By TOM GARIGEN
July 9, 1990
There was plenty for Red Wings fans to cheer about during the 1990 season. The Rochester roster was loaded with future Major League talent, and the Wings got it done on the field to the tune of an 89-56 record. The Wings coasted to the regular season title by an incredible 21.5 games ahead of second-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and then went on to claim the Governor’s Cup over the Columbus Clippers.
On this date 30 years ago, the Rochester faithful was treated to an evening so packed with action that the scoreboard couldn’t keep up with the Red Wing hit total. The Wings pounded out 20 on the night en route to a 16-6 win over the Buffalo Bisons.
“They hit good pitches and they hit bad pitches,” Buffalo pitching coach Jackie Brown told the Democrat & Chronicle. “They hit so many pitches you forgot if it was a good pitch or a bad pitch.”
The scoreboard stopped counting after 19 hits, and thus couldn’t register Marty Brown’s two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth that capped an incredible evening for the Wings. The onslaught was all the more impressive coming against a Bison staff that had sported a league-best 3.28 ERA coming in. But Buffalo had no answer for the Rochester hit parade.
The Wings jumped out of the gate quickly. Tony Chance staked the team to a 2-0 lead with a two-out base hit in the bottom of the first. Rochester then hit for the cycle – almost in succession – and plated five in the second to take control.
Donell Nixon singled to start the action and Tim Dulin followed with an RBI double. After David Segui was retired, Leo Gomez drilled a run-scoring triple and Jeff McKnight launched a two-run homer.
The Bisons had their bats working as well, and Buffalo rebounded with four runs in the top of the third off Red Wing starter Dan Boone. The left-hander eventually earned the win, but would surrender five runs on 13 hits over fine innings. It was a minor blip in an otherwise outstanding year that saw Boone finish 11-5 with a 2.60 ERA.
Buffalo actually totaled 16 hits on the night, but stranded nine runners and hit into four double plays.
Rochester broke the game open with six runs in the bottom of the third. Nixon, Segui, and McKnight all had run-scoring hits, and Brown belted a two-run double to make it 13-4.
Brown finished 3-for-6 with four RBI to pace the relentless Red Wing lineup. Nixon had four hits, while Segui, McKnight, and Chance had two apiece. Twelve different players registered a hit, and nine scored at least one run.
The game was the final one before the 1990 All-Star break, and the team’s lead in the division was already at 8 ½ games. Rochester would continue its stellar play the rest of the way.
“I felt like we had a good team from the beginning of the season,” McKnight recounted to the D&C. “A lot of times you can have a good team and not play to your potential. This team, everyone’s playing to their potential.”
| Red Wings 16, Bisons 6 | |||||||||||
| Buffalo | AB | R | H | BI | Rochester | AB | R | H | BI | ||
| Moreno lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nixon cf | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Burdick 2b | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Dulin 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Ryal dh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Segui 1b | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Alou cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Gomez 3b | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Chmberln rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | McKnght ss | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Prince c/1b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Chance lf | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Banister 1b/c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Brown rf | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Shields | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | Tackett c | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Garcia ss | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Contreras rf | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Carter ph/lf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Stnck ph/2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Trner ph/ss | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Hithe ph/lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Totals | 37 | 6 | 16 | 6 | Totals | 44 | 16 | 20 | 14 | ||
| Buffalo | 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 – 6 | ||||||||||
| Rochester | 2 5 6 0 1 0 0 2 x – 16 | ||||||||||
| E – Banister, Garcia. DP – Buffalo 1, Rochester 4. LOB – Buffalo 9, Rochester 13. 2B – Burdick, Ryal, Shields, Garcia, Dulin, McKnight. 3B – Gomez, Brown. HR – Garcia (2), McKnight (7), Brown (2). SF – Ryal. | |||||||||||
| Buffalo | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||
| York L, 7-4 | 1.2 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Mason | 0.2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Bair | 2.2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Rogsler | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Huismann | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Rochester | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||
| Boone W, 6-3 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Bautista | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| MeKeon | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Woodward | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| WP – Bair 2. BK – York.
T – 3:04. Att. – 4,690. |
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