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Red Wings Eliminated Thursday

September 4, 2015 - International League (IL1) - Rochester Red Wings News Release


PAWTUCKET, RI - Jonathan Roof hit a two-run homer to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning and a late Rochester rally came up short as the Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 5-4 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox Thursday night at McCoy Stadium.

It was a long shot for the Red Wings (73-67) to make the postseason following Tuesday night's loss at home to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The RailRaiders magic number dropped to one, meaning a Rochester loss or a Scranton/WB win would eliminate the Wings from the playoff picture. Both happened Thursday as the RailRiders cruised 12-2 to clinch the International League North.

Both starting pitchers put up zeros early as the teams combined for five hits through the first three inning against Logan Darnell and PawSox (57-83) lefty Edwin Escobar (3-3). Pawtucket used a pair of singles and a two-out error in the third to load the bases against Darnell but the left-hander stranded all three men aboard to keep the game scoreless.

Rochester then put runners at every base with nobody out in the fourth against Escobar. Xavier Avery drove in a run to open the scoring with a groundout but the Wings would reload the bases with one out but couldn't tack on. Reynaldo Rodriguez gave Rochester a 2-0 advantage in the fifth with his 16th homer of the season, tying him with Danny Ortiz for the team lead.

A two-out rally tied the game in the fifth as Pawtucket used three straight singles and a huge throwing error by Darnell to knot the game at 2-2. Cole Johnson (0-1) left the go-ahead run on second base to end the inning.

Darnell was charged with two runs, one earned, on seven hits without a walk while striking out three in 4.2 innings. He threw just 68 pitches.

Roof would hit a two-run homer in the sixth against Johnson to give the PawSox a 4-2 lead. Pawtucket added an unearned run against Tim Shibuya in the seventh as Rochester trailed 5-2 entering the ninth.

Avery singled to open the ninth and Carlos Paulino followed with a double to put two in scoring position with no outs. After Oswaldo Arcia flied out to shallow right field, Doug Bernier drove in a run with a single to left and the Wings were within 5-3 against Jonathan Aro. Aro was replaced by Dayan Diaz, who was greeted by a James Beresford bloop RBI single to pull within a run at 5-4. Jose Martinez flied out and Rodriguez hit a ball hard to third base but Pawtucket's Deven Marrero made a nice play on a tricky hop to force Bernier at third base.

Beresford and Ortiz each finished with two hits in the loss. The Red Wings tied a season-high with three errors.

Rochester has one game left in Rhode Island before wrapping up the season with three games at Lehigh Valley. At 73 wins, the Wings are guaranteed to finish over .500.


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