BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – If one were to look at the final scores, the Rochester Red Wings won the opening game of a doubleheader 6-5 before losing the second game, 7-3.
In baseball, though, strange things can change entire games in ways the score doesn’t tell you. The weather could force you to lose one of your best pitchers after just two innings, a weird bounce off a second base bag can tie a game that seemed lost, and a player who had gone 0-for-4 with two strikeouts- Alex Call- can hit a walk-off double to win it.
All those happened in what was merely game one on Thursday at Innovative Field, where the Rochester Red Wings took their first walk-off win of the year, 6-5, thanks to a two-out double from the outfielder into the so-called “Bermuda Triangle” to the right of the visitor bullpen in left field.
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“I’d gotten a nice lineout the one before, so I was ready,” said Call post-game. “I looked at where I was hitting in the lineup, and I said that if I get up, I have a chance to walk it off, so I was ready for it. I got in the moment, got the juices flowing, and tried to get a good pitch.”
What followed after the hit was a strange scene, as many in the ballpark thought the ball had left the stadium for a home run. Call himself wasn’t sure.
“I hit it fine, and the wind was blowing out, but I also knew I’d hit it into the dreaded triangle, so I didn’t really see it,” said Call.
“I put my head down, touched first base, and didn’t see the ball. So I thought, ‘Sweet, it must be a walk-off homer,’ and everyone was going crazy. But then I saw Mejia turn around after third base, and I thought maybe it wasn’t a home run. I looked at the umpire and asked if it was a home run, and he said no. But I was like, well, whatever, we won.”
Eventually, the official scorer announced that the hit was, in fact, a simply a double to left, concluding a strange play.
It was a strange journey to get to that point. The Wings entered the bottom of the ninth down 5-3. First baseman Travis Blankenhorn started the inning dramatically, launching a 1-1 pitch from Toledo’s Brenan Hanifee 379 feet into the right-center field wall. The ball bounced off the wall and passed the Toledo outfielders as Blankenhorn powered to third for a leadoff triple, his first three-bagger of the season.
Blankenhorn scored a batter later, coming home on a Trey Lipscomb groundout to make it 5-4. Jake Alu walked and then moved to second on a Jack Dunn groundout, putting the tying run in scoring position but leaving the Red Wings down to their last out.
Darren Baker came to the plate as a pinch-hitter for catcher Onix Vega. Working the count to 3-2, the speedy lefty hit the sixth pitch of the at-bat up the middle past Hanifee. The ball seemed destined to go to shortstop Andrew Navigato for a game-ending groundout, but a funny thing happened: the ball struck the second base bag just right, bouncing into the air and falling harmlessly in left field for a game-tying single. A walk from Erick Mejia later, Call came to the plate and finished it with his double.
“Hats off to all the guys,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “They fought to the end, to the last pitch, and that was a big win for us.”
The twin bill started with the completion of Wednesday’s game, with the Red Wings up 1-0 heading to the bottom of the second. The score, lineups, and statistics remained the same, except for the pitchers: Spenser Watkins replacing Jackson Rutledge for Rochester and Matt Manning relieving Keider Montero for Toledo. Rutledge, one of the top pitching prospects in the Nationals system, had done well in his two innings of work on Wednesday, allowing no runs and just one hit.
“You hate to see it for his development,” said LeCroy.
Against Watkins, Toledo utilized the long ball to jump ahead, with Justice Bigbie launching a ball to deep center for a two-run home run in the fourth to put them ahead 2-1 before a solo shot by Ryan Vilade the following inning extended the lead to 3-1. Vilade struck again in the sixth, singling sharply to left to score two more runs and push the lead to 5-1.
Rochester began to scratch back, getting two runs off Manning in the sixth to set up the rally in the ninth that won them the first game.
The second game, in comparison, was far more mundane. The Wings fell behind early as Toledo’s Keston Hiura hit a first-inning grand slam to make it 4-0. While starting pitcher Robert Gsellman recovered to throw four innings and at one point struck out six straight (the most for a Red Wing since Lewis Thorpe did so in 2017), the Red Wings could not make up the deficit, falling 7-3.
“Things just didn’t go our way that second game,” said LeCroy. “That’s not going to take away what we did in that first game. That group in there, we’ve got some really good leaders and some guys who are going to be able to flush it and come back tomorrow.”
Rochester continues its series with Toledo on Friday. First pitch is 6:05 P.M., with D.J. Herz scheduled to start for Rochester. Toledo will send out Brant Hurter.
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