BY DAN GLICKMAN
The Rochester Red Wings (43-30 in the second half, 88-58 overall) lost Friday night, 7-1, to the Buffalo Bisons (33-37 in the second half, 68-77 overall), but remained in playoff position when the Indianapolis Indians fell in extra innings to keep the two teams tied in the International League second-half standings, although Rochester holds the tiebreaker.
Rochester’s loss was the result of an stellar pitching performance by the Buffalo pitching corps, particularly CJ Van Eyk, who went seven innings of shutout ball while giving up two hits (a single by Trey Lipscomb and a double by Cortland Lawson), a walk, and an earned run en route to a win. Chad Dallas then held the Red Wings hitless in the final two innings.
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The lone Rochester run came in the top of the sixth, when Lawson led off with a double, moved to third when Seaver King lined out to center, and then scored on a Lipscomb groundout to make it 4-1. The Wings were unable to do any more damage, however, while Buffalo added three runs in the eighth, including back-to-back home runs from RJ Schreck and Nick Goodwin.
Rochester pitching struggled through much of the game. Although Jarlin Susana – the No. 3 prospect in the Washington system – unleashed triple-digit heat and struck out three in 2.2 innings of work, the 22-year-old Dominican also gave up four hits, four runs, and four walks in his AAA debut. After Paxton Schultz threw 1.1 innings of shutout ball, striking out three, before being replaced by Chandler Champlain, who went 3.2 innings and gave up five hits and three runs before Ben Grable finished the last one-third of an inning for the Wings.
The Red Wings’ place at the top of the playoff standings was saved by a rally from the Gwinnett Striper, who were hosting Indianapolis. Down 7-5 heading to the bottom of the ninth, the Braves’ affiliate scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extras. After retiring the Indians in the top of the tenth, the Stripers loaded the bases before Brett Wisely ended the game with a single to left.
Rochester and Buffalo will play again on Saturday at 1:05 p.m., with Zak Kent expected to open the game for Rochester against fellow right-hander Grant Rogers. A Rochester win and an Indianapolis loss would clinch a playoff berth for the Red Wings, although the Red Wings would need to wait to know, as Indianapolis will be playing a night game on Saturday.
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