IL1 Rochester Red Wings

Bass Shuts Down Yanks

August 24, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


Brian Bass pitched eight strong innings, and Luis Rodriguez had three of Rochester's 13 hits as the Red Wings beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 6-3 Friday night at Frontier Field.

Denard Span was the catalyst for the Wings offense in the first, beating out a bunt for an infield single and putting early pressure on the defense. An errent pickoff throw allowed Span to advance all the way to third with no one out. Matt Tolbert lofted a fly ball deep enough to right to score Span standing up. The Red Wings were not finished in the inning however, as back to back doubles by Chris Heintz and Lew Ford along with a clutch single by Jose Morales extended the Red Wings early lead to 3-0. Glenn Williams continued the onslaught with a walk off starter Steven White, moving Morales into scoring position. As the Yankees bullpen began to warm up, Rodriguez hit a soft ground ball to the second baseman that was thrown away, allowing Morales to score on the error for the fourth run of the inning.

Wings starter Bass returned to the mound in the second and faced leadoff batter Angel Chavez, who punished a pitch over the Scranton bullpen, beyond the picnic area, and bouncing across Plymouth Avenue and into the parking lot beyond left field. However, Bass seemed to be unaffected and retired the next three batters he faced in order.

After the Wings offense went into hibernation for innings two through four, Darnell McDonald reached on a fielding error to lead off the fifth. Heintz followed up with an infield single. A wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position for Ford, who was perfect so far on the night with two doubles in two at bats. Ford walked, loading the bases with no outs for the International League batting leader, Morales. A double play scored a run and left a runner on third, and Williams drove in that runner with an opposite field single extending the lead to 6-1.

White was done after five innings and 10 hits, with T.J. Bean coming out of the bullpen. In the sixth, McDonald was ejected by home plate umpire Jason Klein after McDonald was called out on strikes. Bass moved into the seventh inning having allowed just three hits. The Yankees scraped together a run in the seventh when Trent Oeltjen misplayed a deep fly ball hit by Jose Cruz Jr. in right field that bounced off the warning track for a ground rule double. This set the table for an RBI single by Kevin Thompson.

NOTES: Morales was 1-for-3, leaving him with a .323 batting average....The Red Wings won the season series 10-6. A season ago, Scranton won the season series 10-6.... The Red Wings entered the game leading the International League with a team ERA of 3.58 (Toledo is 2nd with a 3.64 team ERA). If Rochester can finish the season leading the IL in team ERA it would be the first time since 1976 when Rochester led the IL with a 3.51 ERA. Since 1964, when team ERA records start in the IL office, Rochester has led the IL in team ERA just twice (1974 3.04 & 1976 3.51). The Red Wings offense broke out of a slump over the last seven games coming into Friday, when the club batted just .227 (49-for-216) as a team.

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International League Stories from August 24, 2007


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