Wings drop day game to Lehigh Valley, 11-4

BY DAN GLICKMAN

The Rochester Red Wings dropped a day game to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Wednesday, 11-4, as the Phillies affiliate scored six in the eighth to put away what had been a 4-4 tie.

The loss puts the Wings two games back of first place in the second half

Rochester (14-10 in the second half, 52-45 overall) fell behind the IronPigs (16-8 in the second half, 50-47 overall) early, as Lehigh Valley designated hitter Buddy Kennedy continued to terrorize Red Wings pitching with a one-out 377 foot blast to left to put the Pigs up 1-0. Kennedy has been on fire against the Red Wings, going 9-for-12 with two HR and 10 RBI in the series so far.

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The Red Wings struck back in the bottom of the second on the bat of Stone Garrett, who worked a seven-pitch at-bat before slamming a 107.4 MPH line drive home run to left center to tie it, 1-1. Lehigh took the lead back in the fourth on a solo shot by Rodolfo Castro, then added two more in the fifth to extend their lead to 4-1.

The home team had another comeback in them, scoring two in the sixth and another in the seventh to tie it, 4-4.

The game got out of hand in the eighth, however, as the IronPigs put up six runs against Red Wings relievers Orlando Ribalta and Ty Tice, including a two-run home run by Scott Kingery and a bases-loaded double by Darick Hall. Kingery hit another home run, his 19th of the season.

Offensively, Rochester was led by designated hitter Travis Blankenhorn, who went 2-for-3 with a double and two walks. Dylan Crews went 2-for-4 with a walk and two doubles, while Jack Dunn had two singles, an RBI, and two stolen bases. The Red Wings struggled throughout the game with runners in scoring position, going 3-for-15.

Eduardo Salazar, recently sent down to the Red Wings after a brief stint with the Nationals, had the best day on the mound for Rochester, going 1.1 innings while allowing a hit and a walk, striking out two.

The Red Wings aim to get back in the win column on Friday at 6:45 P.M., sending out right-hander Thaddeus Ward (4-3, 6.16) against Lehigh righty Nick Nelson (2-3, 7.98).