By MIKE ROSE
Rochester, N.Y. — It had been 24.1 innings since the Rochester Red Wings had scored a run when Travis Blankenhorn stood in the box in the bottom of the sixth. He stepped in after a controversial call wiped out the Red Wings’ first run of the night. A lengthy argument ensued from Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy after the play but then Blankenhorn strode to the plate with runners on second and third and erased the conversation. Blankenhorn crushed a 1-0 cutter over the right field fence for a three-run home run that flipped the script for Rochester.
“I feel for Dobby (hitting coach Brian Daubach) you know he’s worked his tail off in the cages and for him it was probably our biggest hit of the year, not only for our team but him,” LeCroy said. “But for Blank that was a big homer for us and I think it just shifted the momentum over.”
From there the momentum did a 180 in the Red Wings’ favor as they scored two in the seventh to rally past Scranton Wilkes/Barre 5-4. The home run was Blankenhorn’s 16th of the season, which tied him for the International League lead with Memphis’ Luken Baker.
“Big time, the vibes change completely,” Jack Dunn said of Blankenhorn’s home run. “He’s been doing it all year for us. He changes the game with one swing of the bat very often so to have him do it means a lot for us. He’s a veteran leader so we’re really happy for him.”
The sequence spurring controversy in the sixth came after a Darren Baker leadoff single. Jack Dunn followed sending one down the left field line and into the corner. Scranton left fielder Taylor Trammell signaled the ball was lodged in the wall and unplayable and LeCroy took issue with the umpires not verifying that fact as Baker walked in and Dunn coasted to third.
“The umpire should always go out when they raise their hand ’cause that’s a long way to see it lodged,” LeCroy said. “It’s not like it hit the padding in the air and stuck and you could see it. That was a ball that hit on the dirt and rolled down there and didn’t come back out but that doesn’t mean it’s stuck. That’s why as a runner you finish the ball and as an umpire you gotta go out and see it but you know maybe that sparked us a little bit.”
Rochester’s rally came after digging a hole early. Red Wings starter Thaddeus Ward and RailRiders starter Will Warren went blow for blow early on trading shutdown innings. Scranton Wilkes/Barre took control with a run in the third and the score held at 1-0 until the sixth. LeCroy made the decision to send Ward back out to start the frame and he was unable to hold serve. The first three hitters reached safely capped off by a towering blast from Jose Rojas to give the RailRiders a commanding 4-0 lead.
“Second guess yourself that maybe he shouldn’t have gone out but we (pitching coach Rafael Chaves) both thought he deserved to go back out for the sixth inning, it didn’t work out our way but the guys picked him up,” LeCroy said. “For me, it ended up turning kind of a negative part of his outing into a positive. You know he kept us in it. You only give up four runs we’re in the ball game but when we weren’t hitting one seemed like being down eight.”
Ultimately it was the seventh inning that pushed the Red Wings ahead for good. Jackson Cluff tied the game with a solo blast and Carter Kieboom worked a walk and swiped second setting up Baker to be the hero. He lined his second hit of the night into left-center field off Matt Sauer to plate the eventual winning run.
“I had faced Sauer a little bit last year so I had some familiarity but I was just really trying to at least get him over and give Dunn a chance but luckily I got a hit,” Baker said.
The Red Wings bullpen sealed the victory with Tim Cate, Nash Walters and Rico Garcia combining to close the door. Cate earned the win for Rochester with his two innings of work while Garcia nailed down his 10th save of the season.
Rochester will look ahead to tomorrow night’s near sell-out matchup against the RailRiders as New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is expected to make his third minor league rehab start in Rochester. The reigning American League Cy Young has enjoyed a successful rehab stint, allowing one run on four hits with nine strikeouts across eight innings in two starts with Double-A Somerset. Joan Adon (3-5, 6.35) is slated to get the ball for the Red Wings. The first pitch at Innovative Field is set for 6:45 p.m. with gates opening early at 5 p.m. to accommodate the expected crowd.
Leave a Reply