BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Contrary to some forecasts, the rain stayed away from Innovative Field on Saturday. Instead, it was left fielder Travis Blankenhorn who brought the thunder in Rochester’s 4-1 victory against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, hitting a 461-foot home run in the first for the longest round-tripper of the season by a Rochester hitter so far.
“I think that one’s my farthest one [ever],” said Blankenhorn post-game.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO.
After rehabbing Phillies center fielder Cristian Pache robbed leadoff man Darren Baker of a base hit and Jack Dunn struck out, Blankenhorn got the Red Wings on the board with authority. The 27-year-old worked a seven-pitch at-bat, fouling the ball off four times to work a 2-2 count against IronPigs’ starter Shaun Anderson. On the seventh pitch, Blankenhorn found a hanging slider going down the middle and smashed it. The ball was seemingly gone as soon as he hit, rocketing at 105.7 MPH well over the ESL-sponsored event space near the righ -field scoreboard. The home run, Blankenhorn’s 20th of the season, gave the home team a 1-0 lead.
“I had two strikes on me,” he said. “[But] he left a slider over the plate a little too much, so I got a good pitch to hit.”
The home run was also a historic one, as it made Blankenhorn the first left-handed hitter to have 20 or more home runs for the Red Wings since Garrett Jones had 23 in 2008.
Blankenhorn continues to swing a hot bat in August, hitting .411 on the month so far, including an eight-game hit streak that he extended with the home run.
“He’s waiting for [his pitch]; he’s waiting for it in the ‘honey hole’ where he likes the ball,” said his manager, Matt LeCroy. “He’s been our guy, he’s been Mr. Steady for us.”
On the mound, Jackson Rutledge made his eighth start of the season for the Wings and went five innings, allowing two hits, walking two, and striking out two as he moved to 2-1 in AAA this season.
The only major threat to the 24-year-old came in the fourth when Rochester led 2-0 after shortstop Richie Martin scored from third in the bottom of the previous inning on a groundout. After getting the first two men out, the righty walked Darick Hall and hit Drew Ellis with a pitch to put two men on. A wild pitch allowed runners to move to second and third, but Red Wings catcher Drew Millas was able to bail out his pitcher, ranging over toward the third-base dugout to make a sliding catch of a foul ball from Esteban Quiroz to end the inning.
DREW MILLAS, WHAT?!?! ?@ESLFCU | Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/KHIkifNeZ0
— Rochester Red Wings (@RocRedWings) August 12, 2023
“If you look at this game, the Millas play was a really, really big play, one of the best catches I’ve ever seen by a catcher,” said LeCroy, who played 124 games behind the plate in the big leagues. “It was part of that inning where it was going that other direction, and we stopped it right there.”
Having avoided the scare, the Red Wings added two insurance runs in the sixth, as Blankenhorn singled for his second hit of the game, and Millas followed up with a single of his own. After two outs, third-baseman Erick Mejia drove a ball to right-center past a diving Jordan Qsar, allowing him to speed to third for his third triple of the season and drive in the runners to make it 4-0.
Red Wings relievers, meanwhile, continued what Rutledge started, as Tim Cate and Luis Reyes combined for three scoreless. Lehigh Valley threatened against Wings closer Gerson Moreno, scoring one and getting the go-ahead run to the plate until Pache grounded out with the bases loaded to end the game, 4-1.
The Red Wings (19-19 in the second half, 53-58 overall, four games back) and IronPigs (23-14 in the second half, 59-51 overall, tied for first in the league) conclude their series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Rochester will send righty Tommy Romero (4-4, 5.65) against Lehigh right-hander Tyler Phillips (0-1, 3.86) as they look to split the series.
Leave a Reply