BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A towering grand slam by Abimelec Ortiz and a day’s worth of good pitching propelled the Rochester Red Wings to an 11-2 victory and their third straight win against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Sunday.
“We did a really nice job offensively,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy post-game.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO.
The win completed a sweep for Rochester (11-10 in the second half, 55-38 overall0 against the AAA affiliate of the Miami Marlins coming out of the All-Star Break.
A six-run third for the Red Wings provided much of the action for Rochester, most notably with Ortiz’s grand slam against former Red Wing Amos Willingham. Already up 1-0 thanks to Maxwell Romero Jr.’s first AAA hit and RBI earlier in the inning, the first baseman from Puerto Rico caught a hanging 2-2 slider in the middle of the zone and blasted it at 108.7 MPH over the right-field scoreboard. Statcast recordings said it went 414 feet, but however far it went, it was Ortiz’s 17th home run of the season and extended the Red Wings lead to 5-0 with still no outs in the inning.
Andrew Pinckney later made it 6-0, doubling and then showing extra-hustle to score all the way from second to score on a wild pitch when the Jacksonville (8-12 in the first half, 50-44 overall) catcher, Agustin Ramirez, had trouble getting it. It was a heads-up play that Pinckney admitted he hadn’t been able to do in a long time:
“It’s been a little while since Little League when I’ve done that, but it’s cool,” said Pinckney, who ended the game going two-for-four with a walk, a double, and two runs scored.
Pinckney was hardly alone: every Red Wing hitter had at least one hit on the day.
It was still 6-0 in the fourth when LeCroy’s day came to an end: a check-swing call on Gage Miller was ruled not-a-swing by the umpiring team, although replay clearly showed that it was. LeCroy protested, only to earn an ejection from home plate umpire Robert Ginther III.
“I know he swung, but, you know, I was just trying to take it for Luis,” said LeCroy, who spent the rest of the game watching a television feed in his office. “Somebody’s out there battling, I felt like one of the calls didn’t go our way earlier, but I thought they missed and that this was obvious.”
While LeCroy left the game, the Red Wings offense didn’t: they added three in the fifth on a double by Joey Wiemer and singles from Riley Adams and Cayden Wallace, and then put up two more on a bases-loaded groundout by Trey Lipscomb and an Adams sacrifice fly in the sixth to extend the lead to 11-1.
“These guys are pros, they know how to play,” said LeCroy. “They go compete, and just play.”
On the mound, the Red Wings started the game with Zach Penrod as an opener. Penrod worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks before being replaced by the bulk pitcher Luis Perales, who went 4.2 innings, scattering five hits and striking out seven while allowing a run on a Gage Miller single in the sixth as a lone blemish. Luke Young and Jack Sinclair finished off the rest of the game, with Sinclair allowing an unearned run in the ninth before finishing off the game.
The three-game win streak is a turnaround for the Wings, who entered the All-Star break after losing a series in Worcester.
“We needed that break to come back from, we’re refreshed,” said LeCroy.
Pinckney agreed the break was a big help for the team, and for himself.
“We all went our separate ways, and the objective was just to take some days off and get away from baseball, reset the mind and the body,” said Pinckney. “We definitely feel refreshed.”
Whether the Red Wings will continue their streak will be decided this coming week down the thruway, as Rochester heads to Buffalo starting Tuesday to face the Bisons. Game one is set for 6:35 p.m., with starting pitchers yet to be announced.
Whoever started that ‘opener’ thing for pitchers needs to go sit in the naughty chair. What a total waste. suddenly its the norm for teams to use 6 and 7 pitchers every game. Why?
anyway, sweeping Jax was a good thing. Might it get the team back on track? Is it already too late to compete for the 2nd half title? Get on a roll and maybe not. A terrible Red Sox team has suddenly won 14 in a row. A mixed up Oriole team has won 7 straight (they face each other now so something’s gotta give!) The point is, if you get a winning streak going anything is possible.
Only the Wings terrible bullpen will get in the way of a long winning streak. Fix that, even a little, and you never know.
Question to ponder: how much long will the Nats stick with Dylan Crews? Since his recall he has done little to suggest he is ready for the Show. And there are several hitters down here just waiting their chance. What will Nats do at the trade deadline? They are an offensive machine and still in the WC race. But like the Wings their bullpen is a complete disaster. They lead the league in save opportunities and have only converted half of them.