Walker Leads Wings to Win
June 11, 2016 - International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release
Adam Brett Walker hit a three-run home run in the second inning, helping the first place Red Wings to a 6-5 win over the Toledo Mud Hens Saturday night at Frontier Field.
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Red Wings starter Jose Berrios was coming off his best outing of the season, an 11-strikeout win against Buffalo June 6. On Saturday, Berrios used just 10 pitches to set down the Mud Hens in order in the top of the first - two by strikeout.
Facing left-hander Chad Bell in the Wings' half of the first, Logan Schafer ripped a one-out single; Schafer has now hit in all nine games he has played for the Red Wings. Berrios continued his strong start to the game in the second by not allowing a hit and striking out one batter.
In the bottom of the second, Kennys Vargas doubled to straightaway center to start the inning. He was mired in a 7-for-33 cold stretch in his last ten games. Wilfredo Tovar later walked in the inning to give the Wings base runners at first and second. Tommy Field grounded into a fielder's choice to advance Vargas to third, and one batter later, Walker blasted a 425-ft homer to left field to give the Wings a 3-0 lead. The home run was Walker's 13th of the season, which is the most in the International League. One batter later, John Ryan Murphy extended his hitting streak to eight games with a ground-rule double to center field, but a groundout from Beresford ended the inning.
John Hicks began the third inning with a double to center, and then advanced to third on a groundout. The Mud Hens scored a run on a groundout to second by Tyler Bortnick to cut the Wings lead to 3-1. Berrios, however, limited the damage by striking out his fourth batter to end the inning.
Schafer started things off in the bottom of the third by bunting and reaching first base on an error by first baseman Casey McGehee, but was ruled out on a disputed call after heading toward second. Polanco made up for the out by hitting a double to left center to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Eddie Rosario then walked in his second straight game after not recording a walk in any game prior this season. Bell ended the inning by getting Tovar to pop out to right field.
After allowing a leadoff single to JaCoby Jones in the top of the fourth, Berrios set down the Mud Hens in short order by getting three straight batters to fly out.
The Wings got off to a quick start in the bottom of the fourth, with two straight singles from Tommy Field and Walker. Bell continued to struggle with his command in the fourth, issuing his third walk in the game to Murphy to load the bases. Beresford came to bat and hit a groundout to second, but Field scored to give the Wings a 4-1 lead. Bell then threw a wild pitch over the catcher's head to allow Walker to score the Wings' fifth run and Beresford to advance to second. Schafer hit another single to left field to score Beresford and give the Wings a 6-1 advantage. Bell then issued his fourth walk in the game to Polanco, but Rosario struck out to end the inning.
Bell (2-1) pitched four innings, allowing eight hits and six earned runs while walking four. He struck out two and threw 86 pitches, 46 for strikes. Kurt Spomer, just up from Double-A, took over for Bell to face the Wings in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Berrios had thrown 54 pitches (41 strikes) through the first five innings, working quickly and allowing just two hits. In the sixth, Anthony Gose led off with a double; Berrios got a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to strand Gose.
In the top of the seventh, the Mud Hens came storming back. After Berrios recorded two quick outs, the Mud Hens managed five straight baserunners. The rally started after a single from Bortnick scored one run, which was followed by a two-run double by Gose. Jones then hit another RBI double to decrease Toledo's deficit to 6-5. Berrios (5-2) came out after allowing the fourth and fifth runs and was replaced by Sean Burnett. Burnett managed to escape the inning without allowing another run. Berrios went 6.2 innings allowing five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Berrios threw 93 pitches, 64 of which were strikes.
The Wings couldn't answer back in the bottom of the seventh. Spomer came out after two innings without allowing a hit and was replaced by Drake Britton, who quickly worked through the heart of the Wings order, and struck out Rosario to end the inning.
Tovar started off the top of the eighth with a great play at shortstop to prevent a hit, and Burnett quickly worked through the next two batters. Burnett set down all four batters he faced, and gave way to Alex Wimmers in the top of the ninth inning. Facing the bottom third of the Toledo lineup, Wimmers got a popout and strikeout, then a popout to end the game and record his fourth save of the season.
NOTES: Saturday's paid attendance was 10,552 - the second straight home game to top the 10,000 mark...Voting is underway for the Triple-A All-Star Game in July, click here to find out how to vote for your favorite Red Wings players.
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