By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Most pitchers hate taking the mound in Denver, with its high altitude’s effect on the baseball serving a point of contention in Most Valuable Player races and Hall of Fame debates ever since the Colorado Rockies were granted an expansion team in 1993.
Oswaldo Peraza established himself as an exception on June 10, 1988.
Peraza struck out 15 Denver Zephyrs, battling through a stomach illness to pitch 8.2 innings and earn the victory as the Rochester Red Wings won 5-3 and took possession of first place in the International League West.
Thirteen of the 15 strikeout victims went down swinging in Peraza’s nine-hit, three-run outing. The 25-year-old allowed two home runs, including a Ronn Reynolds ninth-inning blast followed by a walk that ended his night, but he finished just three punchouts shy of Roric Harrison’s single-game record of 18.
“His ball dropped like it hit a pane of glass,” Wings pitching coach Dom Chiti remarked of Peraza’s forkball as he improved his individual record to 2-0 on the season.
Peraza was not charged with a loss in Rochester in 1988, collecting three wins and holding a 2.89 ERA before starting 15 games in Baltimore. The Venezuelan returned to Rochester to pitch eight games in 1991.
Keith Hughes supported Peraza with a two-run home run in the third inning, while Steve Finley chipped in an RBI double in Rochester’s fourth consecutive win.
Rochester batting
| Batter | ab | r | h | rbi |
| Jeff Stone | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Steve Finley | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Matt Cimo | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Keith Hughes | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Craig Worthington | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Chris Padget | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jerry Narron | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Tim Dulin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D.L. Smith | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 37 | 5 | 12 | 5 |
Denver batting
| Batter | ab | r | h | rbi |
| Steve Kiefer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Edgar Diaz | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LaVel Freeman | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Steve Stanicek | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Billy Jo Robidoux | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tim Pyznarski | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| German Rivera | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brad Komminsk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronn Reynolds | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 36 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
Rochester 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0- 5
Denver 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1- 3
LOB- Rochester 9, Denver 9 2B- Finley, Hughes, Reynolds, Stone, Worthington HR- Hughes (4), Stanicek (2), Reynolds (3) SF- Narron
Rochester pitching
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Oswaldo Peraza (W, 2-0) | 8.2 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 15 |
| Jose Mesa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Raczka (S, 8) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Denver pitching
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Adrian Meagher | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Mark Knudson | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Jay Aldrich | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Time: 2:59 Attendance: 5,360
Also on this day: Wayne Garland pitched a one-hitter as the Red Wings topped the Tidewater Tides 5-0 at Silver Stadium in 1972… Kevin Torve and Carl Nichols hit back-to-back home runs to lift the Red Wings over the Maine Guides, 6-5, in 1987… Garrett Jones hit his 10th home run of the season and broke a tie with a two-run double in the ninth as the Red Wings defeated Scranton-Wilkes Barre 4-1 in 2006… Brian Buscher, Randy Ruiz, Jose Morales and Darnell McDonald all hit home runs and Francisco Liriano allowed just one run in six innings as the Red Wings routed the Durham Bulls 14-2 in 2008.
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