BY DAN GLICKMAN
A ninth-inning rally came up just short on Monday as the Rochester Red Wings dropped the opening game of their home-and-home series with the Buffalo Bisons, 8-7.
Down 8-5 going into the ninth in Buffalo, the Wings loaded the bases without anyone out before Juan Yepez struck out. Trey Lipscomb then drew a walk to bring in Darren Baker from third to make it 8-6, and Riley Adams scored on a groundout by Jackson Cluff to cut the lead to one. Although Alex Call drew a walk to load the bases again, Stone Garret grounded into a forceout to end the game.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO.
The Red Wings (43-37 overall, 5-2 in second half) came out of the gates early, as Yepez hit his 11th home run of the year with one out in the second to give the Wings an early 1-0 lead. They added four more in the top of the fourth, as Cluff drove in two with a single to center before Darren Baker later drove in another two with a line drive to right.
The Bisons (40-41 overall, 3-4 in the second half) responded with eight unanswered runs- four each in the fifth and sixth- to take the 8-5 lead that they never gave up.
Baker led the Wings at the plate with a 3-for-5 night including a double and two RBI, while Cluff drove in three and
The Red Wings continue their short three-game road series on Tuesday in Buffalo, with left-hander Andrew Alvarez (0-2, 6.28) scheduled to go against Buffalo righty Chad Dallas (2-2, 5.55). Game time is 6:35 P.M.
pitching pitching pitching. Its a broken record but the Wings just don’t have any. They lose so many games where the hitters have done their job and the team has forged nice leads, only to see them disappear because our pitching staff is underwhelming, to say the least.
Its disappointing. This team really could be something, except they average nearly 6 runs allowed, and that just won’t cut it. A 5-0 lead midway thru the game should have been enough. Worse is that Buffalo scored a lot of their comeback runs with 2 outs.
Sunday they allowed 8 runs in a 12-8 win. Last night they allowed 8 in an 8-7 loss. In the 6 game series against Indy, which they won 5-1, they averaged 6 runs against. Its unsustainable to think they can keep winning series like that, allowing 6 runs per game.
Hoping for better things, but halfway thru the season, improved pitching seems like a real longshot.
Congrats to James Wood on getting his 1st major league hit last night.
To sustain our pitching woes, consider:
Wings ERA is the highest in the 20 team league 5.64
They have the fewest SO’s in the league
They are 17th in WHIP (1.54)
They have allowed the most earned runs
They have the 2nd fewest save opportunities
They have allowed opponents to hit .264 , Only 2 other teams have allowed a higher BA
They have 16 saves which is 14th overall.
The pitching stats are ugly. The decent offensive stats are being wasted.
I submit that the lowest ERA in the league is just over 4.00 but the difference between that and 5.62 is significant.
Lots of room for improvement.