Wings lose in extras again

ROCHESTER — The Durham Bulls beat the Rochester Red Wings 7-6 in 10 innings Tuesday night at Frontier Field. It was the second straight extra innings win by the Bulls; the Wings remain 4.5 games behind first place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, who also lost Tuesday night.

The series continues Wednesday morning at 11:05 a.m.

The Wings got off to a fast start against Durham starter Eddie Gamboa. Darin Mastroianni hit a blooper into right field that went over Dayron Varona’s head, which allowed Mastroianni to make his way to third for a triple. One play later, James Beresford hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Mastroianni to put the Wings up 1-0. The Wings scored the first run for just the fifth time in their last 20 games.

After a smooth first inning, Wings starter Pat Dean ran into some trouble in the second. The southpaw allowed three straight hits to start the inning, then gave up a two-run double to Varona. Daniel Robertson hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score another run, before a wild pitch by Dean allowed Varona to score and put the Wings behind 3-1.

Despite allowing a run in the first, Gamboa settled down from the second inning on. The knuckleballer only allowed one hit to Carlos Paulino in the third, but picked him off at first base and didn’t allow another hit. Dean was equally effective in the third, fourth and fifth innings, as he only allowed one hit in the third.

Dean’s struggles returned in the top of the sixth. Jake Hager led off the inning with a double, and later came around to score on an RBI single by Jaff Decker. Decker advanced to second on the throw, which allowed Casey Gillaspie – who singled earlier in the inning – to advance to third. Dean managed to limit the damage and keep the Wings within striking distance at 4-1.

Gamboa continued to dominate in the bottom of the sixth, as he set down the Wings in order.

Marcus Walden relieved Dean in the top of the seventh. Dean went six innings while allowing four runs on eight hits with two strikeouts. Dean threw 95 pitches, 66 for strikes.

Walden hit Robertson to start the inning, but settled down by striking out Johnny Field. James Beresford made a nice play at third to get the second out of the inning. Hager hit a grounder to center field that was bobbled by Logan Schafer, which allowed Robertson to score from second. Walden struggled with his command in the inning, as he hit J.P. Arencibia, then threw a pitch in the dirt that allowed Robertson to score and increase the Bulls lead to 6-1.

In the bottom of the eighth inning against Steve Geltz, the Wings loaded the bases with one out on a single, walk and hit batter. That’s when Beresford delivered a clutch two-run single, making the score 6-3. Polanco followed with a home run into the Wings’ bullpen; Polanco’s ninth homer of the season tied things up at 6-6. After Geltz walked Daniel Palka, the Bulls replaced Geltz with Casey Coleman.

Walden allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit, with two strikeouts in two innings. J.T. Chargois worked the ninth inning, walking the first batter he faced. The Bulls bunted over to second base the potential lead run, but Chargois fanned Taylor Motter and Jake Hager to send the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied.

Schafer led off the bottom of the ninth, and when he was called out on strikes Schafer argued with home plate umpire Joey Amaral, resulting in Schafer’s ejection from the game. Coleman struck out the next two batters and the game went into extra innings for the second straight night.

In the top of the 10th, the Bulls put runners at first and second with one out against Chargois. Sean Burnett relieved Chargois, and struck out Decker for the second out. A passed ball allowed both runners to move up, and Dayron Varona’s single over shortstop brought in a run to put the Bulls on top 7-6.

Winning Pitcher: Casey Coleman (1-1)
Losing Pitcher: J.T. Chargois (2-1)
Save: Ryne Stanek (1)

NOTES: 
James Beresford went 1-for-4, improving his current hitting streak to eight games.