Red Wings lose another heart-breaker, 5-3, on late home run

BY DAN GLICKMAN

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings were either ahead or tied for 26 of the 27 defensive outs in Sunday’s game against the Syracuse Mets. But the 27^th and final out was the one that mattered most, as a two-out ninth inning home run by Syracuse’s Francisco Alvarez off Red Wings’ reliever Carlos Romero sent the Wings down in defeat, 5-3.

The loss- Rochester’s third straight- was much like their second loss in Saturday’s doubleheader, as good starting pitching ultimately proved not enough due to fielding errors, mistakes from the bullpen and not enough run support.

“We didn’t do enough offensively when we had a shot,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “Didn’t have many chances at all. We’ve got to be able to all our facets. We want to pitch, play defense, and hit each time.”

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Rochester (1-5 in second half) started the game on the back foot offensively, as Syracuse (5-1 in second half) starter Justin Hagenman made quick work of the first six Red Wings he faced, including three strikeouts. But in the bottom of the third, the lower part of the Rochester order drew first blood.

Darren Baker led off the inning and took advantage of his speed immediately, earning an infield single and then stealing second for his 17^th swiped bag of the season. Catcher C.J. Stubbs, a recent call-up due to the promotion of Drew Millas, followed up with his first AAA hit of the season, lining a double to right that brought in Baker to give the Wings a 1-0 lead. Shortstop Jackson Cluff put an exclamation point on the inning on the second pitch of the next at-bat. After initially trying for a bunt, he swung away on the 0-1 pitch and launched it at 105.4 MPH over the left-center field wall for his third home run of the season, extending the Wings’ lead to 3-0.

But that would be almost all of the offense for the Red Wings for the day- after the three-run third, they only managed two more hits.

“After the third, we never got much going,” said LeCroy. “Kind of went dead after that.”

Andrew Alvarez, the left-handed starting pitcher for the Wings, pitched one of his best games of the season, going five innings while allowing six hits and an earned run while striking out two. However, the Californian also allowed two unearned runs in the fourth, in what LeCroy said he considered a momentum-shifting inning. After hitting the first two batters with pitches, Alvarez seemed to recover, getting an out on the next batter by having Jose Azocar ground into a fielder’s choice that left runners at the corners. Gilberto Celestino came to the plate and grounded into what looked like it’d be an inning-ending double play, but first baseman Yohandy Morales missed the catch at first, allowing Pablo Reyes to score and make it 3-1. The inability to get the third out haunted the Wings, as Louis De Los Santos then doubled to cut the lead to 3-2.

“He hit two batters, but then he made the pitches to get out of it,” LeCroy said of his pitcher. “We just couldn’t make the plays behind him.”

The Mets then tied up the game, 3-3, with a double from Francisco Alvarez and then a triple by Reyes in the fifth.

The rest of the game was a balancing act for Red Wings pitching, with Joan Adon escaping runners in scoring position in both the seventh and eighth. Ultimately, the bullpen’s luck ran out in the ninth, as Romero allowed the two-out home run to Syracuse’s Alvarez. The Red Wings got the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but couldn’t get anyone home, sending them down in defeat.

The Red Wings will look to recover when they head to Buffalo starting Tuesday for a split series. They’ll start with three games in Buffalo before returning to Rochester to host the Bisons for the Fourth of July and the two days that follow. Game one of the series is set for 6:35 on Tuesday.