By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Aaron Sanchez and the Rochester Red Wings began the home portion of their 2022 season simply enough. Buffalo Bisons leadoff man Gosuke Katoh grounded the first pitch of Tuesday’s game to third baseman Richard Urena, who calmly fired to first baseman Jake Noll. One pitch, one out.
The rest of the night wasn’t as easy, but Sanchez settled in well enough for Rochester to erase a three-run second inning deficit. The new Red Wing required just 12 pitches to retire the side in order in the third and completed five innings. He surrendered just five hits, none for extra bases after a two-homer outing last Wednesday, and retired eight of his last nine batters. Two of his three earned runs scored by groundout.
“They put the bat on the ball and found some holes, found some green; that’s just how the game goes sometimes,” Sanchez acknowledged. “Finished strong… kept the team in the game, that’s all you can ask as a starter.”
“He settled down, started moving the ball into better locations,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy added. “He left some balls up in that inning where he gave up three, but really like how he ended up.”
Buffalo tallied two runs in the ninth to score a 6-4 victory in front of 8,170 observers at Frontier Field. Sanchez was, however, the second straight Red Wings starter to throw five frames, while the top of the batting order–Andrew Stevenson, Luis García and Jake Noll–recorded seven hits in 15 at bats.
“It was disappointing there at the end,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy remarked. “I thought we fought throughout the whole game. We fell behind and we were able to tie it up with some big clutch hits, situational success.”
The Bisons’ early lead was less than resounding, spurred by a leadoff walk, a wild pitch and three singles. Katoh drove in two runs without registering a hit, while Vinny Capra earned the team’s only extra-base hit.
Buffalo manufactured a similar run in the sixth inning: Joshua Fuentes’s pop-up in front of the mound fell in the middle of four Red Wing fielders; Cullen Large’s flare fell in shallow right field, advancing Fuentes to third; and Samad Taylor grounded into a force out to score Fuentes.
Rochester, meanwhile, did not score after Andrew Young and Donovan Casey each worked one-out walks in the eighth. García singled to lead off the ninth, but Noll grounded into a double play.
Noll recorded two RBI, knocking in García after his seventh-inning triple, while Joey Meneses and Andrew Young drove in a run apiece. The Red Wings, however, left nine men on base and batted just 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
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Alberto Baldonado, Carl Edwards Jr. and Tyler Clippard pitched the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, the latter two providing hitless relief.
The first three Bisons reached safely in the ninth off Jordan Weems, however, with LJ Talley hitting the eventual game-winning single.
“Buffalo, they grind you as well. Two equally-matched teams, from what I’ve seen tonight,” LeCroy assessed. “They took advantage of some balls that were left up in the ninth inning.”
García’s three-hit game was his second this season, while Noll has five RBI in seven games. LeCroy remains bullish about his lineup, which
“You see why all these guys are prospects and guys that have played in the big leagues,” LeCroy commented. “They can swing the bat; they’re athletic; they can leave the yard at any time. We’ve gotta keep them going. That’s why they’re at the top.
“We just didn’t get it done in some situations, when we had chances to score. But I like my chances with those guys up.”
Note: Catcher Tres Barrera abruptly left in the middle of a 1-2 count in the top of the eighth inning with what LeCroy said was acid reflux. “It didn’t seem like anything bad. We just needed to take him out,” LeCroy noted. “He wasn’t feeling right.”
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