BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings went into their series with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs hoping to show they could stand toe-to-toe with one of the International League’s leaders.
After a 9-7 loss on Sunday, the answer was probably not what they wanted, as they fell behind early, came back, lost the lead, came back again, and then lost in the extras to send them to only their second six-game home series loss of the season, 4-2.
Lehigh Valley has moved to 24-14 in the second half, extending their lead over Rochester to 5.5 games. Before the series, Rochester was 3.5 games back.
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The Red Wings started the series with a comeback 8-7 win on Tuesday but then lost three straight, including a 14-13 loss on Wednesday when a comeback came up just short. A win on Saturday had left open the possibility of a series split, but it was not to be.
“That’s a good team, they’re number one I believe right now, and we were a couple of swings away from winning the series, but we just didn’t get it done,” manager Matt LeCroy said. “Hopefully, we’ll get rolling.”
“We’ve got a good chemistry in there; it helps keep us in games, we keep fighting, and nobody is pouting or angry that they’re in AAA and not the big leagues,” he said of his team. “We had some really, really unique battles, but in the end they got us there.”
“We played some really deep ballgames, some crazy ballgames, and we fought to the end.”
That was especially true on Sunday, a game that featured double-switches, balls getting lost in the sun, the loss of the designated hitter for the Red Wings after Drew Millas moved from DH to catcher, an inexplicable fire alarm, and several flyovers by the Air Force Thunderbirds as the Red Wings rallied in the eighth.
Making his second start of the series, right-hander Tommy Romero went 3.1 innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs: a sacrifice fly in the second and a solo shot by third baseman Drew Ellis in the fourth. He was replaced in the fourth by Hobie Harris, who worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the score to 2-0.
The Red Wings comeback began in the bottom of the fourth, as third baseman Carter Kieboom reached on a throwing error by Ellis, moving to second when a throw to first went wide. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Erick Mejia to halve Lehigh Valley’s lead to 2-1.
After Lehigh Valley threatened but didn’t score in the top of the fifth- with one would-be run getting cut down on a throw home by first baseman Jake Noll– the Red Wings went to work in the bottom half of the inning, with Cody Wilson and Drew Millas hitting back-to-back one-out singles. Wilson moved to third when Luis Garcia grounded into a forceout at second that took Millas off the basepaths, and then scored when Kieboom hit a single to left to tie the game.
Kieboom has gone 6-for-20 (.300) since returning from his latest stint on the injured list and reached base three times on Sunday, scoring each time.
“It’s been good being back with everybody again, just playing baseball,” said the 25-year-old from Georgia. “I haven’t been able to play much of it this year, and it’s great to start playing again.”
Following Kieboom was Travis Blankenhorn, who just a day after hitting the longest home run of the year for a Rochester hitter, proceeded to smash a ball 103.2 MPH off the face of the right field scoreboard for his 21st home run. The Red Wings moved ahead, 5-2. Blankenhorn’s home run extended his hitting streak to nine. The Pennsylvania native is hitting .412 in August with five home runs and 11 RBI and is tied with Nationals No. 2 prospect James Wood for the organization lead in home runs on the season.
“He’s carried us for a while,” said LeCroy.
The IronPigs struck back in the seventh with five runs, starting with a leadoff home run by Darick Hall– an infamous Red Wing killer who has now hit 16 home runs against Rochester in his career, including five this season alone. They’d ultimately pull ahead that inning on a Max McDowell single, 7-5.
Rochester tied it up again in the eighth, as Lehigh reliever Connor Brogdon had control issues and walked Kieboom and Blankenhorn to start the inning and then moved them both up a base on a passed ball. Jake Noll beat a throw for an infield hit to score Kieboom, and Blankenhorn scored on a sacrifice fly to tie it at seven. Taylor Lehman came in and replaced Brogdon and then intentionally walked Jack Dunn to load the bases, but the Red Wings couldn’t get another run across.
The score would hold through the ninth inning and send the game into extras, where Lehigh scored two on a ground ball single with two outs in the tenth against Alex Troop, who LeCroy said was the last pitcher available out of the bullpen. Rochester loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning, but Lehigh reliever Tyler McKay was able to force a pinch-hitting Darren Baker into a ground-out to end it, 9-7.
The Red Wings (19-20 in the second half, 53-59 overall, 5.5 games back) begin a series at thruway rival Buffalo on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Left-hander Alex Troop was scheduled to start, but his appearance in relief means that the rotation is in flux, with LeCroy saying that he was going to have to talk to others in the Washington organization before a decision is made. The Red Wings return home on Tuesday, Aug. 22, against the Worcester Red Sox.
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