BY MIKE ROSE
The Rochester Red Wings finished off a rocky three-game road trip in Syracuse in a sweep as they fell to the Mets on Sunday, 4-3. It was the fourth straight loss overall for the Red Wings dating back to the final game before the All-Star break.
Syracuse pulled ahead for good in the eighth on a solo home run from Matt O’Neill off of Red Wings closer Rico Garcia. The loss for Rochester (13-8, 51-43) drops them out of first place in the International League standings for the first time since the second half began. The Mets (14-7, 60-35) and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (14-7, 48-46) hold the top spots following Sunday’s action.
The Mets took the early lead on an RBI single from Rhylan Thomas into left field, scoring Austin Allen, which made it a 1-0 game in the second. Stone Garrett ensured the lead held there with a throw home to cut down Yolmer Sánchez and end the inning. Rochester responded in the top of the third with Dylan Crews launching his fourth home run of the season. The two-run blast gave the Red Wings the lead for the first time.
Rochester maintained its edge until the sixth when Amos Willingham ran into trouble. Willingham loaded the bases with two outs in the frame before Luke Ritter delivered a go-ahead two-run single. Rochester would rally to tie it on an RBI single from Brady Lindsly in the top of the eighth before O’Neill’s home run in the bottom half. Rochester did see the tying run reach base in the ninth after Erick Meija led off the inning with a double. The Red Wings top-of-the-order combination of Crews, Call and Travis Blankenhorn was unable to push the run across as Meija was left at third base to end the game.
Rochester compiled 10 hits but went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine baserunners in the loss. Crews reached safely three times while Lindsly and Blankenhorn recorded two hits apiece. Thad Ward went four innings on the mound for the Red Wings maneuvering around five hits and four walks to allow one run. Ward also recorded five strikeouts.
The Red Wings will head back to Innovative Field for their first home action since July 6 on Tuesday. Tuesday’s action will begin a 12-game homestand for the Red Wings after playing nine straight road games. Rochester is 8-1 in the second half at home. They’ll play host to the first-place IronPigs with the first pitch in Tuesday’s opener against slated for 6:45 p.m.
The magic is over. Getting swept by Syracuse was an ugly way to begin play again. We knew with this pitching staff, that the Wings wouldn’t be long for 1st place. They do have another kick at the can coming up against now 1st place Lehigh Valley. Problem is, Wings can’t keep the other team from scoring runs..either a lot of them, or at the worst possible times.
gnats really need to work on getting some decent arms into their system…especially starters. I know the age of the starting pitcher is over, but heck whoever starts should at least manage to get thru 3 decent innings.
A lousy weekend, all the way around. 3 bad games.t