BY JONATHAN SKUZA
ROCHESTER, N.Y.– Baseball during the month of April in Western New York can bring all kinds of weather factors from the cold to the rain to the sun to the blowing winds.
Tuesday evening’s contest between thruway rivals the Rochester Red Wings (1-8) and Buffalo Bisons (5-4) was no exception as the gusty winds played a factor in the Red Wings’ 7-2 defeat to the Bisons.
“There was a little wind that was blowing,” Red Wings’ manager Matthew LeCroy said. “Offensively you feel pretty good about it, but we started out shaky. We didn’t make a play in the first in the outfield. It was a tough ball that led to two runs.”
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The trouble with the wind for the Wings began in the first inning when Buffalo’s leadoff batter Nathan Lukes hit a weak flyball down the third base side that dropped awkwardly between Rochester’s third baseman and left fielder that led to a leadoff double. Addison Barger drove home Lukes two batters later to give the Bisons an early lead. Rob Brantly continued the scoring with a ground-rule double to center field that had some help from the wind to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
The Bisons’ luck with the wind continued as Lukes hit a two-run home run out to right field that just got over the fence in the second inning to give Buffalo a 4-1 lead.
Mother nature did not play much of a factor through the middle innings and seemed to subside for the most part after affecting the early parts of the ballgame.
In the eighth inning, she had one trick up her sleeve as she pushed a routine flyball off the bat of Rochester native Ernie Clement to left-center field that got dropped scoring two more runs for the Bisons giving them a four-run lead late in the ball game.
“We must play that ball out in left field,” LeCroy said. “It’s gotta be a catch and I know he would admit that, but things happen.”
Cory Abbott who started for Rochester has pitched both of his starts in gusting winds. Abbott’s last time out on the mound he pitched on the road in Rochester’s lone win of the season against the Syracuse Mets on April 5 where the winds were blowing making it hard to field flyballs.
Abbott pitched five innings for the Red Wings tallying three strikeouts while giving up four runs on five hits and one walk. Abbott’s first two innings did not go the way he and his team hoped, but he was able to finish his start strong by retiring 11 straight Bison to close out his pitching performance Tuesday.
“That shows what he’s capable of doing,” LeCroy said. “The Blue Jays teams are all there. They don’t swing at balls. They put balls in play. They don’t strike out. They make you earn your outs and he made a nice adjustment.
Matt Adams drove in the Red Wings’ first run of the evening with an RBI single that scored Chad Pinder in the first inning to make it 2-1. Adams made it to second on a throwing error trying to get Pinder out at home plate.
Wilson Garcia hit a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the sixth for his third of the year to cut Buffalo’s lead in half.
“He has a history of hitting,” LeCroy said. “He’s never played at Triple-A and he’s hit three homers on the season. We need offense. We got to find ways to impact the ball and get some runners in and that was a nice pick-me-up that kind of got us a little bit closer.
The Red Wings came close in the seventh to tying the game by having the bases loaded with one out but unfortunately grounded into an inning-ending double play that killed any momentum they had.
“We didn’t get the guy in,” LeCroy said. “Bases loaded down by two, that was a big at-bat.”
Rochester will look to end its five-game losing skid in game two of the series at 1:05 p.m. on April 12 when right-hander Tommy Romero (0-1, 15.75) takes the mound for the Red Wings against right-hander Casey Lawrence (0-1, 2.70).
When you have only scored more than 2 runs twice in the first 9 games, you will use anything as an excuse.
The wind? The weather? It affects both teams. When you aren’t hitting, scoring, pitching or winning you will grab at any straw.
Its a bad look. These guys so far aren’t playing like a team. The parent team isn’t doing much better. Both teams are last in their respective leagues. You can excuse a few early season mis-steps…but 1-8 with most the losses lopsided blowouts is starting to look like what this team may be.
Of course, we all hope that is wrong. We want it to be wrong. Losing everyday is never fun, to play or to watch. But so far, these guys are dead men walking, or snoozing. Is the Nats organization that bad, still? Can this bunch finally wake up and fly right?
Or not.
Wings have had zero success since hitching up with Washington. Meanwhile the Rochester media continues to promote the Mets and Yankees, which tells us who they feel this community cares about. Ask a Rochester baseball fan to quickly name 5 Mets; 5 Yankees; 1 Nat. Yeah, thought so.
So our Wings just continue to be afterthoughts as a baseball competitor. For those who still value wins over all other ‘entertainment’ offered at Frontier…(sorry) its a pretty sad show. 1-8 to open a season is just flat out unacceptable and disappointing. An occasional Adams HR isn’t changing that scenario.
If John Torts was coaching this team, you would see sparks flying and hear fire and brimstone and maybe thats what this outit needs right now. Start playing for each other. Show some pride in the uniform. Stop accepting out and out lousy baseball. Because thats what it is right now. Lousy baseball. We deserve better.