By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
The eighth inning changed the entire complexion of the Rochester Red Wings’ Sunday matinee against the Syracuse Mets at Frontier Field.
Rochester’s offense languished for seven fruitless innings, staring at a 6-1 deficit in which starting pitcher Ben Braymer struggled and its frigid lineup had tallied just three hits. At the game’s conclusion, the Red Wings were exchanging hugs and handshakes in celebration of an improbable victory.
The Wings made their own luck in the eighth, when pinch hitter Rafael Bautista and Blake Swihart each singled and Mets third baseman Orlando Calixte airmailed a weakly hit Jecksson Flores ground ball over first baseman Cody Bohanek’s head. Both runners scored on the error, Bautista hustling from first, to trim Rochester’s deficit to 6-3.
Jake Noll, who entered Sunday with just one hit in his previous 16 at-bats, singled up the middle to score Flores and cut the deficit to 6-4. Two batters later, after Daniel Palka grounded into a double play, Alex Sanabia hit Brandon Snyder to keep the inning alive. That’s when Derek Dietrich, batting just .138 (9-for-65) as a Red Wing to that point, tied the game with a dramatic two-run home run into the Wings’- right field- bullpen off new pitcher Trey Cobb.
Jecksson Flores ended the game an inning later with a line drive double to left, scoring Humberto Arteaga all the way from first to walk it off.
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Rochester was reeling, having scored just three runs in 25 innings. The Red Wings answered with six runs over the last two frames to salvage a series split. Noll’s RBI increased his season total to 44, the 11th-most in Triple-A East.
“Sometimes you just have a little rut, as a whole. That’s what we had over the last few games,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy acknowledged. “We just hadn’t made many adjustments at all as a group… and the few opportunities we’ve had, we obviously hadn’t gotten it done. So for us to come out in the eighth, be down like we were and to take advantage of an error… and Dietrich, who hadn’t been his best, he came up with a big hit to tie it up.
“This is a team that, we fight every night. Not everything works, but these guys give everything they’ve got every day.”
Braymer, who exited the game in line for his eighth loss in 11 decisions before Dietrich tied the game, yielded home runs to Bohanek and Martin Cervenka as part of a six-run, six-hit outing where he also walked three batters. The Rochester bullpen was as stout as it had been all weekend, however; Dakota Bacus, a rehabbing Kyle McGowin, Wander Suero and Aaron Barrett combined to fire four shutout innings, scattering just two hits without any walks.
The Mets scored a run in the third inning, two in the fourth and three in the fifth. They did not even reach scoring position over the final four.
“Any time you get the ball, it’s about getting outs and keeping the score where it is, no matter if you’re down or up,” LeCroy stated. “Today we did a nice job. Braymer struggled. They picked him up and kept us in it to give us a chance at the end. That’s what you have to do to be successful and to win championships; you have to keep games tied or you’ve gotta hold it. Really happy with the bullpen.”
Noll was on deck for the walkoff, a stellar candidate to score Arteaga with a single if LeCroy had decided to hold the runner at third. But LeCroy, who preaches aggressiveness on the basepaths, did not hesitate in the third base coaching box.
“Absolutely not,” LeCroy commented. “Where (left fielder Cesar Puello) was positioned… I felt pretty comfortable. He had to come a long way to get that ball and had to make some good throws to get him out at the end.
“I’m sure if he made a good throw he probably was out, but you’ve gotta take that chance there.”
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