By TOM GARIGEN
June 18, 2005
Having gone 1-5 to start a soggy, eight-game homestand, the Rochester Red Wings were in dire need of a lift. Finally, on a rain-free Saturday, the Wings came through in the clutch.
Jason Tyner laced a two-run double as part of a four-run seventh inning, and Rochester rallied to defeat the Toledo Mud Hens 5-3 before a crowd of 9,652 at Frontier Field.
“We needed a big inning like that,” Tyner told the Democrat and Chronicle. “Everyone has been putting pressure on themselves. We were finally able to drive some runs in.”
The fateful seventh was a lesson in perseverance, as a pair of slumping hitters came through to help get things going. Terry Tiffee (4 for his last 44) singled to open the frame. One out later, Todd Dunwoody snapped a 6-for-51 slide with a base hit of his own.
After Rob Bowen doubled in a run, Tyner tallied a rare extra-base hit to give the Wings the lead. Tyner entered the game with six extra-base hits in 244 at bats before doubling twice on the night.
Jason Bartlett capped the inning with a sacrifice fly. Travis Bowyer then worked around a walk to retire Toledo in the ninth for his 15th save. He closed it by fanning Curtis Granderson, who in two short years would lead the Major Leagues with 23 triples and finish 10th in the AL MVP race for Detroit.
Marcus Thames continued to be a thorn in the side of the Wings, as the current New York Yankee hitting coach homered in the second to stake Toledo to a 1-0 lead. Rochester tied it in the sixth as Luis Maza singled for the team’s first hit with runners in scoring position in 18 tries in the series.
Boof Bonser helped stifle further Toledo rallies. The Red Wing starter went six full, allowing a run on five hits while striking out seven. He remains to this day the only player with either of those names to appear in the Major Leagues.
The Mud Hens touched up reliever Willie Eyre for a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but the Wings were able to rally in the bottom half and hang on.
The boisterous crowd on hand had been looking for a ray of sunlight after a week that included lots of rain and Red Wing defeats. They were on their feet in the ninth and roared as Bowyer set down Granderson to seal the win.
“That felt great, hearing them and being able to end it,” Bowyer said.
| Red Wings 5, Mud Hens 3 | |||||||||||
| Toledo | AB | R | H | BI | Rochester | AB | R | H | BI | ||
| Hooper ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Tyner cf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Grndsn cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Maza 2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Pena 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Bartlett ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Thames rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Jones 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Raburn 2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | West dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Wise lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tiffee 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Mrtnez c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rabe lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Hnnhan 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dnwdy rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Dawkins dh | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Bowen c | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Totals | 33 | 3 | 8 | 3 | Totals | 32 | 5 | 11 | 5 | ||
| Toledo | 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 3 | ||||||||||
| Rochester | 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 X – 5 | ||||||||||
| E – Martinez; Hooper; Jones. LOB – Toledo 8, Rochester 5. DP – Toledo 1, | |||||||||||
| Rochester 1. 2B – Raburn 2; Dawkins; Granderson, Tyner 2; Bowen 2. | |||||||||||
| HR – Thames (4). S – Hooper; Tyner. SF – Bartlett. SB – Bartlett. CS – Dawkins. | |||||||||||
| Toledo | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||
| Baugh | 6.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |||||
| Ennis L, 1-4 | 0.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Woodyard | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Rochester | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||
| Bonser | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | |||||
| Eyre W, 7-2 | 1.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Barrett | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Bowyer S, 15 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| PB – Bowen. Umpires – Home, Miller; 1st, Hoye; 2nd, Thompson; 3rd, Hubler. | |||||||||||
| Time – 2:39. Attendance – 9,652 | |||||||||||
Also on this day: 1986 – Englishman Peter Dowdeswell, who held 17 world records for eating or drinking, broke his own record by chugging a yard of ale in 4.95 seconds in front of 3,577 at Silver Stadium before Rochester’s game against the Toledo Mud Hens. The Wings were not as successful, as they were edged 6-5 … 1933 – The Red Wings captured both ends of a doubleheader against the Albany Senators, 5-2 and 4-3 … 2006 – Rookie pitcher Humberto Sanchez put the Red Wing offense on ice, as the Toledo Mud Hens defeated Rochester 3-0 on a 93-degree day at Frontier Field.
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