By Dan Glickman
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings lost to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Saturday in 10 innings, 8-7, despite a 4-for-5 night at the plate from third baseman Jake Alu and a dramatic and controversial home run by left fielder Blake Rutherford in his Red Wings debut to send the game to extras.
“The guys fought hard, man,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “We had the momentum, but we just didn’t get it done at the end.”
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Rochester pitching combined through the night to allow only two earned runs and strike out 13, but two critical errors allowed Scranton to score six unearned runs.
“In the end, we didn’t make the plays,” he said. “They did, we didn’t.”
Scranton struck first with an RBI single by center fielder Brandon Lockridge in the top of the second to take the early 1-0 lead, but the lead wouldn’t last very long, as the Red Wings struck back in the bottom of the second.
After two straight groundouts, first baseman Matt Adams hit a ball just over the first base bag and into the corner. The ball took a weird hop off the Innovative Field walls, bounding away from the fielders to allow Adams to get to second. Catcher Luis Torrens followed up with a ground-rule double to left that brought Adams home to tie the game 1-1.
Rochester took the lead in the third thanks to brilliance on the basepaths and power at the plate. Shortstop Richie Martin led off with what appeared to be an infield single to Scranton shortstop Oswald Peraza. Peraza and the rest of the Scranton defense never retrieved the ball after mishandling it at the end of the play, allowing Martin to catch them by surprise and take second on the play.
“He’s a heads-up player,” said LeCroy of Martin. “He’s a battler, a team player, a winning player, and that’s what you want.”
Martin moved up to third on a Derek Hill sacrifice bunt, but it wouldn’t have mattered what base he was on: Alu followed up with a triple to right to give Rochester the 2-1 lead.
It was the lone extra-base hit of the game for the 26-year-old, going along with three singles. Alu’s hits on Saturday extended his hitting streak to seven games, the longest active streak on the team.
“I know I can hit,” said Alu post-game. “I knew prior to that that I was hitting balls hard, lining out a lot. I didn’t change anything, I stuck with the same approach, I knew they were going to start falling, and they’ve started to fall.”
Designated hitter Franmil Reyes followed Alu’s triple by going one base better, extending the lead to 4-1 by smashing a home run to center for his third round-tripper of the year.
The game turned in Scranton’s favor in the top of the fifth. With a man on and two men out, Peraza reached on an infield error. Scranton took advantage, with third baseman Andres Chaparro knocking in three with a bases-loaded double and catcher Carlos Narvaez hitting a two-run home run for a five-run inning to jump ahead, 6-4.
Rochester narrowed the Scranton lead in the seventh, as Martin reached on an error before stealing second. He then moved to third on a Hill flyout before scoring on a single by Alu to make it 6-5.
A home run by Estevan Florial in the eighth gave Scranton a 7-6 cushion, his fourth long ball of the series.
Rochester tied it in the ninth with one of the strangest home runs of the year. With Luis Torrens on first, Rutherford came to the plate against Matt Bowman. He connected with the first pitch he saw, sending it to deep right. Lockridge leaped for the ball, and it appeared at first that the yard had contained the hit for an RBI triple for Rutherford, but after a discussion, the umpires called the ball a home run. The game was tied, 7-7. The season-high crowd of 10,811 went wild, but Scranton manager Shelley Duncan was less enthusiastic, charging onto the field to protest- only to be ejected for his troubles.
Rutherford, a one-time first-round pick of the New York Yankees who hit .390 in 129 at-bats with Harrisburg before being called up on Saturday to replace Cody Wilson, is in his first year with the Nationals organization after spending the last two seasons with the White Sox AAA affiliate in Charlotte.
“He’s a Triple-A veteran, he was doing really well at Double-A, we just didn’t have room for him until we made room for him to hit,” said LeCroy. “He stayed on the ball good to left field, and that was a big homer at the end.”
Rochester could not score again in the ninth, sending the game into extras.
It was there that the second big error happened. With one out and a man on third, Michael Hermosillo hit a ball hard to Martin. Martin threw home to get the go-ahead runner, but the catch moved into a tagging motion too early, allowing the throw to get by him and the run to score. Scranton moved ahead, 8-7.
Rochester had a major chance in the bottom of the tenth to keep the game going but were foiled by the Scranton defense. With one out and a runner at second, right fielder Nomar Mazara hit the ball hard to center. Lockridge gave chase and made a great grab, holding onto the ball even as he tumbled to the ground to prevent what would have been a game-tying hit. That would be the Red Wings’ best opportunity, as they went down in defeat.
The Wings (31-35, sixth in International League East, 13.5 games back of Norfolk) conclude their series with Scranton (31-36, seventh in International League East, 14 games back of Norfolk) on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Left-hander Anthony Banda (0-0, 8.83) is scheduled to face Scranton righty Mitch Spence (4-3, 5.21).
FINAL (10): SWB 8, ROC 7
WP: Matt Bowman (3-0, 3.62)
LP: Tyler Danish (0-1, 3.10)
SV: Aaron McGarity (2)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | R | H | E | |
| Scranton/WB | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 2 | |
| Rochester | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 2 |
GAME INFORMATION:
First Pitch: 6:46 PM
Temperature: 73°F
Time of Game: 2:59
Attendance: 10,811
HOME RUNS:
ROC – Franmil Reyes (3) two-run off LHP Tanner Tully in the 3rd; (count: 2-1) to center field
SWB – Carlos Narvaez (4) two-run off RHP Joan Adon in the 5th (count: 1-1) to left field
SWB – Estevan Florial (18) solo off LHP Sean Doolittle in the 8th (count: 3-1) to center field
ROC – Blake Rutherford (1) two-run off RHP Matt Bowman in the 9th (count: 0-0) to center field
STARTING PITCHERS:
LHP Tanner Tully (5-1, 4.29) 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 25 BF, 85/59 (P/S), left up 6-4
RHP Joan Adon (2-4, 4.73) 5.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 24 BF, 83/50 (P/S), left down 6-4
CHALLENGE INFORMATION:
SWB: 1-for-3
ROC: 1-for-4
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