LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – Rochester managed just six hits in a rain-shortened game Saturday night as the Gwinnett Braves beat the Red Wings 5-1 at Coolray Field.
Emilio Bonifacio tripled to open the bottom of the first for the Braves (57-70) and scored on a groundout later in the frame. Omar Bencomo (1-1) was brought up from Double-A Chattanooga earlier in the day after the Twins recalled Adalberto Mejia, the scheduled Red Wings (70-58) starter, up to the big leagues.
Gwinnett took a 2-0 lead in the fourth as Rio Ruiz hit the first of his two home runs, a solo shot to open the inning. Ruiz took Bencomo deep for a three-run blast with two outs in the fifth and the Braves led 5-0.
Rochester finally broke through in the sixth against Jed Bradley (1-0) as Wilfredo Tovar doubled to start the inning, moved to third on Reynaldo Rodriguez’s single and scored on Adam Brett Walker’s fielder’s choice. Rodriguez reached base for the 18th straight game with his single.
Bencomo started the bottom of the sixth and departed with one out in favor of Neil Ramirez. Bencomo suffered the loss after he was charged for five runs on nine hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Bradley allowed a run on five hits and a walk with nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
A line of thunderstorms rolled into the area after the Wings batted in the seventh. The game was called after an hour delay. There was an initial delay of 15 minutes before the game started due to the late arrival of the Red Wings equipment.
Next Up: Rochester plays game two of the eight-game road trip vs. Gwinnett (Braves) at 2:05 p.m. LHP Nick Greenwood starts for the Red Wings.
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