Rochester Red Wings Game Notes
April 19, 2013 - International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release
Pawtucket Red Sox (10-4) @ Rochester Red Wings (3-11)
Frontier Field - Rochester, N.Y. - 7:05 p.m.
RHP Charlie Haeger (NR) vs. LHP Andrew Albers (0-0, 0.93)
TODAY'S GAME: After snapping their 7-game losing streak last night with a 5-4 win over SWB, the Red Wings begin a 4-game series against the 1st place Pawtucket Red Sox -- Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox -- tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Frontier Field. The Paw Sox swept a 4-game series against the Red Wings last week at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. After starting the year 9-1, the Paw Sox dropped 3 of 4 to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs earlier in the week. This will be the Red Wings 11th straight game against either SWB or PAW -- a span in which they have gone 2-10 so far.
TODAY'S WINGS STARTER: The Red Wings will send LHP Andrew Albers to the hill tonight to make his Frontier Field debut after 2 superb road outings where he tossed a combined 9.2 innings allowing just one run on 7 hits while walking only one and striking out 10. His last start came against these Paw Sox on Sunday when he tossed five shutout innings. Albers was slated to start the year in the Wings bullpen but was moved into the starting rotation after fellow lefty Pedro Hernandez was recalled by Minnesota. Although only in his 5th pro season, Albers has had an interesting pro career having already battled back from Tommy John Surgery (6/17/2009) and spent a season (2010) in independent league baseball. The 27-year-old was originally drafted by the Padres in the 10th round of the 2008 draft and was signed by the Twins on 3/11/11 out of the independent Can-Am League. He made 17 starts with New Britain (AA) last season going 4-3 with a 3.75 ERA.
STRIKES AND STREAKS: Over his first 2 starts, Albers has thrown first pitch strikes to 28 of the 37 batters (76%) he has faced... He retired 10 straight batters in his first start against SWB on 4/8 and set down 11 batters in a row in his last start at PAW on 4/14.
THE KNUCKLER: The Wings will face knuckleballer RHP Charlie Haeger tonight in game one of the series. Tonight will be Haeger's first start since 9/4/11 with Portland (AA) after missing all of last season following Tommy John surgery... Haeger spent 3 seasons in the IL with Charlotte (2006-08) going 29-35 with a 3.87 ERA (213 ER/495.2 IP). In 2006, he led the IL in wins (14) and ranked 4th in ERA (3.07) & SO (130) as he was named the starting pitcher for the IL at the Triple-A All-Star Game.
WITH A WIN TONIGHT, THE WINGS...:
-Will win back-to-back games for the first time this season and for the first time since a 3-game streak 8/26-8/28/12... This is the farthest ROC has gone into a season without winning back-to-back games since 1992 (17 games)
-Will snap a 5-game losing streak to the Paw Sox dating back to last season
-Will win a series opener for the first time this season -- previously 0-for-5... Rochester went 20-24 in openers in 2012.
THE STREAKS ARE OVER: Last night, the Wings knocked off the Scranton/WB RailRiders 5-4 to snap their 7-game losing streak and in the process ended a few other streaks...
-With a 4-run 1st inning, the Wings snapped a 20-inning scoreless drought that dated back to the 7th inning on Monday night... Last year the Wings had a 24-inning (8/21-8/24) and 27-inning (6/10-6/14) scoreless droughts
-Chris Herrmann's RBI single in the first frame was the first RBI picked up by a Wings player since Clete Thomas hit a solo home run to lead off Sunday's game in Pawtucket -- a span of 37 innings.
-Chris Colabello's 2-run homer last night ended a Red Wings season-long, 3-game streak without hitting a home run... previously the Wings hadn't gone more than one game without hitting a long ball.
WOOD ON REHAB WITH WINGS: RHP Tim Wood has joined the Red Wings on a Major League rehab assignment. The 30-year-old relief pitcher went on the DL with a right rotator cuff strain on 3/29 (retro to 3/24) after going 2-1, 4.91 ERA (6 ER/11 IP) in 9 games in Major League spring training. Wood, who signed with the Twins as a minor league free agent on 11/10/12 and was added to the 40-man roster shortly thereafter, has spent the majority of the last 2 seasons with Indianapolis (AAA) where he saved 44 games. He was named IL's Relief Pitcher of the Year by Baseball America in 2012.
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