Courtesy of RedWingsBaseball.com
BY NICK SCIARRATTA
The Red Wings used a strong start from Omar Bencomo and four home runs to defeat the Norfolk Tides 6-2 Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park in Virginia. The win moved the Wings to within four games of Lehigh Valley for the International League wild card spot.
After a tough, late night, 13-inning loss to the Tides on Wednesday, the Wings jumped out to an early lead against Tides starter Joe Gunkel. Byron Buxton homered on the first pitch of the game, the second straight game Buxton has hit a home run.
The Tides came back to tie the score against Bencomo, using three straight first inning singles to make it a 1-1 game. A walk loaded the bases with none out, but Bencomo retired the next three batters – two by strikeout.
Buxton beat out an infield hit with two out in the third, and Tommy Field followed with his 10th home run of the season to put the Wings back on top 3-1. A home run from Daniel Palka in the top of the fourth extended the lead to 4-1.
Bencomo had set down nine straight batters since the first inning, gave up a single to start the bottom of the fourth, then set down the next three batters to end the fourth.
The Wings added a run in the top of the fifth. Singles by Leonardo Reginatto and John Ryan Murphy set up a sacrifice fly from Buxton, making it a 5-1 score. Adam Brett Walker hit his league-leading 26th homer of the season off Gunkel in the sixth, giving the Wings a 6-1 lead and Walker an 11-game hitting streak. The streak is the longest by a Red Wings player this season.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Tides picked up an unearned run with two outs to make the score 6-2. That prompted a pitching change, with D.J. Baxendale taking over for Bencomo.
Bencomo (2-1) allowed six hits and two runs (one earned) over 6.2 innings, with a walk and four strikeouts. He threw 86 pitches, 60 for strikes and retired 19 of 20 batters at one point after the first inning.
Edgar Olmos took over on the mound to start the eighth inning, after Gunkel allowed eight hits and six earned runs in seven innings. The four home runs Gunkel allowed was a career high.
In the bottom of the eighth inning against Baxendale, the Tides put runners at first and third with one out. Baxendale struck out Christian Walker, and Murphy picked Dariel Alvarez off third base for an inning ending double play.
Baxendale struck out three in 1.1 innings, and Alex Wimmers finished the day with a scoreless ninth inning and a game-ending strikeout.
Notes: Daniel Palka’s home run was his 33rd of the season between Double-A and Triple-A…The Red Wings passed Columbus for the league lead in homers, with a total of 121 on the season. A Wings club has not led the league in home runs since 1988…Byron Buxton robbed Mike Yastrzemski of a hit in the fifth inning, diving to snare the ball right before it hit the ground…Mitch Garver went 0-for-4, snapping a six-game hitting streak…Joe Gunkel had not allowed a home run since July 5, and had allowed just eight homers all season before Thursday…The Wings won the season series 7-1.
Next Up: The Wings open a two-game set in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Friday night at at 7:05 p.m. with LHP Adalberto Mejia (1-2, 4.66 ERA) on the mound.
Next Home Game: The Red Wings return home for the final six home games of the 2016 season on Sunday, August 28 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at 4:05 p.m.
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