IL1 Rochester Red Wings

Rochester Red Wings Game Notes - Sunday, July 15 vs. Toledo (Tigers)

Published on July 15, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2012 w FRONTIER FIELD

GAME #95 - HOME GAME #50 - 6:35 P.M.

TOLEDO MUD HENS (37-56) at ROCHESTER RED WINGS (46-48)

RHP BROOKS BROWN (1-3, 5.03) vs. RHP ESMERLING VASQUEZ (3-4, 3.22)

GIVING UP THE TOLEDO: The Rochester Red Wings tonight play the finale of their 4-game series vs. Toledo (Tigers), looking for a sweep after winning each of the first 3 games in come-from-behind fashion. The Red Wings tomorrow board an early-morning flight for an 8-game roadtrip that includes a pair of 4-game series at Norfolk (Orioles) and Durham (Rays). Then it's back home for 4 against International League North Division rival Syracuse (Nationals) July 24-27.

a After today, the Red Wings will play just 4 of their next 20 games at Frontier Field through August 5. Rochester will, however, play 18 of its final 29 games along Morrie Silver Way beginning August 6.

DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT: The Red Wings have won 3 in a row, 7 of their last 8, and are an International League-best 9-3 in July. A victory tonight would give the Red Wings a season-high 4-game winning streak for the 4th time. They also won 4 in a row May 3-5, June 6-9, and July 5-first game of July 8 doubleheader).

a The Red Wings have 7 wins in any 8-game stretch for the first time since May 4-12, 2009, when they actually won 8 of 9 in that span.

a A win tonight would give the Red Wings a sweep of a series longer than 2 games for the first time since sweeping Charlotte (White Sox) in a 4-game set May 8-11, 2009 at Frontier Field.

a A victory tonight would give the Red Wings their first series sweep against the Mud Hens since a 4-gamer August 17-21, 1992 at Ned Skeldon Stadium in Toledo.

CELLAR DWELLERS NO MORE: The Red Wings enter tonight's game in 5th place in the IL North Division, 1.5 games better than Syracuse, which lost 8-1 vs. Empire State (Yankees) last night. The Wings, believe it or not, are just 5.0 games out of the Wild Card spot, but 5 teams are ahead of them.

THE CLIMB TO .500: The Red Wings enter play tonight 2 games under .500, the closest they've been to the break-even point since April 27, when they entered their game that evening at Buffalo (Mets) with a 9-11 record.

a The Wings haven't had a .500 record since they entered play April 26, posting a 9-9 record before getting swept in a doubleheader that day vs. Syracuse.

a Since sitting a season-worst 10 games below .500 at 20-30 on May 28, the Red Wings are 26-18.

a Rochester is 32-25 beginning May 15 after opening the season 14-23. The Wings are also 37-32 beginning May 3, playing slightly better than .500 baseball for nearly half the season.

LET'S DO THIS: With 50 games remaining, the Red Wings are already just 7 wins shy of matching last year's win total of 53 and 8 short of eclipsing it. The Red Wings are off to their best 94-game start since the 2009 club went an identical 46-48. That club won its 95th game. Rochester was 22 games below .500 at 36-58 at this point last year and 24 games below at 35-59 at this juncture in 2010.

SUMMER LOVIN': At 9-3, Rochester is off to its best 12-game start to a calendar month since the 2009 club went 9-3 in May 2009. In fact, the 2009 club went 10-3 in their first 13 games of May. The Wings in 2012 also got off to fast starts in May and June, but faltered down the stretch. A look at May, June, and July:

Month Start Finish Total

May 5-3 8-14 13-17

June 7-2 8-12 15-14

July 9-3 ??? ???

HOME IMPROVEMENT: With 34 victories at Frontier Field, the Red Wings have already eclipsed their win total at the downtown ballpark from last year. The Wings in 2012 are 34-23 at Frontier, a record that includes a 4-4 mark as the "road" team against the Empire State Yankees. The 2011 Red Wings went 32-41 in 73 games, including one as the "road" team against Charlotte (White Sox).

a Only Lehigh Valley (Phillies) in the IL has more wins at their home ballpark with 35. The IronPigs play tonight on the road at Norfolk.

a The Red Wings have posted 20 come-from-behind wins, 16 of which have come along Morrie Silver Way.

RED WINGS, FOR THREE!!: A win tonight by Esmerling Vasquez would give Red Wings' starting pitchers 3 straight victories for the first time since August 12-14, 2008, when Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Anthony Swarzak accomplished the feat. Liam Hendriks and Nick Blackburn both posted wins over the last 2 days to put the Wings in this spot.

a Tonight marks the 7th opportunity in 2012 for the starters to win their 3rd in a row. It will take Vasquez's first win as a starter since May 31, 2008 with Triple-A Tucson at Fresno to turn the trick.

PITCHING IN: The Red Wings lead the IL with a 2.60 ERA (30 ER/104.0 IP) in 12 games in July. Rochester pitchers have tossed scoreless baseball in 44 of 51 innings during their last 6 games.

a The Red Wings rank 7th in the IL with a 3.86 ERA overall. They finished last in the league in ERA in both 2010 and 2011.

a 21 different Red Wings' pitchers have earned a win this season, including 10 different starters.

DANNY DOES IT: Danny Valencia has recorded an RBI in 5 straight games (5 total), the longest such streak by a Red Wing in 2012. The 27-year-old also has driven in at least one run in 7 of his last 8 games (8 total). He has 14 RBI in his last 15 games and 17 in his last 19 contests as well. Valencia leads the team with 34 RBI despite joining the team more than a month into the season.

a Valencia's 5-game RBI streak is Rochester's longest since Dustin Martin drove in at least one run in 5 consecutive games August 7-11, 2011 (9 total). Jeff Bailey (7), Trevor Plouffe (5), and Rene Tosoni (6) also logged RBI streaks of 5 games or more in 2011.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

0 Opponent Time Probable A0 TV/Radio

Monday, July 16 at Norfolk 7:15 p.m. LHP Luke French (1-4, 5.98) vs. RHP Jake Arrieta 0 WHTK 1280 AM

Tuesday, July 17 at Norfolk 7:15 p.m. RHP Jeff Manship (4-1, 2.29) vs. WHTK 1280 AM

Wednesday, July 18 at Norfolk 7:15 p.m. RHP Liam Hendriks (7-0, 1.79) vs. RHP Tommy Hunter (2-1, A0 WHTK 1280 AM

Thursday, July 19 at Norfolk 12:15 p.m. RHP Nick Blackburn (2-0, 2.57) vs. RHP Jason Berken (2-3, A0 WYSL 1040 AM

Check out the Rochester Red Wings Statistics

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