BY JONATHAN SKUZA
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester (22-41) couldn’t respond to a three-run ninth inning rally from the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (39-26) as the Red Wings fell 4-3 Wednesday evening.
”There’s not really much to say other than we just didn’t get it done” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. “We had poor pitching. You’re trying to do everything as a coaching staff and a manager to try to get it done, but we just haven’t been able to do so.”
Rochester led 3-1 going into the ninth before Jacksonville sent eight batters to the plate to push across three runs and take the lead in the final frame. The Jumbo Shrimp used a lead off home run from Jakob Marsee and a couple hit batsman to their advantage in an inning that has seem to haunt the Red Wings all season.
”Whenever you have a two-run lead going into the ninth inning, you feel really good, but that’s been our kryptonite,” LeCroy said. “In the ninth inning or anytime we pitch with a lead, especially late.”
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After being shutout on Tuesday, Rochester struck first in the contest when Drew Millas collected an RBI base hit score Yohandy Morales who led off the second inning with a walk.
Jacksonville would answer two innings later when Williamsville native Joe Mack hit a sacrifice fly to score Troy Johnston who led the inning off with a base hit. Johntson reached scoring position after Red Wings’ starter Andrew Alvarez was called for a balk that led to LeCroy coming out looking for an explanation and eventually being ejected from Wednesday’s contest due to the call.
”He said he [Alvarez] didn’t come to a stop, which I didn’t understand because it was the same as the one when he picked off earlier,” LeCroy said. “That was more of me trying to fire up the troops a little bit after the way we’ve been playing lately.”
Alavarez finished Wednesday with six solid innings on the mound of one run baseball where the southpaw struck out five of the 21 batters he faced.
”I thought that was one of his best outings all year,” LeCroy said. “He made some adjustments and made pitches when he needed to in a big spot in the fifth inning. He did a nice job keeping us in it.”
Rochester’s other two runs came in the fifth when Darren Baker successfully laid down a sacrifice fly bunt to score Jackson Cluff and Brady House picked an RBI base hit to drive in J.T. Arruda.
Despite the two innings where Rochester scored runs, the Red Wings offense struggled on Wednesday with the team being struck out 15 times during the contest and only picking three of their eight hits outside of the two innings they scored runs. Rochester also went down in order three times during the contest.
”When you face good pitching, you can’t miss the one they give you,” LeCroy said. “We had a lot of strikeouts, which is not the normal case for us.”
Rochester’s loss on Wednesday has tied them with their longest losing streak of the season at eight games. The other time the Red Wings loss eight in a row was back in April.
”I told them the other day, that you have to keep fighting,” LeCroy said. “Things will get better. They’ll make changes around here. That’s what you do, especially at this level.”
The Rochester Red Wings and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp will continue their series on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. as Rochester will send righty Adrian Sampson (1-1, 5.76) to the mound while right-hander Connor Gillispie (2-0, 4.38) will toe the slab for Jacksonville.
“we had poor pitching” You can put that on the tombstone of the Red Wings first half in 2025. last night’s 9th inning fiasco was unacceptable at any level. Leadoff HR,Walks, 2 hit batters, wild pitch. Do these guys take no pride at all in their work? Isn’t there any pitcher in the Nats organization that can get 3 outs late without giving up a pile of runs first? This has been an issue from the very first week.
How many blown wins late have the Wings absorbed this season? (besides ‘too many’) And of course, the 15 k’s, including the final 2 outs with a runner at 3rd, sure didn’t help either.
For one shining week against Columbus we thought maybe these guys were going to climb out of the abyss…then those butt-ugly games against Worcester and now 2 more against Jax. Not just losses, ugly losses. This team has 2 weeks to figure it out as the IL mercifully gives everyone a re-set.
Will they take advantage of it? Can the Nats overhaul our bullpen, even just a little? In any event, whats going on now is simply a clown show.