IL1 Rochester Red Wings

Rochester Red Wings Game Notes - Tuesday, August 14 vs. Indianapolis (Pirates)

Published on August 14, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2012 w FRONTIER FIELD

GAME #124 - HOME GAME #61 - 7:05 P.M.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (74-49) at ROCHESTER RED WINGS (62-61)

RHP KYLE MCPHERSON (0-0, 1.50) vs. RHP P.J. WALTERS (3-1, 3.00)

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN: The Rochester Red Wings tonight begin a 6-game homestand with the first game of a 4-game series against the best team in the International League, the Indianapolis Indians (Pirates). Following 4 with IL Central Division-leading Indianapolis, the Red Wings will close out their 16-game season series with Empire State (Yankees) with a 2-game set Saturday-Sunday. Then it's back on the road for a quick 2-game trip to Pawtucket (Red Sox) Monday-Tuesday.

ROSTER NEWS: Righthander P.J. Walters tonight makes his 5th rehab start since being placed on the 15-Day Disabled List June 14 with right shoulder inflammation. Walters actually made 2 rehab starts July 1 and July 6 and was returned from rehab due to the same injury. He then started up his rehab again with an August 4 start at Toledo (Tigers).

a The Twins yesterday optioned Tsuyoshi Nishioka to Triple-A Rochester an reinstated Trevor Plouffe from the 15-Day DL. Nishioka played in 3 games for Minnesota and went hitless in 12 at-bats. He also walked once and collected an RBI. The switch hitter is batting .245 with 13 doubles, a homer, and 24 RBI in 84 games with the Red Wings.

SPLITSVILLE: The Red Wings are coming off a split of a 2-game series at Lehigh Valley (Phillies), where they won 10-0 on Sunday and succumbed 5-3 yesterday. The 10-0 win was Rochester's 10th shut-out victory of 2012 and their largest on the road since a 10-0 drubbing at Buffalo (Mets) July 22, 2010. In yesterday's series finale, the Red Wings failed to get to a season-high 3 games above .500, which they were at 5-2 after a 2-1 win vs. Pawtucket on April 11 and at 59-56 after a 10-9 win in 19 innings August 5 at Toledo.

a Last night's setback also snapped the Red Wings' 8-game road winning streak, which is their longest since at least 1981 (more research needed by Red Wings' PR moguls). It must be noted, however, that the 1987 Red Wings won their final 6 road games and the 1988 Wings won their first 3 road contests for a 9-game winning streak over 2 seasons.

HANGING IN THERE: The Red Wings are 3-5 since a season-best 7-game winning streak July 29-August 5, but they still own the best record in the IL beginning July 1 at 25-16, 1.5 games ahead of Charlotte (White Sox) and Columbus (Indians). A look at the Top-5 records since the start of July:

Rank Team Record Win %

1. 25-16 .610

T2. 23-17 .575

Columbus 23-17 .575

4 Empire A0 22-17 .564

5. 23-18 .561

a The Red Wings are 42-31 since sitting a season-worst 10 games below .500 at 20-30 on May 28. Going back further, Rochester is 48-38 beginning May 15 and 53-45 beginning May 3.

WINNING WAYS: At 62-61, the Red Wings are off to their best 123-game start since 2007, when they were 67-56. The 2011 club was 29 games under .500 at 47-76 at this point last season and finished 53-91. The 2010 team was 31 games below .500 at 46-77 at this juncture and went on to finish only 49-95.

a The Red Wings are looking for their first winning season since the 2008 club went 74-70. Rochester needs to win 11 of its final 21 games to finish above .500.

RUNS ARE COMING: The Red Wings rank last in the league with 477 runs scored, but have closed the gap on the next closest team, Lehigh Valley, to 9. The IronPigs rank 2nd-to-last with 486 runs while Indianapolis ranks 3rd-to-last with 497. These are the only 3 IL teams that have yet to reach the 500-run plateau.

a Rochester has scored 5 runs or less in 7 straight home games and in 9 of its last 10 at Frontier Field.

HOMER HAPPY: The Red Wings have hit a league-high 13 home runs in 12 games in August, one ahead of Empire State (13 games) and Louisville (12 games). While the Red Wings didn't homer in yesterday's series finale at Lehigh Valley, they homered a season-high 4 times in the series opener on Sunday.

a Chris Parmelee owns 6 of Rochester's 13 homers in August. He leads the club with 15 homers overall despite playing in just 48 games, a 3rd of the 2012 schedule.

a The Red Wings have hit 87 home runs overall, the 5th-lowest mark in the league. Indianapolis, meanwhile, has hit an IL-low 74 homers.

a The Red Wings hit 2 grand slams in a 5-game span July 30-August 4 after 427 consecutive games without one, a streak that dated to August 11, 2009. Rochester hasn't hit a grand slam at Frontier Field since Trevor Plouffe accomplished the feat August 30, 2008. That grand slam drought is currently at 287 games.

IS THIS GUY FOR REAL?: Chris Parmelee has 11 home runs in his last 18 games beginning July 26, the most in the IL in that time and 6 ahead of the next closest players. His 23 RBI in that same span are the most in the IL as well, 6 ahead of Syracuse's (Nationals) Carlos Rivero.

a Parmelee is batting .346 (44-for-127) with 10 doubles, 11 homers, 29 RBI, 25 walks, and a .458 on-base percentage in 33 games since being optioned from Minnesota July 5

LIAM ON ME: Liam Hendriks leads the IL with a 1.99 ERA, working 14.0 consecutive scoreless innings in his last 2 starts to lower his ERA from 2.32. The 23-year-old, who starts the series finale vs. Indianapolis Friday, is looking to become the first Red Wing to win the league's ERA crown since Kevin Slowey and his league-best 1.89 ERA in 2007.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time Probable A0 TV/Radio

Wed., August 15 vs. Indianapolis 7:05 p.m. LHP Justin Wilson (9-5, 3.88) vs. RHP Esmerling Vasquez (7-5, A0 WHTK 1280 AM

Thursday, August 16 vs. Indianapolis 7:05 p.m. RHP Rick VandenHurk (11-4, 3.43) vs. LHP Pedro Hernandez (1-1, 5.40) TWCS/WHTK 1280 AM

Friday, August 17 vs. Indianapolis 7:05 p.m. RHP Chris Leroux (2-0, 1.93) vs. RHP Liam Hendriks (9-2, A0 TWCS/WHTK 1280 AM

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