By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Rochester Red Wings manager Marv Foley wanted the 13-inning marathon against Pawtucket to be over as much as anyone in the park on June 6, 1997.
How else do you explain Foley’s decision to throw caution to the wind and send a limping Tim Laker home on Danny Clyburn’s one-out liner into the right field corner?
Laker pulled a hamstring between second and third base, but an errant throw from Red Sox second baseman Tony Rodriguez allowed Laker to hobble across home plate, scoring from first to give Rochester a 2-1 victory.
“I just said to myself, ‘We’ll give it a try and see what happens,’” Foley explained to Democrat and Chronicle beat writer Jim Mandelaro after the game.
The Wings scattered seven hits before Clyburn’s triple, aiding Foley’s opportunistic mindset. The threat of placing an emergency catcher behind the plate in the 14th also loomed; Foley replaced catcher B.J. Waszgis with pinch-hitter P.J. Forbes in the 12th and was prepared to make first baseman Tommy Davis catch.
Clyburn’s first hit in five tries accompanied his possible run-saving play in left field, when he caught a fly ball while seated after slipping in the outfield grass.
Rochester pitcher Rick Krivda worked through 10 four-hit innings, the first time he’d pitched 10 innings since his California (Pa.) University days. Krvida outlasted Mark Mimbs, who also allowed just four hits and one run in 7.1 innings before being relieved by Pat Mahomes.
Mahomes, the father of Super Bowl LIV MVP Patrick Mahomes, pitched two seasons in the Red Sox organization after spending two years in the Minnesota Twins farm system. He was most known for his time in New York, where he compiled a 13-3 record with the Mets.
“Krvida is unbelievable,” Foley remarked of his ace, who was only backed by Francisco Matos’s RBI single that tied the game in the eighth.
“Our hitters just couldn’t produce,” Foley commented. “Finally I just threw the fundamentals part of it out.”
Rochester’s win prevented a Pawtucket sweep and kept the Wings three games clear of the Red Sox, the only other team in the division with a winning record, in the International League East.
Pawtucket batting
Batter | ab | r | h | rbi |
Jesus Tavarez | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Rod Correia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Arquimedez Pozo | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jose Malave | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Donnie Sadler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Adam Hyzdu | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Andy Abad | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Trot Nixon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gary Bennett | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Todd Carey | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Tony Rodriguez | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Totals | 44 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
Rochester batting
Batter | ab | r | h | rbi |
Lou Frazier | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Francisco Matos | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Aaron Ledesma | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tim Laker | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Danny Clyburn | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Tommy Davis | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Scott Bullett | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
B.J. Waszgis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jim Wawruck | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Chip Lawrence | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
P.J. Forbes | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Totals | 41 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
Pawtucket 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0- 1
Rochester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1- 2
E- Bennett LOB- Pawtucket 10, Rochester 11 2B- Forbes 3B- Clyburn HR- Malave (10) SB- Ledesma, Laker CS- Sadler, Bullett
Pawtucket pitching
Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Mark Mimbs | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
Pat Mahomes | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Rusty Meacham | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Carlos Valdez (L, 0-1) | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Rochester pitching
Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Rick Krvida | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Chris Bennett | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Archie Corbin (W, 2-2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
WP- Meacham Time: 3:38 Attendance: 5,707
Also on this day: The Red Wings smacked six home runs to defeat Syracuse 15-7 in 1984 and extend their win streak to four games… Rochester completed a resounding five-game sweep of Nashville in the 1991 Triple-A Alliance Series, defeating the Sounds 11-1 to cap a week where they outscored Nashville 42-8… Left-hander Arthur Rhodes allowed one earned run in seven innings and Gregg Zaun hit a solo home run as the Wings (33-22) defeated Richmond 7-3 in 1995, improving to more than 10 games over .500 for the first time in five years… Jason Kubel collected four hits while Josh Rabe and Michael Restovich each homered in a 12-1 win in Indianapolis in 2004… Francisco Liriano won his first game in 23 months after Tommy John surgery forced him to miss the entire 2007 season as the Red Wings defeated Buffalo 8-3 in 2008.
Leave a Reply