BY DAN GLICKMAN
Although the Rochester Red Wings lost in Tuesday’s series opener against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, plenty of former Red Wings played big roles in their parent club’s win over Scranton’s top club, the New York Yankees.
All four runs for the Washington Nationals in their 4-2 victory over the AL East-leading Yankees came as a result of plays by former members of the 2024 Red Wings, and every hitter in the Washington starting lineup had played at least one game in a Red Wings uniform in their career.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO.
The most notable Red Wing alumnus on Tuesday was also the most recent: Dylan Crews, one of the top prospects in baseball, went 2-for-4 with a run scored in his second game in the big leagues, including a sharp one-out double to left off 2023 Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole for his first MLB hit. Crews later notched his second hit in “The Show” by singling on a full-swing bunt in the sixth, not only beating the throw to first for the single but moving to second when Yankees’ catcher Jose Trevino threw the ball away. Crews followed Trevino’s error by stealing third, his first MLB stolen bag after robbing 10 in 49 games in Rochester this season. Crews later came around to score Washington’s fourth and final run when New York’s DJ LeMahieu botched a hard-hit ball to first by Joey Gallo, who himself played 19 games in Rochester this season.
Cole, who notably had a rehab start against Rochester in the most-attended regular season game in Frontier/Innovative Field history, struggled for the Yankees as he dropped to 5-3 for the season. Allowing six hits and three earned runs in five innings, the 33-year-old righty fell behind in the third when Gallo brought home Jose Tena from third after Crews’ double to make it 1-0. He later gave up back-to-back home runs to two former members of the 2024 Red Wings- designated hitter Andres Chaparro (the first in his MLB career) and third baseman Jose Tena- to lead off the fourth, extending Washington’s lead to 3-0.
Left-hander Patrick Corbin, one of the few players for Washington in Tuesday’s games without time in Rochester, got the win for Washington.
Washington plays game three of its series with New York on Wednesday at 6:45 P.M. Lefty Mackenzie Gore, who made four starts for the Red Wings in 2022, will start for Washington against Carlos Rodon.
- Article has been updated to reflect accurate final score.
Wasn’t the score 4-2, not 4-1?
I have to wonder how many baseball fans in Rochester really care what goes on with the Washington Nationals? Yankees? Of course. Mets? Sure. Red Sox? Probably. There might even still be some Os fans here locally (me). Twins perhaps to a lesser degree.
But Washington’s footprint here is non-existent. Some of the problems lie with our local team being irrelevant for so long. Winning here (and in the IL as a whole) has been reduced to an afterthought. All anyone cares about is getting those prospects to ‘the show’ as fast as possible. While thats always been the goal, competing and winning and looking forward to the playoffs always used to be important too.
MLB has turned the AAA regular season into a joke. Just a bunch of ‘auditions’ and then a sham ‘playoff’ which is a complete embarrassment to anyone who has followed baseball for decades.
this year’s Red Wings had decent bats. And at times they teased us with some good baseball. But all along, the pitching was so bad that winning was not sustainable. We almost got over the hump in August, but reality set in and for the last 5 games, there has been no pitching or hitting as the Gnats continue to mess with the organization.
I guess there is no turning back the clock anymore. Minor league baseball isn’t what it used to be. The days of exciting finishes, playoffs and Junior World Series are just a foggy memory now. And most of today’s younger generation fan really couldn’t care less about the standings. How many reading these summaries look back fondly at ‘the knothole gang’? What? How many are more interested in what Crews does in DC than what he did as a Red Wing?
You know MLB doesn;’t care about the compete level at AAA when they so quickly and easily just cancel games rather than try to replay them. The games don’t matter anymore. Sometimes it just feels like 6 months of spring training.
I’ve loved being a RedWings fan since the days of Luke Easter, Joe Altobelli, and good ole Red Wing Stadium. But admittedly, its much harder now.
Time it was, and what a time it was….long ago..it must be…I have a photograph…preserve your memories…they’re all thats left you
Pretty much says it all.