IL1 Rochester Red Wings

Wings Tough It Out, Take Big Win Vs. Bulls

Published on July 7, 2008 under International League (IL1)
Rochester Red Wings News Release


On a bizarre night when two different Red Wings pitchers batted -and singled-, a short-handed Red Wings squad scrapped to a 9-4 win over the Durham Bulls at Frontier Field Thursday night. Starter Danny Graves tossed 5 1/3 innings and also singled, and reliever Mariano Gomez singled in his only at-bat. A series of injuries and player moves Thursday forced the Red Wings pitchers to bat in the game, with no other batters available for designated hitter duty. The Wings struck first in the bottom of the second. Garrett Jones, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a RBI single by Sergio Santos to give Rochester an early 1-0 lead.

Durham got two runs right back on RBI hits from Jon Weber and Hector Gimenez. Graves stepped into the batter's box with in the third, with Ryan Jorgensen on first base. Graves put down a nice bunt on the first pitch, but a fine play by catcher Josh Johnson resulted in a double play.

Rochester stormed back with a big rally in the fourth. Chris Basak led off with a solo shot to left field, evening the score at two. Basak's home run was the 12th of the series, setting a Frontier Field record for most homers in a series here. Darnell McDonald followed by showing off his speed with an infeld hit, and then stealing second. Jones' single to right field brought McDonald around to score on a colision with Durham catcher Johnson at home plate for a 3-2 Wings lead. Jones, who advanced to third on the play, made the score 4-2 in Rochester's favor, thanks to a Randy Ruiz groundout.

In the fifth, Graves singled to right field, making him first Red Wings pitcher to record a base hit in nine years. The last Rochester pitcher to get a hit was Jason McCommon, who hit a home run on September 5, 1999 in Buffalo.It was the final weekend of the 1999 season, and the Wings were also short of players that day.

History aside, the rest of the fifth was very successful for the Wings. Tommy Watkins scored on a Basak double for a 5-2 Rochester lead. Basak crossed the plate on rather unusual occurence when Durham shortstop Reid Brignac made two errors on one play. Brignac mishandeled a sharply hit ball by McDonald, and then overthrew Johnson at home, making the score 6-2 in favor of the Wings.

The Bulls struck back in the sixth. Graves was taken out with one out in the inning. He threw five and one-third innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and striking out three. His replacement, Gomez, gave up a double to Chris Richard, which brought in Gimienez to trim Rochester's lead to 6-3. Richard scored when McDonald misplayed a ball hit by Brignac, making the score 6-4 in favor of the Wings.

Rochester increased their lead in the sixth inning, when Pridie drove in Ruiz on a single off new Durham pitcher Kurt Burkins, for a 7-4 Red Wings advantage. Jorgensen followed with a two run blast to left, making the score 9-4 Rochester.

Gomez, hitting in the pitcher's spot in the batting order, singled to right field in his only at-bat. Casey Daigle, the final Rochester pitcher, struck out in his only at-bat.

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International League Stories from July 7, 2008


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