BY DAN GLICKMAN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After a delayed start due to rain storms, the Rochester Red Wings concluded their six-game series with the Syracuse Mets with a 9-7 loss on Sunday. The loss could largely be attributed to the offensive efforts of one man: Syracuse third baseman Christopher Morel, who homered three times as the Mets beat back an attempted Red Wings comeback.
“We made mistakes pitching [to him],” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “We made some mistakes on our secondary pitches and he hit all those homers. We didn’t make the pitches to him.”
Morel, a 27-year-old right-handed hitter who has seen big league time with the Cubs, Rays, and Marlins and has hit 74 home runs in MLB, finished the day with six RBI.
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The bigger story for the Red Wings, however, arguably was happening off the field. With the trade deadline coming up on Monday and the Washington Nationals again involved in trade rumors, the lineup was a bit unusual, as was the pitching situation.
Among the changes: a day of rest for Abimelec Ortiz, and the removal of Jackson Kent from the starting pitcher spot. This forced the Red Wings into a second straight bullpen day, just one day after they used eight pitchers.
“I got a call from up top that they, you know, wanted me to not use [Kent] today,” said LeCroy.
The Wings fell behind early, with Syracuse getting to “opener” Zach Penrod in the second courtesy of a Cristian Pache double, a Ben Rortvdt single, and a Nick Morabito sacrifice fly to give them a 3-0 lead. Although Leandro Pineda continued his hot start with the Wings by singling in Riley Adams for an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-1, the Mets responded by expanding their lead with Morel’s first home run, a two-run shot in the third to up the score to 5-1.
The Red Wings answered with six unanswered runs, with Riley Adams doubling in a run in the bottom of the third before singles from Trey Lipscomb and Andrew Pinckney in the fifth tied the game at five before Maxwell Romero Jr. doubled in two to give the Red Wings a 7-5 lead.
However, Morel spurred on a Syracuse comeback: a three-run shot with two outs in the top of the sixth to put the Mets up 8-7, and then a solo shot in the ninth to bring about the 9-7 final score.
It was shortly before the final out that the news broke that infielder Luis Garcia Jr., who had been one of the top hitters of Washington’s high-powered offense, had been traded to the New York Yankees for four right-handed pitchers – a much-needed area for the Nationals. MLB-experienced relievers Yovanny Cruz and Jake Bird both are coming to the Nationals organization, as are two AA pitching prospects: starter Jack Cebert (who’d been the Yankees’ No. 14 prospect on MLB.com Pipeline) and reliever Ben Grable (No. 25 prospect on MLB.com).
Garcia was one of the first major prospects to come to Rochester during the Nationals era, and was the first batter to step to the plate for the Red Wings in 2021, the first year of the affiliation. Garcia ultimately played parts of three seasons with the Wings, hitting .297/.356/.514 over 107 games with 22 home runs.
LeCroy, the only manager Garcia had in AAA, couldn’t help but remember his time in Rochester.
“I had him first when he was 18 years old, in Double-A,” he said. “He was a great kid, I’m super proud of him. I knew he would be able to hit 20 to 30 homers in the big leagues. Once he really locked in on an approach for me when he was here at AAA, and now you start to see a young man mature into a big league player with a lot of talent. Luis did a good job with our team in the big leagues, and now he can go to the Yankees and try to help them win as well.”
The question now is how the move will affect the Red Wings. While it appears, at least of now, that Kent’s scratching from the pitcher’s mound on Sunday was unrelated to the trade, it’s likely that Ortiz could see a call-up – with Garcia traded, the Nationals will need a first baseman. Bird, who has pitched in 227 MLB games in his career, will be sent to the Red Wings, while Riley Cornelio has been sent down. It’s not yet known where Cruz will start his Nationals career, although there is some evidence to suggest he will at least begin with the big club. Grable and Cebert have been assigned to AA Harrisburg, although they may join the Red Wings by the end of the season.
Regardless, the Red Wings now find themselves heading into a crucial series at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre that begins on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Trailing the Yankees affiliate by five games in the second half, a series win would go a long way to helping keep the Red Wings in the playoff hunt.
“It’s going to be a fight,” says LeCroy. “They have a good team, and I like our team. We’ve got some stuff going on, with guys that are gone or not here, so it’s going to be a good challenge, but we’ll go down there and play well. We’ll show these guys that we still can fight. It’s a big series, it’s kind of a separator… but hopefully we can do a good job and win the series.”
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