. Byron Buxton opened with a walk, and hustled all the way to third on a single from Beresford. A sacrifice fly from Jorge Polanco brought in Buxton for a 1-0 lead; it’s the sixth straight game the Wings have scored a first inning run. Red-hot Eddie Rosario, 5-for-9 in the series so far, singled to right-center and Beresford came in to score for a 2-0 Red Wings advantage.
Despite striking out two batters in the first inning, Albers struggled with his command in the second, as he issued two straight walks after allowing a single to load the bases. He settled down just a batter later and managed to get Tim Anderson to ground into a double play to end the inning. To start the third inning, Beresford made a jumping play to get J.B. Shuck out, and later made or assisted on the other two outs. Albers managed to finish the inning only allowing one hit.
Beresford brought his strong defensive work to the plate, as well. To lead off the bottom of the third, Beresford singled into right for his second hit on the day. Kennys Vargas later grounded out to extend his hitless streak to 12 at-bats, but allowed Beresford to make his way to third base after advancing to second on a ground out from Jorge Polanco. Turner escaped the inning unscathed, as Rosario popped out to end the inning.
Jason Bourgeois singled to start the fourth inning, but was later caught stealing and tagged out in a rundown by Albers. Brockport native Andy Parrino later doubled to left center to score one run, decreasing the Knights deficit to 2-1. Albers limited the Knights damage by striking out Chris O’Dowd and Anderson to end the half inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Tommy Field lined a single into left field for his first hit of the game to break an 0-for-9 skid at the plate.
Jason Coats hit a home run to left field for his third hit on the day and second homer of the series to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth. Saturday night, Coats hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the ninth to secure the Knights victory. Albers settled down to finish the inning, as two straight batters popped out to left.
In the bottom of the fifth, Buxton flashed his speed as he nearly beat out a grounder to short, but was called out on a close play at first by umpire James Rackley – a call the crowd loudly disagreed with. After that, Turner struggled to get any outs. Beresford lined a single into left for his third hit of the day, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Polanco then grounded safely to first as Nicky Delmonico bobbled the ball, which allowed Beresford to come around to score and give the Wings a 3-2 lead. Vargas broke his hitless streak with a single to left, which scored Polanco to extend the Wings lead to 4-2. Rosario continued the hit parade with a single to center for his second hit of the day, but the Wings inning came to an end after Buck Britton grounded out to first.
Albers (3-1) went five innings while allowing eight hits, two runs with five strikeouts. He threw 90 pitches on the day, 62 of which were for strikes. Marcus Walden came on to start the fifth inning and quickly allowed two baserunners after a single and a walk. Anderson then lined a shot into center field, but Buxton went full speed to make the grab in center field and end the inning.
Turner (3-3) was also taken out after the fifth inning, and finished the day having allowed nine hits, four earned runs and one strikeout. He threw 90 pitches as well, with 57 strikes. Knights reliever Terance Marin took over for Turner, and had a rough start to the inning. Field began the inning with a stand-up double to begin the inning for his second hit of the day, and later advanced to third after a fly out from Tovar. Another very close out call by Rackley, again on a groundout from Buxton, got hitting coach Chad Allen ejected; a run did score on the play, to extend the Wings lead to 5-2.
Coats hit a double in the seventh for his fourth hit of the game, and later came around to score on a double from Danny Hayes to decrease the Knights deficit to 5-3.
J.T. Chargois came in for the Red Wings in the eighth inning to replace Walden, who went two innings while allowing three hits and one earned run. Chargois allowed a walk in the eighth, striking out one. Alex Wimmers took over to start the ninth inning as a steady rain fell on the field. Leury Garcia blooped a single to open the ninth, and was forced out at second on a nice play by Polanco with Coats reaching first on the fielder’s choice. Polanco ran down a pop fly from Matt Davidson for the second out, and Wimmers struck out Danny Hayes for the third out and second save of the season for Wimmers.
The Wings out-hit the Knights 13-12, with Beresford, Vargas, Rosario, Field, and Polanco posting multi-hit games. Polanco extended his hitting streak to six games.
NOTES: The Wings now have 18 May wins, best in the league …Voting is underway for the Triple-A All-Star Game in July, click here to find out how to vote for your favorite Red Wings players.
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