By IAIN HIGGINS
Rookie right-hander Mike Adamson held Buffalo to five hits and one run on this night in 1968, keeping the Red Wings at the top of the International League standings and recording his first complete game in professional baseball. Adamson didn’t allow a hit after the fourth inning and retired the final 11 Bisons he faced. The former University of Southern California Trojan also finshed 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored.
Future American League All-Star Dave May led Rochester’s offensive effort with a two-run homer and a two-run single. Gordie Lund racked up two RBI from a double and a single his first two appearances at the plate.
The Wings collected 12 hits, jumping to an early start with successive doubles by Frank Peters and Lund to put Rochester on the board in the second inning. Merv Rettenmund singled two outs later to bring Lund home.
Rochester continued to pile on the runs. In the fourth, Lund drove in Peters, who found third base on a throwing error by Hank Allen. Errors continued to hurt the Bisons all night, putting runners on base for May’s bomb in the seventh and his bases-loaded single in the eighth and sending Bobby Floyd home on a bobbled ball in right field by Billings. Steve Demeter, a member of both the Red Wings Hall of Fame and the International League Hall of Fame, drove May in for the Wings final run.
Adamson recorded his fourth victory in five decisions after just one month with the Wings. Fresh from the Orioles, he made history a year prior on July 1, 1967 when he pitched two innings of relief for Baltimore, becoming the first player in MLB history to go straight to the majors without a minor league appearance.
The following season, Lund was traded away by the Orioles to the Seattle Pilots, Seattle’s first foray into the MLB. The team relocated to Milwaukee after just one year.
The Wings eventually finished third in the IL standings behind the Toledo Mud Hens and Columbus Jets.
The Bisons found their lone run in the third as Dick Billings singled, headed to second on a sacrifice, and then headed home off the bat of Terry Harmon. Only one Bison reached second base after that.
Red Wings 9
Bisons 1
| Rochester | AB | R | H | BI | Buffalo | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Rttnmnd cf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Harmon 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Floyd ss | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Walrath cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| May rf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | Allen 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Demeter 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Chance 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Scrptre lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lopez ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Peters 2b | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Alyea lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lund 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Casanova c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Bates c | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Billings rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Adamson p | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Moore p | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dukes ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Lines p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Miles p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 38 | 9 | 12 | 8 | Totals | 30 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Rochester 020 100 240- 9
Buffalo 001 000 000- 1
E- Allen, Billings, Lines; DP- Rochester 1, Buffalo 2; LOB- Rochester 9, Buffalo 5; 2B- Peters, Lund; HR- May (4); S- Moore, Adamson.
| Rochester | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Adamson W, 4-1 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Buffalo | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Moore L, 1-2 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Lines | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Miles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
WP- Moore; PB- Casanova. Time- 2:18; Attendance- 3,543.
Also On This Day- On July 10, 1933, Rochester beat Newark 6-1 at Red Wing Stadium. After the game George Puccienelli, one of the heroes of Rochester’s junior world series victory in ’31, was traded to Newark for Rochester native George Selkirk.
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