By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
The Rochester Red Wings lapsed in fundamentals in Saturday night’s loss to Buffalo.
Rochester issued multiple walks apiece to the second, third and cleanup hitters in the Bisons’ lineup and hit a batter with the bases loaded. Starting pitcher Sterling Sharp tossed two wild pitches; Kyle Lobstein threw one as well. The Red Wings committed two errors, each leading to unearned runs.
Despite outhitting the Bisons 11-8, with three more extra-base hits, the Red Wings lost 8-6, their third consecutive defeat. Rochester is now 15-26.
Sharp was shaky from the start, when he walked two men and threw a wild pitch before starting an inning-ending double play to escape the first. He held Buffalo to a lone run through the first four innings, stranding six on base, but did not complete the fifth. The six walks he allowed matched his total for the entire month of May, when he threw 14 innings.
“Sharpie, he didn’t really have the best command, obviously. Didn’t have his normal command that he normally pitches with,” Red Wings manager Matthew LeCroy acknowledged. “But he made pitches. He pitched out of that bases-loaded jam in the first. And then in the fifth inning, we didn’t make no plays behind him. The defense let him down. For having walked six guys and only giving up one earned run, that’s pretty good. Our defense just fell apart in the fifth inning.”
The miscues came to a head in the seventh, when Alberto Baldonado walked two men and hit Cullen Large with the bases loaded. Richard Ureña solidly singled to center, scoring two runners, and Cody Wilson’s throwing error allowed Large to score all the way from first.
Baldonado had only allowed two earned runs over his previous seven appearances in a Red Wings uniform. He was charged with the loss after surrendering four runs and walking two batsmen.
The walk parade marred Rochester’s improved offensive night. Yadiel Hernandez crushed a two-run homer to right in the bottom of the seventh, his first with Rochester, while Jake Noll had a season-high three hits. Hernandez, Alec Keller and Brandon Snyder compiled two hits apiece.
Casey Lawrence allowed two runs but was credited with the victory after Buffalo regained the lead in the seventh. Hobie Harris and Kirby Snead, who earned his second save, held the advantage over the last 2.1 frames.
Harris struck out the side in the eighth after Snyder’s leadoff single. The Red Wings produced just a sacrifice fly and one run after putting runners on second and third with one out in the ninth.
“Yadi hit the big homer to kind of get it close, but they’ve got a pretty good bullpen,” LeCroy remarked. “Each of them has about a sub-2.00 (ERA), so when you’ve got a chance to take the lead like we did and give it away like we did, it was pretty disappointing. We’ve got to keep grinding.”
Notes: The Red Wings wore uniforms honoring the Rochester American Giants, an all-Black minor league team that played in the 1940s… The attendance of 4,272 was the Red Wings’ highest of the 2021 season,
A very discouraging relapse by the Wings against Buffalo this week.. They completely owned us and the Wings did not play sound baseball at all. Wings were very lucky to win one game..barely.