By PAUL GOTHAM
Their four-game win streak came to an end, but it didn’t stop the Rochester Red Wings from pulling off a rarity.
During the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 5-3 loss at Charlotte, Wing third baseman Jermaine Curtis used a little chicanery to slow a Knights’ rally.
With four runs in and Kevan Smith on third base, Curtis used the hidden ball trick to get the Knights second out of the inning.
“They had a rally going, and I figured it was the perfect time,” Curtis told MiLB.com. “I try at least once or twice a year, and it usually works best when there’s a big situation. There was a runner on first and second, they hit a line drive into left. I went to cut it off at third base, and so it was bases loaded. The score was 4-3 at that time with one out, so I knew it was a big situation and no one was paying attention to me.”
Charlotte’s Patrick Leonard singled off D.J. Baxendale to load the bases. Curtis took the cutoff from left field and didn’t need to say a word to his teammate.
“I gave up the hit, and I noticed the guy wasn’t going to score, so I kind of shut it down,” Baxendale added. “I was in between home and the pitcher’s mound. Jermaine caught the ball and kind of gave me a look and then gave me, like, the air throw and put the ball in his glove. I noticed that the coach (Knights manager Mark Grudzielanek) and the guy on third base weren’t really paying attention, so I fake caught it and tried to slow walk around the mound, act like I was regathering myself.”
Beware of @Twins infield prospect @JermaineCurtis, reliever @Dbax24 and the @RocRedWings hidden-ball trick. https://t.co/XE7ukBggty pic.twitter.com/RsCXolcLgm
— MiLB.com (@MiLB) April 18, 2018
Former Wing, Daniel Palka was on second base during the play.
Jake Cave doubled in a run during the first. Willians Astudillo and Gregorio Petit added added runs in the second to give Rochester an early 3-0 lead, but the Wings fell to 4-4 with the loss. Read the complete recap here.
Wing close their series with Charlotte on Thursday before returning home on Friday for the first of seven games at Frontier Field.
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