MOOSIC, Pa. – Wilfredo Tovar walked on four pitches with the bases loaded in the 11th inning to give the Rochester Red Wings a 5-4 win over the Scranton/WB RailRiders Saturday night at PNC Field.
The Red Wings (76-59) blew a four-run lead after Nick Greenwood took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Rochester scored two runs in the fourth against RailRiders (83-51) starter Phil Coke. Byron Buxton homered for the fourth straight game in that fourth inning while Adam Brett Walker added a sac fly later in the frame.
Buxton became the second Wing to homer in four straight games this season. Kennys Vargas also accomplished the feat from May 14-18. Rochester didn’t have a player do so since 1990 entering this season.
Mitch Garver took Dietrich Enns deep for his first Triple-A home run in the sixth, a two-run rocket that left in a hurry to make it 4-0.
Greenwood walked the second batter of the second inning for his only blemish entering the seventh inning. He quickly retired the first two hitters before former Wing Chris Parmlee doubled to right-center field to end the no-hit bid. Kyle Higashioka followed with a two-run homer to make it 4-2. Greenwood issued a walk before a terrific defensive play by Tovar ended the inning.
The left-hander allowed just the two hits and two walks while striking out four over 7.0 innings. He departed in line for the win.
Alan Busenitz took over to begin the eighth inning and struck out the first man before he surrendered back-to-back singles. Mason Williams then plated a run with a double and an intentional walk to the next hitter loaded the bases. Parmelee lifted a sacrifice fly to deep left to tie the game.
Jake Reed (1-1) pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth, eventually leaving the runner at third base. He pitched a perfect 10th frame with a strikeout.
Scranton/WB reliever Nick Goody (0-1), who entered in the 10th, stayed on to pitch the 11th. Vargas walked to open the inning and Logan Schafer pinch ran for him at first base. Walker legged out an infield single to move Schafer to second. A wild pitch followed a strikeout to Garver that prompted an intentional walk to Daniel Palka. Tovar then walked on four pitches to bring in Schafer, giving Rochester a 5-4 lead while putting just one ball in play.
The RailRiders made it interesting in the 11th against Edward Mujica. Parmelee singled to open the inning and Pete Kozma ran for him. Following a strikeout, Donovan Solano had a pinch-hit single to push Kozma to third base with one out. Mujica then struck out Jake Cave on three pitches and caught Rochester-native Cito Culver looking to leave the tying run 90 feet away and winning run aboard. The save was Mujica’s league-leading 24th but first with the Red Wings.
Reed earned his first Triple-A homer while Buxton and Walker finished with two hits to lead the offense. Reynaldo Rodriguez finished 1-for-4 with a walk and scored both times he was on base.
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