BY JONATHAN SKUZA
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings won their fifth straight game against the Syracuse Mets and sixth overall with a 9-1 victory behind an offensive explosion in the fourth inning.
”Really proud of this group,” Red Wings manager Matthew LeCroy said. “They continue to fight and pull for each other. They have each other’s backs and this was another example of it.”
Rochester started off the fourth inning with three base hits. After a fielder’s choice, Erick Mejia laced a ball down the left field line for a bases-clearing triple to give Rochester a 3-1 lead. Darren Baker brought in Mejia with an RBI base hit. Joey Gallo brought in the fifth run of the inning after he drew a bases-loaded walk.
”They just keep the line moving and they fight to get another pitch,” LeCroy said. “They love to play and love to play with each other. They fight and compete and that for me as a manager, it makes my job a lot easier. My staff has done a great job with each and every one of these guys.”
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Carter Kieboom capped off the big inning with a crescendo of a grand slam that traveled 387 feet into the Syracuse bullpen to give Rochester a lead that it never gave up.
”Just looking for a fastball,” Kieboom said. “I know he had a good one, so I looked for it and he gave it to me and I put a good swing on it.”
”That was a huge at-bat,” LeCroy said. “One through nine, I thought we did a really nice job, but I mean, the two big hits in this game kind of set the tone for us.”
The Red Wings offense before and after the big inning did not produce much, but all they needed was the one big inning to claim Saturday’s contest. The nine run inning was tied for the most runs scored in an inning this season for Rochester. The other time Rochester achieved a nine run inning was June 28 against the Indianapolis Indians in the first inning.
”We’ve created a culture here that anybody can help us win at any given time,” LeCroy said. “We just got to continue to play the way we’re playing.”
Rochester early on in the contest faced some adversity as they lost starter Brad Lord in the second inning after he was hit in the hand with a come backer that forced him to leave the game early. For the second time in the last three days, Rochester had to go to the bullpen early in to the contest. Rochester also fell behind 1-0 the following inning after an RBI base hit from Drew Gilbert.
Lord was off to go a good start as he had four strikeouts and only allowing one run. The bullpen much like Thursday night, pitched really well as they were able to pick up Rochester. The bullpen only gave up one run on four hits and three walks while punching out seven Syracuse batters on Saturday.
”We give them good routines,” LeCroy said. “We try to keep them on schedule. They don’t get too much rest, and they’re not overused.”
The Red Wings will look to sweep their first series of the season on Sunday as they stay in the running for the second half winner. Rochester currently sits only one game behind Columbus for the second half lead.
After the series with Syracuse, Rochester will go on a two week roadtrip where they will face some tough competition with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the Scranton Wilkes/Barre RailRiders.
”They are up for the challenge,” LeCroy said. “You’re facing teams that are chasing you or are right there with you and this is a big part of the schedule that we’ll see what we’re made of. I’m gonna challenge them. We’re gonna prove to people that our team is for real.”
The Rochester Red Wings (27-17,65-52) and Syracuse Mets (18-25, 64-53) will conclude their series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. as Rochester will send righty Jackson Rutledge (4-6, 6.65) while Syracuse will have right-hander Tylor Megill (2-0, 3.25) toe the slab.
Another huge inning. Another huge win. A chance to sweep a 6 game series. And still very much in the running for 1st place…trailing Columbus by 1.5 games.
What is important now, for those baseball fans out there that know the Red Wings haven’t been this relevant for many years, is making sure all games are played. Have any games this half been cancelled for either Rochester or Columbus? That would factor in bigtime. Clippers have one in hand on us right now.
We have no head to head with Columbus. Another longshot possibility is for Omaha to overtake the Clippers. Since they won the 1st half, the 2nd half crown would go to the team with the next best record..which could be the Wings. This scenario right now is probably not realistic, but its still out there.
Still hoping Gnats will fortify rather than weaken the Wings come Sept 1. Is that a pipe dream?
Bad weather really held the crowd down last night, but I’m glad they got the game in.
Let’s get that sweep today!!!