IL1 Rochester Red Wings

Rochester Red Wings Game Notes

Published on May 23, 2013 under International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


Charlotte Knights (18-29) @ Rochester Red Wings (18-28)

Frontier Field - Rochester, NY - 7:05 p.m.

RHP Jason Berken (3-3, 3.26) vs. LHP Andrew Albers (1-2, 2.34)

TODAY'S GAME: After just the second scheduled off day of the season, the Red Wings return to Frontier Field on Thursday (7:05 p.m.) to open an 8-game homestand and a 4-game series against the Charlotte Knights (White Sox)... The Wings dropped a 4-game set in Lehigh Valley (3-1) earlier this week and are now just 4-9 in their last 13 games to drop to a tied for season-worse 10 games below the .500 mark. Rochester is in last place in the IL North -- 9.0 GB of Buffalo and Pawtucket... Meanwhile, Charlotte has won 6-4 and are 11-9 in the month of May after going just 7-20 in April. The Knights sit in 3rd place in the IL South -- 13.5 GB of Norfolk.

WITH A WIN TONIGHT, THE WINGS...:

-Will avoid falling to a season-worse 11 games under .500... The Wings haven't been more than 10 games under .500 since the final day of the 2011 season (53-91)

-Will win just their 4th series opener of the season (3-10 so far this season)

-Will win a season-high 3 straight games at Frontier Field after taking the final 2 games against Durham, May 16-17.

COLABELLO PROMOTED: Red Wings 1B Chris Colabello had his contract selected by the Twins on Tuesday (Trevor Plouffe to the DL) after a tremendous start to the 2013 season -- just his 2nd year in affiliated baseball. He leaves the Wings hitting .358 with 12 homers and 39 RBI in 46 games... His 33 hits, 18 extra-base hits, 12 doubles and 63 total bases in May all ranked first in all of baseball (MiLB & MLB) during the month coming into Tuesday's game. Colabello made his MLB debut on Wednesday against Atlanta and went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts. Colabello joins Caleb Thielbar, Oswaldo Arcia and Pedro Hernandez as the 4 Red Wings that have been promoted to Minnesota this season.

-Colabello left with a team-high 13-G hit streak (.469, 13 XBH, 17 RBI) and has recorded a hit in 22 of the last 23 games.

-On the year, Colabello leads the IL in HR (12), hits (63), SLG (.659), XBH (29) & TB (115)... He's 3rd in AVG (.358) & 2nd in RBI (39)

OTHER ROSTER MOVES: Wings INF Nate Hanson, mired in an 0-for-23 slump over his last 7 games, was transferred back to New Britain (AA) on Wednesday. In all, Hanson hit .172 with 2 HR and 9 RBI in 20 games with the Red Wings in his first season at Triple-A... Taking his spot on the Wings roster is INF Deibinson Romero who was hitting .355 (11-for-31) with 3 HR and 6 RBI in 8 games at New Britian. Romero started the year on Rochester's Temporary Inactive list as he had Visa issues in his native Dominican Republic... Romero - signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent on 7/21/04 - will be making his Triple-A debut after spending each of the last 2 seasons at double-A where he combined to hit 30 HR and 136 RBI.

-Romero leaves New Britain with a 6-game hit streak (11-for-25) and a 3-game homer streak.

AWESOME ALBERS: Today's Red Wings starter Andrew Albers has been fantastic of late. Over his last 4 starts, the Triple-A rookie is just 1-2 but has posted a 0.73 ERA (2 ER/24.2IP). Albers hasn't allowed an earned run in the month of May (20.2 IP) with the last ER's he allowed coming on a Josh Thole 2-R, HR on 4/30 vs. BUF... His last time out, the southpaw picked up the first Triple-A win of his career vs Durham (6.1 ip, 5 h, 0 r).

-Albers' 2.34 ERA on the season ranks 3rd best in the IL... Oddly, LHH's are batting .356 off him while RHH's are hitting just .216

MAJOR HOLE TO FILL: With Colabello's departure to Minnesota, the heart of the Wings order will be without their top threat. Colabello accounted for 30% of the Red Wings home runs this season (12 of 40), 23% of the RBI (39 of 171), 25% of the team's XBH (29 of 116) and 16% of the team's hits (63 of 176)... On the Wings current roster their leader in homers (6), RBI (17), XBH's (11) is now OF Clete Thomas who hasn't played since May 7 with a quad injury. If you take out Thomas, DH/1B Jeff Clement has 4 homers, SS Doug Bernier has 14 RBI and OF Joe Benson has 10 XBH's.

VS. THE KNIGHTS: The Red Wings went 5-3 last season against the Knights -- including a 3-1 series win at Frontier Field June 22-25. It was the first season series win for the Wings over Charlotte since 2009. Over the last 10 years (since 2003), Rochester and Charlotte have split the last 80 games (40-40) with the Wings owning a 23-16 advantage at home.

-Tonight's CHA starter Jason Berken is 0-1 with a 3.57 ERA in 5 G (4 GS) against the Wings all with Norfolk.

DOUGIE'S DEFENSE: Red Wings SS Doug Bernier has been the best defensive shortstop in the International League this season. He has committed just one error in 189 total chances for a .995 fielding percentage. Bernier ranks second in the league in total chances, double plays turned (25) and assists (118) all behind SYR's Zach Walters who has committed 12 errors in 207 chances... The Wings are the 2nd best defensive team in the IL with a .981 fielding % (SWB .985).

Check out the Rochester Red Wings Statistics

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International League Stories from May 23, 2013


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