Wings Come From Behind to Win
May 29, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release
The Red Wings finally put on a strong offensive performance to defeat the Richmond Braves 7-5 Tuesday night at Frontier Field. Rochester trailed 5-1 before rallying with three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Tommy Watkins went 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Wings hitting attack. Doug Deeds also had two hits, including a solo home run that tied the game in the seventh.
Nick Blackburn (0-1) earned a no-decision after throwing six innings, giving up four runs on six hits and striking out three. Brian Bass (2-1) pitched one scoreless inning in the seventh to get the win. Braves starter Trey Hodges also earned a no-decision after pitching six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and striking out five.
The Wings got off to another rough start after leadoff man Gregor Blanco started the game with a walk, followed by a nice bunt single down the third base line by J.C. Holt. A pickoff throw by starter Blackburn was mishandled by second baseman Alexi Casilla and allowed both runners to advance to second and third base. The damage followed when Graham Koonce hit a three-run home run that was barely fair inside the foul pole, giving the Braves an early 3-0 lead.
The Wings, held scoreless over the last 20 innings at Frontier Field, got a run back against Richmond starter Trey Hodges in the second inning. Garrett Jones led off with a double to right-centerfield, moved to third on Matthew LeCroy's ground out, and scored on Tommy Watkins' ground out.
With two outs in the fourth, Blackburn hit Bill McCarthy - and that mistake turned into two more runs for Richmond, who got consecutive RBI doubles to make it a 5-1 game. In the bottom of the inning after Jones and LeCroy both struck out looking on questionable calls, Stan Cliburn and LeCroy were tossed for arguing by home plate umpire Jason Klein. LeCroy's ejection prompted the Wings to use emergency catcher Glenn Williams behind the plate because of back spasms that have plagued starting catcher Jose Morales. Gil Velazquez filled Williams' spot at first base.
The Wings responded in the sixth inning. Casilla led off the inning with a single, followed by a double down the right field line by Denard Span that sent Casilla to third. Williams hit a two-run single to right field to score both runners and cut the deficit to 5-3. Jones then hit a single and Velazquez hit a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. Watkins followed with a run-scoring single to make it 5-4.
In the seventh inning the Wings continued their hot offense. Deeds hit a leadoff home run of relief pitcher Buddy Hernandez the opposite way to left field that was just out of reach of Doug Clark's glove. With two outs Williams reached first base on an error by pitcher Hernandez, who proceeded to hit Jones and then walk Velazquez to load the bases for Watkins. Watkins followed with the biggest hit of the game-- a tie-breaking two-run single on a 1-1 pitch to give the Wings a 7-5 advantage. Hernandez got the loss and a blown save after pitching two innings and giving up one run.
Ricky Barrett did not allow a run and struck out Koonce in the eighth inning after Bass pitched a scoreless seventh. Bobby Korecky came into the ninth inning and got the first two batters to fly out before Wes Timmons doubled to give the Braves one last chance. The speedy Blanco followed with an RBI triple. Holt then grounded out to Watkins-- who created some suspense by barely getting the out in time after double-clutching his throw to first base.
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