BY JONATHAN SKUZA
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings (10-29) dropped their third in a row to the Durham Bulls (26-15) 7-4 Wednesday evening.
”It’s been the story of our season,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. “We get close or have a lead and we can’t get it doen on the mound. I like what I’m seeing, but we just never really seem to put a good game together.”
Rochester got ambushed on the very first pitch of the ballgame as the rehabbing Josh Lowe smacked a leadoff home run on the opening pitch to right center field. Then proceeded to not get much better as Durham pushed across three more runs in the opening frame. Tanner Murray collected a two RBI double that was followed by a Tristan Peters RBI double with two outs to give the Bulls the early 4-0 lead.
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Rochester’s offense took a while to get going in the contest. Rochester’s first seven batters were set down in order by Durham’s starter Joe Boyle before Darren Baker was the Red Wings’ first base runner after drawing a walk. Baker was able to steal second and make it to third on a Daylen Lile infield base hit. The Red Wings were set down in order four times during the contest.
“We faced some good pitching,” LeCroy said. “Their guy had some real good stuff from 97 to 100. It was true test and we hung in there. When you face good pitching runs are hard to come by.”
Rochester started to make a push late when Robert Hassell III got the Red Wings on the board in the sixth with a two-out two-run home run to cut the Durham lead in half.
After Durham made it 5-2 in the eighth, Brady House launched his own two-run long ball to pull Rochester within one with is team leading sixth home run.
“These guys work, they battle and I’m gonna give them the opportunity,” LeCroy said. “These guys are going to be the next wave of big leaguers and they need to be put to the test. I want to give them as many at-bats as possible so when they are big leaguers, they don’t come back.”
Durham pushed across two runs in the ninth and Rochester was not able to overcome the deficit they had been trying erase all game.
“You got to find a way to put up zeroes when your team is fighting back,” LeCroy said. “We’ve given everybody an opportunity to finish games and nobody’s really grabbed it.”
Adrian Sampson made his Innovative Field debut for Rochester and after a rocky first inning, Sampson settled in and turned in five innings of work where he struck out six.
”He’s a veteran pitcher,” LeCroy said. “He knows what he is doing. He just hasn’t been pitching much because he didn’t have a team at the beginning of the season. He knows how to move the ball around and has a decent mix. He is going to be fine and be a stabilizer.”
The Red Wings and Bulls continue will continue their series on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. as Rochester will send righty Cade Cavalli (0-1, 15.43) to the mound and Durham’s starter is to be announced.
Wings are close to being 10-30, which is Tom Nieto territory (remembering two of the worst Wings teams in their over 100 year history. they were unwatchable and this years team is pretty much unwatchable right now. Not sure I understood LeCroys comment ‘I like what I’m seeing….what is there honestly to like about a team that is playing this poorly. There is no extra column in the standings that says ‘style points’ or moral victories.
Of course MLB doesn’t care if AAA teams win or lose so maybe thats what LeCroy was referring to. Results don’t matter in this league anymore.