By TOM GARIGEN
June 25, 1988
In his professional career, Craig Worthington showed a penchant for driving in runs. He was two years removed from knocking in 105 for the 1986 Hagerstown Suns of the Carolina League. He then had 50 RBI in just 109 games for the ‘87 Wings, and was among the International League leaders heading into this game against the Iowa Cubs.
It was Worthington’s productive lumber that keyed a pair of big Rochester innings as the Red Wings defeated the Iowa Cubs 9-5 before 1,901 fans on a soggy evening at Silver Stadium.
Worthington had an RBI double in a five-run first inning, then highlighted a four-run seventh with a bases-loaded two-bagger as the Wings put up a pair of crooked numbers en route to the win.
Though he was the bane of Iowa on this night, Worthington would actually go on to have two successful campaigns for the team in 1993 and 1994, where he combined to hit .279 with 30 homers and 135 runs batted in.
Ken Landreaux got the Wings going in the bottom of the first with a walk. Wade Rowdon went deep for his second home run of the year to make it 2-0. Keith Hughes then singled ahead of Worthington’s run-scoring double, and Scott Padget homered to cap the big inning.
The Cubs chipped away with three in the second and single runs in the fifth and seventh to tie it up. The deadlock was short-lived, though, as Rochester bounced back in the bottom half of the seventh.
Landreaux ripped a two-out double, and a pair of walks loaded the bases. Hughes followed with a bouncer up the middle to make it 6-5, and Worthington provided insurance with a bases-clearing double.
“When I don’t get the RBI, that bugs me,” Worthington told the D&C. “I try to do the job. I’m glad I helped the team win.”
Dickie Noles tossed 3 ⅔ innings to get the win in relief of starter Bob Milacki. The right-hander scattered four hits and allowed just one run. Mike Raczka came on with two runners aboard in the ninth and retired the next three hitters to notch his ninth save.
| Red Wings 9, Cubs 5 | |||||||||||
| Iowa | AB | R | H | BI | Rochester | AB | R | H | BI | ||
| Dw. Smith lf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Lndreaux lf | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Varsho rf | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Finley cf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dascenzo cf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Rowdon 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Meier 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Hughes rf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Stephnsn 1b | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Wrthgtn 3b | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Bathe c | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Padget 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Tabor 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Narron c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Roomes dh | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Saicedo dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Noce ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | D Smith ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 34 | 5 | 11 | 5 | Totals | 32 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||
| Iowa | 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 – 5 | ||||||||||
| Rochester | 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 X – 9 | ||||||||||
| GWRBI – Hughes. DP – Iowa 1, Rochester 1. LOB – Iowa 8, Rochester 4. 2B – Worthington 2, Meier, Landreaux. HR – Rowdon (2), Padget (8). SB – Dacenzo, Roomes. SF – Meier. | |||||||||||
| Iowa | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||
| Parmtr L, 1-3 | 6.2 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 3 | |||||
| Hirsch | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Rochester | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||
| Milacki | 4.1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Noles W, 5-2 | 3.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Raszka S, 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Noles pitched to two batters in the ninth.
BK – Noles. T – 2:39. Att. – 1,901. |
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