Courtesy of RedWingsBaseball.com
By Nick Sciarratta and Jhon Guarin
Jose Berrios allowed just two hits over eight innings, and the Rochester Red Wings beat the Louisville Bats 5-1 Sunday afternoon at Frontier Field. The Wings will return home to host Lehigh Valley (Phillies) on Friday night, May 5.
Berrios made his fifth start of the season, and after a leadoff walk to start the game he went on to retire nine of the next ten batters thanks to two great defensive plays. John Ryan Murphy caught a foul ball right near the Louisville dugout and Quintin Berry made a sliding catch in center field to take away a base hit.
Jackson Stephens, starter for the Bats, got off to a good start as well retiring eight straight Red Wings batters, before running into trouble in the bottom of the third inning. Berry picked up the first hit for the Wings, a triple and Ehire Adrianza worked a four-pitch walk to get runners on first and third. Stephens worked out of trouble, getting the final out and keeping the score at 0-0.
Both starting pitchers continued to throw zeros on the board. Berrios recorded eight straight outs after a one-out walk in the top of the fourth inning. He worked back-to-back 1-2-3 innings and struck out four-of-six batters. The Red Wings were unable to get their offense rolling through six innings as Stephens retired ten straight batters.
In the bottom of the seventh, Matt Hague broke up the pitcher’s duel by drilling an 0-1 pitch into the left field bullpen, putting the Wings ahead 1-0. It was the third home run of the season for Hague.Daniel Palka walked, and Niko Goodrum completed a 10-pitch at-bat with a homer down the right field line. The homer was Goodrum’s third this season and the Wings led 3-0.
Stephens’ day was done after 6.1 innings, having allowed just three hits with three earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches, 67 for strikes. John Ryan Murphy hit his first home run of the season off reliever Lucas Luetge in the seventh, increasing the lead to 4-0.
The Wings added a run in the eighth, when Goodrum drew drew a bases loaded walk.
Berrios allowed just the two hits in his eight innings pitched, with two walks and seven strikeouts. Berrios threw 98 pitches, 66 for strikes. Drew Rucinski pitched the ninth inning for the Wings, allowing a run on two hits.
Winning Pitcher: Berrios (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: Stephens (2-2)
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