Red Wings drop series opener against Cubs

BY JONATHAN SKUZA

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings struggled to find much offense as they dropped their series opener against the Iowa Cubs 3-0 Tuesday evening.

”Offense didn’t make any adjustments,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. “We really didn’t have much of happening out there at all. It’s been a tough go offensively, but hopefully we can rebound tomorrow.”

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Rochester’s offense was held to only two hits in the shutout loss. Rochester’s two hits came five innings apart as Trey Lipscomb collected a base hit in the first inning with one out, then Jackson Cluff collected a base hit to lead off the sixth inning to end a 0-for-25 hitless streak. Rochester was able to draw four walks as well in the contest. Rochester was not able to get a runner into scoring position until the eighth when Andrew Pinckney reached second on a wild pitch and then moved to third on a ground out.

”Offensively, like I said, we just couldn’t get anything going,” LeCroy said. “ We had a lot of ground balls and soft contact. It’s not lack of work. Guys are getting opportunities late in the season, and hopefully we can turn the bats around.”

Iowa had a slow offensive start as they were set down in order in the first two innings. They grabbed the first run of the ballgame in the when Reivaj Garcia doubled to score Hayden Cantrelle who tripled to lead off the inning. The Cubs almost completely broke open the inning when they had the bases loaded with two outs and Trayce Thompson launched the first pitch he saw foul that had the distance to be a grand slam. Rochester was able to get out the inning before anymore damage could’ve been done.

Iowa added the other two runs to their lead when Moises Ballesteros collected an RBI base hit that scored Matt Shaw and Chase Strumpf scored Thompson after grounding into a double play.

Besides the two innings where Iowa scored, Rochester’s pitching was solid and kept them in the game all night long. Southpaw Andrew Alvarez got the start for Rochester and gave them six innings on the mound. He gave up three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out six and getting three 1,2,3 innings during his outing.

“He made some really good strides,” LeCroy said. “He Had some issues with walking guys, but he limited the damage in the third, but it caught up with him in the sixth. But, you give me a start of six innings and three runs, I should have a good chance to win the ball game. ”

Daison Acosta and Garvin Alston came out of the bullpen for Rochester and silenced the Iowa lineup during their outings. The two bullpen arms finished the last three innings where they only surrendered a walk and a hit while combining for six punch outs.

”Acosta coming up from Double-A where he pitched in a lot of high leverage situations there,” LeCroy said. “He’s got kind of a three pitch mix with a good fastball and a nasty splitter. So it’s good to see these guys up here, especially him. Alston has done a nice job coming up and eating some innings up for us, but all the guys gave us a shot.

The Rochester pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts on the evening.

As Rochester’s season winds down, they will look to help their younger players build on what they have done with their late season call-up.

”Seeing the difference between Double-A and Triple-A for me as a baseball player is key going into the offseason,” LeCroy said.

The Rochester Red Wings (36-34, 74-69) and Iowa Cubs (33-37, 66-79) will continue their series on Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. as Rochester will send righty Spenser Watkins (7-7, 4.61) to the mound while right-hander Connor Noland (5-2, 5.27) will toe the slab for Iowa.