By IAIN HIGGINS
Kevin West followed a go-ahead single from Chris Heintz with a three-run home run on this day in 2005, to secure a 6-2 Rochester Red Wings win over the Durham Bulls in front of 5,805 fans at Frontier Field.
Soon-to-be IL Rookie of the Year Francisco Liriano held Durham to five hits and two runs in his seven innings of work, fanning five along the way. Beau Kemp closed the final two innings with three strikeouts and no hits.
The seventh inning was crucial for Rochester on both offense and defense. Deadlocked at two, reliever Joe Nelson took the mound for the Bulls, replacing former Red Wing Jimmy Anderson. Jason Tyner singled, then Jason Bartlett worked a walk setting up Heintz and West to bring everybody in.
Prior to the offensive outburst, Liriano found himself in some trouble in the top of the inning. Ex-Wing Darnell McDonald made his way to third base with only one out. Liriano the struck out Hoover and Upton to end the inning. The lefty would finish the season with 204 strikeouts, leading the minor league. The following season he pitched at the MLB All-Star game representing the Twins.
Heintz grounded out in the first and drove in the initial run to start scoring, but Durham answered with two runs in the second. Rochester tied it in the third when Brent Abernathy went from first to third on a Bartlett single and then scored on an error when the throw from Bulls right fielder Delmon Young sailed into the stands.
Just four pitches into the game, Durham manager Bill Evers was booted for kicking dirt on home plate after a lengthy argument with umpire Mike Estabrook. Estabrook ruled Durham’s B.J. Upton out in a close call at home. Upton tripled off the wall, then headed home on Trenidad Hubbard’s shallow fly to right. Hubbard and Hoover scored in the second inning for the Bulls and Delmon Young was credited with an RBI.
RED WINGS 6
BULLS 2
| Durham | AB | R | H | BI | Rochester | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Upton ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Tyner cf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Hubbard lf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Abernathy lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Young rf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Bartlett ss | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Snyder 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Heintz 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phelps 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ojeda 3b | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Munson dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | West rf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| McDonald cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Rivas 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Laker c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jones 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Hoover 2b | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Bowen dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Miller c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 30 | 2 | 5 | 1 | Totals | 31 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
Durham 002 000 000-2
Rohester 101 000 40x-6
LOB: Durham 6, Rochester 7; DP: Rochester 3; 2B Jones, McDonald; 3B: Upton; HR: West (12); SB: Tyner 2 (14), Abernathy (5), Hubbard (20), Hoover (3); CS: Upton; PO: Upton; E: Young, Heintz 2, Bartlett; PB: Miller.
| Durham | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Anderson | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Nelson L, 0-3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Gardner | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rochester | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Liriano W, 4-1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Kemp | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Umpires: Home, Estabrook; 1st, Cooper; 2nd, Cricks; 3rd, Johnson; Time: 2:28; Attendance: 5,805.
Also On This Day- On July 24, 1995, construction on a new stadium for the Red Wings began. The stadium would be called Frontier Field after Frontier Communications, a subsidiary of Rochester Telephone… July 24, 2005 Infielder Terry Tiffee was promoted to the Minnesota Twins today. Tiffee was batting .266 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI in 58 games for the Red Wings. Tiffee heads to Minnesota swinging a hot bat hitting safely in 27 of his last 31 games (.323 41-for-127) with the Wings. This is Tiffee’s fourth promotion to the Twins this season. In 24 games with the Twins, Tiffee is batting .194 with one home run and seven RBI.
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