BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – It was “Christmas In July” at Innovative Field on Saturday night, but it was not a merry time for the Rochester Red Wings, as they fell to the Durham Bulls, 7-3.
Durham grabbed an early lead in the first, chased away Wings starter Anthony Banda in the second, and held the advantage the rest of the game before putting the game further out of reach with two runs late.
“We were down pretty big when we gave up five in the first two innings,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy.
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The Red Wings still lead the series, 3-2, and they can notch their first series win against the Tampa affiliate since 2018 with a win on Sunday.
The Bulls opened the game with a two-run top of the first, aided by the setting sun. With one out and a runner on first, Durham designated hitter Curtis Mead hit an 0-2 pitch to right, where the sun’s glare slowed Blake Rutherford’s reaction, allowing the ball to fall in safely. Rutherford then mishandled the ball, allowing Mead to move from second to third and bring home the lead runner to give Durham the 1-0 lead. Mead later scored on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Tristan Gray to extend the lead to 2-0.
Rochester threatened with a two-out rally in the bottom half of the inning, as first baseman Travis Blankenhorn reached on an infield single, Rutherford laced one through the right side, and designated hitter Matt Adams walked to load the bases. Catcher Jacob Nottingham hit a ball up the middle, but it deflected off Durham starter Cooper Criswell and landed in front of the shortstop Gray, who threw out Nottingham on the rare 1-6-3 putout to end the inning without any runs scored.
Durham pulled further ahead in the second, scoring three runs on three hits and a catcher’s interference error to extend their lead to 5-0. Their first three batters all reached base, and the Bulls had men on second and third when Tommy Romero came in for Banda and got the last out of the inning.
Rochester got some runs back in the bottom of the second, as second baseman Erick Mejia led off with a single. Third baseman Jack Dunn followed up with a single up the middle and moved to second when Durham center fielder Greg Jones misplayed the ball. Mejia scored from third on a Derek Hill groundout to make the score 5-1, and Dunn scored on an error by Durham first baseman Jonathan Aranda later in the inning to cut Durham’s lead to 5-2.
After the second inning, both teams had their bats go cold. Romero would hold the Bulls scoreless for three-and-a-third innings, his first clean outing since July 7 against Buffalo.
“It was a big outing for Tommy; he needed it,” said LeCroy. “I think his confidence hasn’t been where it needs to be at, and I think tonight may helped that.”
Hobie Harris– fresh off of the injured list- and Roddery Munoz– making his Red Wings debut- followed Romero with a scoreless inning each.
It wouldn’t be until the eighth that another run scored for either team when Durham scored on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice and then a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 7-2.
Rochester scored a run in the bottom of the ninth when Jack Dunn scored on a groundout by Jake Alu, but it’d be too little, too late for the Red Wings as they fell 7-3.
“We just didn’t make enough adjustments offensively to really, really get back in it,” said LeCroy.
Criswell earned the win to go to 3-3; Banda took the loss to fall to 0-2. Rutherford went 3-for-4 with a stolen base at the plate in defeat.
The Red Wings (10-10 in second half, 44-49 overall, 3.5 games back) conclude their series with Durham (10-10 in second half, 50-45 overall, 3.5 games back) on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Rochester expects to send righty Wily Peralta (3-6, 6.56) against Durham lefty Jacob Lopez (3-2, 1.16). The Wings then leave for a two-week road trip to Worcester and Scranton. Rochester returns home on August 8 against Lehigh Valley.
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