The Rochester Red Wings concluded their series with Toledo with a 6-3 loss on a cold Sunday at Frontier Field, as the Mud Hens led from the first inning onward as Rochester comeback attempts came up short. Rochester went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. In the past two games, they are 3-21 in such situations.
“It was just another day offensively where we never really got the rhythm or got anything going to make much of a push,” said Red Wings manager Matthew LeCroy.
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The defeat was the Red Wings third straight after a 17-0 trouncing of Toledo on Thursday. Toledo also clinched the season series, 7-5.
Like on Saturday, the Red Wings fell behind early, as the Mud Hens jumped to a 1-0 lead against Daniel Ponce de Leon on a two-out double by Brendon Davis in the first. Toledo added another in the third on a Daz Cameron one-out double.
Rochester scored for the first time in an eventful third inning. Jecksson Flores led off against Toledo starter Joey Wentz. The next batter, Andrew Stevenson, appeared to fly out to left, but then the play was called back due to a late balk call against Wentz by home plate umpire Jacob Metz. Toledo manager Lloyd McClendon was ejected from the game after questioning the call, leaving the field for the day only after kicking dirt on home plate in front of Metz. Stevenson and then Lucius Fox followed up the balk and ejection with singles, driving in Flores.
The Wings failed to further capitalize, though, and the inning ended with a 2-1 score. The Red Wings were able to escape Joey Wentz, though, who was ejected while walking off the field in the fourth when he complained to an umpire about the earlier balk call.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Red Wings got a golden opportunity to tie it up, as Nick Banks tripled into the “Bermuda Triangle” next to the visitor’s bullpen with one out. Any additional hit or one-out sacrifice could have gotten him home to tie the game. The Red Wings, however, were unable to get him across, going down to an infield pop-up and then a strikeout.
“That was a big run, that could have changed the momentum of the game,” said LeCroy.
Toledo extended its lead in the fifth, growing the gap between them and the Wings. The Mud Hens ninth-place hitter, Dylan Rosa, led the inning off with a solo shot to right, and the Hens then hit two straight singles. Later in the inning, those two runners came in to score on a Davis single and a sacrifice fly by Andre Lipcius to make it 5-1.
Rochester again mounted a comeback attempt in the bottom of that inning. After a Flores walk, Andrew Stevenson belted a ball off Toledo reliever Zac Houston for his 14th home run of the season to make it 5-3.
“I was looking for a ball over the plate, he hung a slider right there, and I was able to put a good swing on it,” said Stevenson post-game.
The Red Wings never got another hit after Stevenson’s home run, and the Mud Hens added an additional run in the sixth on a Daz Cameron sacrifice fly. Although Rochester got men into scoring position thanks to errors and walks, they couldn’t knock anyone home.
The Red Wings, now 56-73 on the year, will head down the thruway to face Syracuse starting Tuesday at 6:35. Right-hander Tommy Romero is the probable starter for the series opener. Rochester will next host a home series starting Sept. 13 against Lehigh Valley.
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