BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Despite being only down two, the Rochester Red Wings seemed left for dead as the bottom of the eighth inning began on Thursday. Down 3-1 to the Iowa Cubs, they hadn’t had a base hit since the second inning. They hadn’t had a run since Jackson Cluff continued his hot streak with a 395 foot home run over the the Red Wings bullpen to lead off the bottom of the first. They’d left the bases loaded in the second and third, and stranded a man in scoring position in the seventh.
In baseball, however, things can change fast. And even with the pitch clock that now accompanies professional games, the only number that truly matters is the number of outs remaining. With just six outs left, the Red Wings stormed back with three hits, a crazy play that saw two runners score on a passed ball, and a towering go-ahead home run from Joey Meneses to take the comeback 4-3 victory.
“It was a fun win for us,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy.
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“We had good hits, really good baserunning, and Joey had a big blast,” LeCroy said. “Good team win, nice win at the end of the year.”
The Wings (38-34 in the second half, 76-69 overall) started their eighth inning rally with a little help from the Iowa Cubs. Third baseman Brady House hit what appeared to be a routing ground ball to second baseman Chase Strumpf, only for Strumpf to airmail the ball over first to allow House to reach on the air. Riley Adams followed up by pulling a ball down the left field line for a double that moved House to third.
And then came one of the strangest plays to happen at Innovative Field all year. A sweeper from Lucas Luetge got by catcher Moises Ballesteros, and House came in to score. The throw from Ballesteros home was bad and ruled an error, falling short before hitting the sliding House and deflecting away. Nobody came to cover home again, allowing Adams to come in safely, tying the game, 3-3.
“You don’t see that too often, but it was a really, really good play by Riley to keep his head up and not quit on the play,” said LeCroy. “He realized nobody was covering home- he’s played a long time, but I don’t think he was expecting that either.”
“I can confidently say I have never scored from second on a passed ball before,” said Adams, a 6’4”, 263 lb. catcher and first baseman who by his own admission does not count speed as one of his best qualities. “I don’t even remember the last time I slid head-first into a base. It was all a first, I was just happy to score.”
“I saw the ball go by and Brady score, and then they had a little collision there themselves and I saw the ball trickle away, and it looked like it was far away enough that I’d be able to score. I just wish Joey was going to hit a homer, then I wouldn’t have had to score,” he said.
That home run from Meneses, his ninth in AAA this season, came just one pitch later, as he found a Luetge sweeper and clobbered a no-doubter 355 feet to left. The Red Wings had, in just two pitches, turned a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead, livening up the crowd and the dugout.
“We had been real quiet after the first inning, but then we came alive with the big hits, and Joey with that big blow picked the dugout up,” said LeCroy.
Iowa threatened in the top of the ninth, getting two men on with two outs, but Jordan Weems was able to escape for his first save of the season. Orlando Ribalta earned the win in relief to move to 5-2, going 1.1 innings of hitless ball. Rochester’s Thaddeus Ward started the game and ended with a no-decision, striking out seven in five innings but allowing five hits and three walks while giving up three earned runs, all in the third inning.
The win ensures the Red Wings will have a winning second half of the season- they clinched a winning full season on Wednesday.
The Wings and Cubs continue their series on Friday at 6:05 P.M., when Rochester righty Brad Lord (2-3, 4.22) faces Iowa right-hander Riley Thompson (6-4, 6.31).
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