BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After falling behind in both games of Thursday’s doubleheader, the Rochester Red Wings fell behind again on Friday against the Worcester Red Sox. Unlike Thursday, the Red Wings came back to take the lead… but the end result was the same: a defeat at the hands of their New England-based foe – 10-5.
It was a nightmare seventh inning that did the Red Wings (14-17) in. The Wings entered the inning up 5-3, but left it down 8-5. Beginning with a lead-off triple by Braiden Ward where a sharp line drive got past a diving Andrew Pinckney in right field, the first six Worcester (18-12) hitters reached base against first Erik Tolman and then, after he left with the game tied 5-5, Eddy Yean.
After Ward’s triple, Nick Sogard singled him in to cut the lead to 5-4. Then Sogard moved to second on a wild pitch, allowing him to score on a Vinny Capra double to tie it up. Yean came in to relieve Tolman, but then balked Capra to third, allowing Capra – who had earlier homered against the Wings earlier in the game – to come home on a Mickey Gasper single to put the Red Sox ahead, 6-5.
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By the time the dust settled, it was 8-5 Worcester. They added two more in the ninth on a Matt Lloyd single to bring about the final 10-5 score.
“In the seventh, it unraveled on us,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “We didn’t throw a lot of strikes, didn’t get ahead of a lot of hitters, and then they made us pay.
It’s not the way you wanted it to go there, but that’s baseball, you’ve got to come back tomorrow and get that win.”
Earlier, it had looked like the Red Wings would break the pattern and snap their losing streak. Although they’d fallen behind 2-0 on a run each in the top of the first and second inning, the Red Wings struck back quickly, as Yohandy Morales led off the bottom of the second with a single and then moved to third on an Andres Chaparro double. Abimelec Ortiz followed up with a double of his own, scoring two to tie it up, 2-2. Levi Jordan later brought Ortiz home on a bunt single to give the Wings a lead, 3-2.
Ortiz later added two more runs with a two-run home run into right to extend the lead to 5-2, but they’d never score again after that.
The Red Wings and Red Sox continue their series on Saturday at 1:05 p.m., when the Red Wings expect to send out lefty Andrew Alvarez (2-1, 5.32) against Worcester southpaw Michael Sansone (1-1, 2.61).
One player who won’t be with the Red Wings for that game or any other games going forward, however, is shortstop Zack Short. The 30-year-old right-handed hitter, who’d slashed .200/.292/.583 in 21 games for the Red Wings but who brought parts of five seasons of big league experience to the squad, was traded to the Detroit Tigers on Friday for either cash or a player-to-be-named-later. Some have speculated that Short’s departure from the Nationals organization may be a way to open a spot in Rochester for Seaver King, the No. 7 prospect in the Nationals system, who has slashed .286/.400/.536 in his first 22 games of the season for AA Harrisburg.
LeCroy, however, was characteristically tight-lipped as to what the future may hold.
“I don’t think so, not yet, but I’m sure things can change tomorrow,” he said.
This is how the season will unravel (again) for the Wings. Because they have zero pitching, especially in the bullpen, the losses will pile up against good teams. This is a recurring pattern that has dogged the team ever since hooking up with Washington unfortunately. What we are now seeing is why you have to have at least mediocre pitching to stay afloat. Wings bullpen is a disgrace and that is on the Nats. Their cupboard is bare.
Rochester baseball fans deserve a lot better. Never thought I’d even consider this possibility but if Nats decide to go with Richmond and their new stadium, Rochester might end up in AA. Given that AAA has really become mostly a joke since MLB has tried to destroy it…there are no real playoffs. The season seems like a series of exhibition games with little meaning..maybe seeing AA ball with a different class of prospects might bring some excitement back to the ballpark again. Yeah, tradition and history would be the collateral damage, but right now, baseball in AAA just isn’t as much fun as it used to be. And Washington has zero footprint in this town. Nobody cares about them.
Who knows.