BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The 2024 Rochester Red Wings season came to an end on Sunday with a 3-2 extra innings loss to the Iowa Cubs.
Rochester had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the eleventh after a walk by second baseman Jake Alu, but couldn’t capitalize, as Cubs pitcher Riley Martin struck out the final two batters of the game to end it.
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“We went down fighting this last game of the year,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy.
The Red Wings jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, as Alu drove in third baseman Brady House and left fielder Andrew Pinckney brought in first baseman Joey Meneses on two-out singles.
Starting pitcher Andrew Alvarez, who formed a relatively stable core four this season in the starting rotation alongside Thaddeus Ward, Jackson Rutledge, and Spenser Watkins, went five innings and struck out a 10- a AAA-high for him- while allowing six hits and two earned runs. Escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, it was relatively smooth sailing for the Californian until the fourth, when he hit Iowa Hayden Cantrelle with a pitch before allowing a two-run home run to Will Simoneit that carried over the “Bermuda Triangle” between the visitors’ bullpen and the left-field scoreboard to tie the game at two.
“Alvie did a nice job,” said LeCroy. “Kept us in it, but offensively we didn’t get it going.”
The game remained tie through the rest of regulation, despite the best efforts of the Red Wings, including a two-out single in the eighth by Pinckney that could have brought in the go-ahead run if not for a nice throw from Iowa center fielder Kevin Alcantra, who gunned down Meneses at home to end the inning still tied.
After both teams failed to score in the tenth (although Rochester got a man to third), Iowa pulled ahead in the top of the 11th on a Reivaj Garcia single for the eventual 3-2 final.
“We had a chance to win the game there in extras, and we didn’t get it done,” said LeCroy.
The 11th inning defeat ends the Wings season with a record of 77-71 (38-35 in the first half, 39-36 in the second half), the first winning season for the Red Wings since 2017 and the first as an affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The team was in the playoff hunt for much of the season, particularly in the second half, where they held sole possession of first-place position in July and remained in the hunt until the final weeks of the season.
However, injuries, roster moves, and call-ups to the big leagues depleted the team’s star power, a something on display during the pre-game awards ceremony Sunday when neither the team’s Most Popular Player (Darren Baker, called up to the Nationals when rosters expanded) and Most Valuable Player (Travis Blankenhorn, who elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Nationals) were present to receive their accolades. Top prospects like James Wood and Dylan Crews had, as expected, been called up earlier in the year, as were several key members of the bullpen. The Wings struggled down the stretch, including a five-game losing streak in late August and a 1-9 stretch in the opening weeks of September that ended hopes for a playoff berth.
Still, the Red Wings proved a team of fighters throughout the year, said LeCroy. They had 10 walk-off wins, and showed what LeCroy feels is a cultural mindset for the Nationals’ system.
“That’s what we want, we’re trying to build championship players,” he said. “We got the guys here to buy in, it starts at the bottom and filters its way up.”
“I don’t want this last game to spoil that, because I’m really pleased with how the year went.”
Thoughts over the coming months will probably move to who will come back in 2025. LeCroy says he hasn’t heard yet if he’ll return for a fifth season as manager, although he hopes he does. Some players like House, the MLB.com Pipeline No. 65 prospect, may challenge for a spot on the Nationals in spring training. Other players could leave in minor league free agency or, in some cases, retire. One player likely to return, though, is Pinckney, whose strikeout in the 11th was a controversial check-swing call that brought boos from the Red Wings faithful.
The Alabama Crimson Tide alumni arrived in Rochester in late August after a wave of callups, and has impressed defensively, including an outfield assist to get a runner at home in Saturday’s game. Although he at times struggled at the plate in his first weeks of AAA baseball (finishing with a .254 batting average), he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk on Sunday, and may well have ended up the game’s hero if the check-swing call went the other way. The 23-year-old, ranked as the No. 28 prospect in the Nationals’ system by MLB.com Pipeline, hopes to be at his alma mater’s alumni game in a week and then plans to stay in shape in the offseason ahead.
“I feel great, I’m one step closer to where I want to be, which is in the big leagues,” he said post-game. “The main thing is discipline at the plate, kind of overall polishing my game, cleaning up a lot of things and being more consistent, [so I can] hit the ground running.”
With the season over, Red Wings fans now enter months without professional baseball. The 2025 season starts on Friday, March 28 with a road game at Buffalo. The Wings start their 2025 home slate on Tuesday, April 1, against Lehigh Valley.
Well the curtain falls again on another season at…..the ballpark. Interesting that they finished 3 over .500 both halves. The team was characterized until September as great hit, decent field, no pitch. Had they had even mediocre pitching they may have been able to overcome some of the late season call-ups.
Should we be disappointed in a ‘winning season’? guess it depends. We knew Wood would not be here long. We probably knew Crews would go up; Baker as well. Several other real good hitters also left town. The most unforgivable sin committed was letting Blankenhorn go when they did. After robbing us of all offense the Gnats chose to DFA one of the leagues leading HR hitters and run producers. And for what? And why then?
Its no surprise I am no fan of the Nationals. Even though they are our parent, they have not impressed me one bit with how they have handled the Red Wings. I would gladly have the O’s or Twins back (despite how pitiful both have played since the ASG!)
Props to Dan Mason and Co. for another great job bringing fans to the park. The attendance was OK. The usual 400K+. I have to think if there had been anything on the line the last homestand; and had the team been more than just a AA team, the crowds would have been bigger. Pre-Covid, it was not unusual to have over 10K for several games during the last homestands. (of course they were pre-labor day back then but the weather this September was near perfect for baseball)
Another great job by our play by play man Josh Whetzel, who always manages to make it sound like our guys are one game away from a championship.
One huge bucket of silage to MLB for ruining AAA post season with its ridiculous playoff system. Please go back to allowing several teams to qualify and then have legitimate series’ ..at least one 3 of 5 to give each team a home game or two. Then ditch the one-game whatever-the-heck-it-is in Vegas. Who cares about a game played there? Clearly the message they are sending is MLB teams couldn’t care less about the competition for a championship at the minor league level. Exhibit A is Washington. We are nothing more than a bunch of exhibition games to get their prospects ready to go up. Fans get the dirty end of that stick.
I get that we are ‘development’ but development does best in a winning and competitive environment where the games matter. I know, that ship left port a long time ago. So should we be happy that the Wings finished 6 over .500?
I dunno. Given the total lack of relevance to the standings, does it really matter?
It always was sad when the season ended. the off season is so long. But lately awaiting the new season isn;t the same anymore. The local media doesn’t get behind the team like it used to. They are too busy pimping the Yankees and Mets.
Which means they figure the local sports fan only goes to Wings games in the summer for the fireworks, the food, the beer and the summer atmosphere. Don’t put the name of the player on the jersey and 90% of those attending wouldn’t have the slightest idea who they were, and they probably wouldn’t care. (unless they were Yankee prospects)
So farewell Wings of 2024. You finished 6 over .500. Amen.
Thank you for a great season of coverage of the Red Wings!! Your publication is only one I could always count on that truly supports our Professional Baseball Team !
Thank you to Paul and all of you for everything you do!!!!!!!
i’d echo those sentiments as well. There is virtually nowhere anymore where we can talk,vent, analyze Red Wing baseball anymore so for those of us who still love that we have a AAA team…
yes thank you