The Red Wings held off the Pawtucket Red Sox 3-2 Tuesday night at Frontier Field. With the win, the Red Wings remain 4.5 games out of the wild card playoff spot; the game was put under protest by Pawtucket in the eighth inning.
The series concludes with a 1:35 p.m. weekday matinee Thursday, with plenty of parking for weekday afternoon games in Kodak Office Plymouth Ave. Lot C- click here for directions and parking map. Thursday is another Fan 4-Pack game with four tickets, hot dogs, drinks and a yearbook for $36 ($40 day of game). Complete promotions details below…
Wings starter Pat Dean was coming off a win his last start July 29 against Lehigh Valley, and on Wednesday Dean was in trouble early. A double, walk, and RBI single added up to a 1-0 PawSox lead. Chris Marrero drilled a single off the glove of third baseman Trevor Plouffe, scoring another run to make it 2-0. The Wings turned an unusual third to second to home double play started by Plouffe, and a leaping snag by Wilfredo Tovar at shortstop ended the top of the first.
Pawtucket starter Henry Owens had won his two previous starts against Rochester this season, most recently July 26 in Pawtucket. Owens struck out nine Wings players in each of those two starts, and recorded a strikeout to start the game Wednesday when Tommy Field was set down on a checked swing third strike. Tovar followed by lofting a 3-1 pitch into the PawSox bullpen to make it a 2-1 game; it was Tovar’s first home run in 148 games, dating back to June 2015. Owens walked the next two batters, prompting a mound visit by Pawtucket pitching coach Bob Kipper; Owens fanned league home run leader Adam Brett Walker for the second out, then Plouffe dashed from second to score on a fielding error by shortstop Deven Marrero to tie the score.
Darin Mastroianni worked the third walk of the game for the Red Wings to lead off the second inning. Mastroianni stole second base and advanced to third thanks to a throwing error on the stolen base attempt. Field gave the Wings a 3-2 lead with an RBI groundout to short, RBI number 35 for him on the year.
After a shaky opening frame, Dean composed himself in the second and third. He allowed just one baserunner in the innings and a perfect throw from John Ryan Murphy ended the third as Rusney Castillo attempted to steal second base.
Daniel Palka blooped a double down the left field line with an out in the third inning. He attempted to score on a two-out base hit from Reynaldo Rodriguez but was gunned out at home on a perfect throw by Pawtucket left fielder Chris Dominguez. The score remained 3-2 in favor of the Wings, heading to the fourth.
Tovar worked his way on base in the bottom of the fifth with a walk, and then swiped second for steal number 24 on the year. However, neither Plouffe or Palka were able to drive in the speedy shortstop and the score remained 3-2 Red Wings.
After a flyout to start the Pawtucket sixth, Dean allowed back-to-back baserunners in the form of a walk and a single into right. This put men on first and second with just one man out. Dean was able to work his way out of danger thanks to a flyout to Logan Schafer and a groundout to Plouffe, keeping the Wings lead intact at 3-2 going to the bottom half of the sixth.
In the bottom half of the frame, Pawtucket brought in righty Chandler Shepherd to replace Owens after five innings of work. Rodriguez was able to reach base for the third time of the night with a walk and that was followed up by a two-out liner to center that dropped in for a single from Mastroianni, giving the Wings men on second and third. The Red Wings were unable to do anything with the men on base as Murphy grounded out to short to end the inning.
Owens finished his outing pitching five innings allowing four hits, three runs, one earned run and four walks while striking out seven. He ended up throwing 102 pitches and 59 of them were for strikes.
Dean came out to pitch the seventh inning and gave up a leadoff single, but then picked up strikeouts number five and six on the night. His night ended after the sixth punchout as the Wings went with RHP Neil Ramirez. Ramirez was able to get out of the inning with the Red Wings still in front 3-2.
Dean finished his night throwing 6.2 innings giving up seven hits, two earned runs and two walks while punching out six Pawtucket hitters. He threw 95 pitches in the game and 69 of them were strikes.
Ramirez allowed a single in the top of the eighth, and Ryan O’Rourke came into the game to replace Ramirez. At that point, Pawtucket manager Kevin Boles put the game under protest related to the Wings’ pitching change. A close play at first base followed; Marco Hernandez was ruled safe at first although replays showed Hernandez was tagged out. Wings manager Mike Quade was ejected after arguing the play with first base umpire Max Guyll. Pat Light took over for O’Rourke, in Light’s first Wings appearance since being traded from Pawtucket Monday. Light walked Chris Marrero, loading the bases with none out. Light struck out Christian Vazquez for the first out, and a liner to short was out number two. A groundout ended the top of the eighth, stranded all three runners, and added another element of drama to the evening.
In the top of the ninth, Alex Wimmers came in to try to close the game out for the Wings. Dominguez led off with a single down the third base line, and was at second base with one out after a steal. Tovar made a great play to snag a grounder by Castillo, but Tovar’s throw to first base was off line and Dominguez advanced to third on the infield hit. A walk loaded the bases for the second straight inning, but Wimmers struck out Hernandez for the second out and fanned Chris Marrero to end the game and secure the win.
Pawtucket out-hit the Red Wings 11-5.
Winning Pitcher: Pat Dean (5-6)
Losing Pitcher: Henry Owens (6-6)
Save: Alex Wimmers (9)
NOTES:
Trevor Plouffe was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in the second game of a major league rehab assignment…The Red Wings entered play Wednesday with 96 home runs, tied with Columbus for most in the league. The last Rochester to lead the International League was the 1988 squad (95 homers).
