BY DAN GLICKMAN
The Rochester Red Wings’ first playoff game since 2013 took place in Memphis on Tuesday – and with it the stress of playoff baseball, which was on full display as the Red Wings held off the homestanding Memphis Redbirds, 4-3, despite several late rallies by the Cardinals’ affiliate that threatened to tie the game or break the Rochester lead.
Memphis got the tying run to the plate or on base every inning from the sixth onward after the Red Wings had taken a 4-1 lead. They loaded the bases in the sixth and eighth, and got the tying run to third in the ninth before Kyle Nicolas was able to strike out Bligh Madris with a 100 MPH fastball to end the game to give Rochester the 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. It’d capped a series of escapes for Red Wings pitching: Erick Mejia used a strikeout and a double-play to get out of a jam in the sixth, Eddy Yean similarly was aided by a double-play in the seventh, and Nicolas himself came in and struck out Noah Mendlinger to end the eighth.
“I told my wife… I think I threw up about three times in the game tonight,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “But, man, what a ballgame? I’m really proud of the effort that our guys played at today, just guys picking each other up in big spots in these games to put up zeroes.”
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Until those final innings, it had been a relatively calm night for Red Wings pitching, and an excellent for Rochester hitting. While Elvis Presley didn’t make an appearance in Memphis, the Red Wings had a King of their own to lead the way: Seaver King, who went 3-for-5 with a go-ahead home run and two runs scored, finishing a triple away from the cycle. He started off the Rochester offense from the get-go, singling softly to right off Cardinals’ No. 12 prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje to begin the game before moving to third on a Trey Lipscomb double. He’d later score on a Riley Adams sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
While Memphis tied it up in the bottom of the second when Zach Levenson smashed a Matt Krook sweeper over the left-field fence, King put the Wings ahead for good in the fifth, when he got hold of the first pitch from Cijntje he saw in the inning – a slider low – before blasting it to center at 104.2 MPH for the first Red Wings postseason homer since Garrett Jones in 2006.
“The at-bat before, he’s thrown me a first pitch that was the same pitch, and he went back to it,” said King post-game in a Zoom call with Rochester media. “I saw it early and put a good swing on it.”
Rochester would put two more on the board the following inning, with Leandro Pineda doubling to lead off before coming home on a Andrew Pinckney double to extend the lead to 3-1. The RBI for Pinckney – who went 2-for-4 on the night – came just a half-inning after he had made a diving catch to rob Trey Paige of extra bases.
The final Red Wings run of the night came after Sam Paterson singled to get Pinckney to third, bringing up Max Romero Jr. The catcher worked a 3-1 count against Cijntje, and then sent the ball to left, scoring Pinckney on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
And then came the bullpen adventures. In some ways, the entire game had been a bullpen adventure, as it was a “bullpen game” for the Red Wings that ultimately saw them use seven pitchers, but it was after the Wings took the 4-1 lead that the relief corps entered a period of bending but not breaking.
First came the sixth, which Memphis’ Jimmy Crooks started off with a solo home run off Max Kranic. Ramon Mendoza followed with a double, and then Madris drew a walk. In came Mejia, a former infielder for the Red Wings who has been converted to pitching but dealt with injury issues earlier in the season. Already facing two men on without an out, things got worse when he walked Chase Davis to load the bases.
It was then that the Dominican right-hander buckled down: striking out Levenson with just three pitches, and then forcing Mendlinger to ground into an inning-ending double-play that preserved the Red Wings lead at 4-2.
“I’m glad he’s on our side, it was a tough moment, but no moment is too big for him,” said LeCroy of Mejia.
After Yean worked a scoreless eighth that saw another double-play, the Redbirds again threatened in the bottom of the eighth, when Crooks welcomed Justin Lawrence with a single before moving to second on a wild pitch. Lawrence then walked Mendoza to put two men on, and while he struck out both Madris and Chase Davis to follow he then walked Levenson to load the bases, forcing LeCroy to call in Nicolas, who struck out Mendlinger to end the threat
LeCroy stuck with Nicolas in the ninth, and at first it seemed to be an iffy decision, as three of the first four batters reached safely, including an RBI single by Crooks to cut Rochester’s lead to one, 4-3. Nicolas was able to earn the save and secure the win, though, by getting Mendoza to fly out and then striking out Bligh.
It was Rochester’s first playoff win since game four of the 2013 International League semifinals
The two teams play game two on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. Eastern, with young right-hander Isaac Lyon expected to pitch for Rochester against Memphis lefty Mason Molina. Rochester is a win away from their first International League title since 1997 and a trip to Las Vegas for the AAA National Championship Game, where they’d have a chance at their first overall AAA title since the legendary 1971 squad that is often regarded by Rochester baseball fans perhaps the best in franchise history.
But the Red Wings aren’t focused on Vegas. There’s still another game to win first.
“You’ve got to focus on what’s in front of you,” said Lipscomb post-game. “We’ve got a ballgame. It’s against a really good team tomorrow, so we’ll go out there, play catch, make the routine plays… and see where that gets us.”
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