Red Wings open second half with 3-1 win on night of firsts

BY DAN GLICKMAN

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – It was a night of firsts at Innovative Field on Tuesday. It was the first game of the second half of the International League schedule, the first game at Innovative Field for 2023 No. 2 overall draft pick Dylan Crews, and the first rehab appearance as a Red Wing for 2023 All-Star Josiah Gray. A first even happened behind the plate, as Jen Pawol became the first woman to umpire a game at Innovative Field.

It was also the first win of the second half for the Red Wings, who beat the Indianapolis Indians 3-1 in front of 7,268 fans, as a solo home run by catcher Riley Adams in the sixth and two runs in the seventh propelled Rochester to victory.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO.

“I’m excited about how we started,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “We want to try to win every series.

“Hopefully, this gets us out on the right foot.”

The right-handed Gray took the mound for the Red Wings in his fourth rehab appearance as he works his way back from a right elbow/forearm flexor strain. A Le Moyne alumnus, he started off the game perfect, not allowing a baserunner until the fourth inning.

Gray was matched through much of his start by Indianapolis right-hander Braxton Ashcraft, the No. 5 prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, according to MLB.com. He worked five scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out two and preventing the Red Wings from scoring even as they got men into scoring position in the first and second innings.

It was in the sixth inning that both teams broke through. Indianapolis’ Andres Alvarez led off the inning with a deep double to left that got caught in the wind, eluding James Wood and landing just in front of the visitor’s dugout, allowing Alvarez to get to second for a double. After moving to third on a well-placed bunt single by Ji Hwan Bae but being held at third when Alika Williams popped out, Alvarez scored the game’s first run on a groundout by catcher Joey Bart, who, like Gray, is rehabbing from an injury.

Gray got former Red Wing Josh Palacios to ground out to end the inning and Gray’s night. He ultimately went six innings, allowing four hits and an earned run while striking out four. He didn’t allow a walk and threw 73 pitches, 44 for strikes.

“Gray was really good [tonight],” said LeCroy. “He commanded the ball well, [and] he pitched us out of a few spots there.”

LeCroy added that, as of now, Gray is expected to pitch again for Rochester on Sunday, although he noted that the Nationals could change their mind.

The Red Wings weren’t down for long. Ashcraft had left the game after five, and catcher Riley Adams greeted his replacement- rehabbing Pirates reliever Ryan Borucki– in explosive fashion, finding a low 86.5 MPH slider and sending it 408 feet over the left field wall for his fifth AAA home run of the year. The game was tied, 1-1.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” said Adams. “I knew Borucki liked to go to that slider a lot, so I was looking for something down in the zone, and thankfully he left it a little bit up.”

The Red Wings took the lead in the bottom half of the seventh. Jackson Cluff led off and hit a ball down the right-field line. At first, the ball appeared to land perfectly in right field, allowing him to motor to a triple. However, Palacios pleaded his case to the umpires, who ruled the ball had gotten stuck, changing the ruling to a ground-rule double.

However, it didn’t matter in the end as Indians’ pitcher Geronimo Franzua balked him to third the next at-bat. A batter after that, with Crews at the plate, he threw a wild pitch that allowed Cluff to race home to make it a 2-1 game for the Red Wings, who’d add an insurance run later in the inning when James Wood singled home Crews from second to extend the lead to 3-1.

Another first followed, as Joan Adon– long a starter in the Nationals organization- made his first AAA relief appearance in the eighth. He worked a scoreless eighth but had some help from his defense, particularly Crews.

With two outs in the inning and Bae at first, Indianapolis’ Williams grabbed hold of an 0-2 fastball and launched it toward center at 99 MPH. Crews, the No. 6 prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, was playing a bit in, but took off full speed to range after the fly ball. Briefly getting twisted around as he ran, he kept his balance, reached up, and grabbed the ball on the run for the third and final out of the inning, ensuring the Red Wings kept their 3-1 lead, which they held through a 1-2-3 ninth by Rico Garcia.

DYLAN CREWS! 👊@ESLFCU | Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/7cqwouF2p0

— Rochester Red Wings (@RocRedWings) June 26, 2024

Crews went 1-for-3 with a walk in his home debut for the Red Wings while showing good baserunning prowess, including reaching third base from first on a groundout by Wood in the first. Many of his highlights were defensive, however, as he made five putouts and showed an early familiarity with Innovative Field’s quirks, including making a catch in the infamous “Bermuda Triangle” to the right of the visitor’s bullpen and playing Alvarez’s double after it got by Wood.

“In BP, I got adjusted to [Innovative Field] pretty good,” he said. “I talked to some of the other guys about it, how it plays, and everything like that. Today, the wind was blowing out a little bit towards left field, so I had to play that, but it felt good today.”

The wind played a role in his eighth-inning catch, as well.

“With the wind blowing out to left field, it kind of stayed true, so I had to turn to my right side and make an adjustment,” he said. “I was very fortunate to get to that.”

Crews is expected to play center most days going forward, while Wood- the only man ranked higher than him on most Nationals’ prospect lists- has shifted to left. It’s the first time in recent memory that prospects so highly rated have shared an outfield for the Red Wings, and the Nationals organization hopes that the two will be together in the outfield for years to come in Washington.

So does Crews, who is already expecting to be alongside Wood in the future:

“It all starts with practice; we practice every single day, asking each other questions and trying to get to know each other the best we can,” says Crews. “Because we’re going to be playing with each other for a while.”

The Red Wings- including Crews and Wood- continue their series with Indianapolis on Wednesday at 6:45 P.M. Rochester expects to send lefty Andrew Alvarez (0-2, 9.64) against an Indianapolis pitcher to be announced.