STAFF REPORTS
The Rochester Red Wings and Pawtucket Red Sox split a Sunday night doubleheader at Frontier Field. The homestand concludes with a 1:05 p.m. holiday matinee Monday; all tickets are $5,Zweigle’s hot dogs are 50 cents, and the first 500 kids 12 and under get a free hot dog, drink and snack.
Game One
On Saturday night, Red Wings starting pitcher Randy Dobnak settled in during the top of the first inning, recording a 1-2-3 frame.
Rochester cashed in on their first scoring opportunity in the bottom half off Pawtucket starter Erasmo Ramirez. Nick Gordon started the inning with a double down the right field line. LaMonte Wade Jr followed suit with a RBI triple to right field, giving the Wings a 1-0 lead. Wade later scored on a Jake Cave groundout to make the score 2-0.
Rochester was not finished in the inning, as Zander Wiel hit a single and Randy Cesar walked. Tomas Telis ripped a RBI double off the glove of Pawtucket third basemen Jantzen Witte, extending their lead, 3-0.
After the double, the offensive attacked continued for Rochester as Jordany Valdespin recorded a 2 RBI single, making the score 5-0. Drew Maggi followed with a RBI double to plate Valdespin, extending the Red Wings lead to 6-0. Rochester sent all nine batters to the plate in the inning.
Pawtucket gained a run in the top of the second, making the score 6-1.
After the top of the second, mother nature had other plans, as heavy thunderstorms surrounded the stadium, causing a postponement until Sunday afternoon.
When the game resumed, Domingo Tapia came in to pitch for Pawtucket in the bottom of the second. Ramirez pitched one inning, giving up six hits and six earned runs. He walked one and struck out none, throwing 32 pitches, 22 for strikes.
Sean Poppen came into pitch for the Wings in the top of the third, relieving Dobnak. Dobnak finished with 2.0 innings pitched, giving up one hit and one earned run. He struck out one and threw 25 pitches, 14 for strikes.
Poppen fought back in the top of the fourth after giving up a lead-off walk, recording two strikeouts and a fly out to center.
Poppen ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth, giving up back-to-back singles with one out. Juan Centeno grounded to Gordon, who was shaded up the middle. The shortstop stepped on second and fired to Wiel at first to get Poppen out of the jam.
Pawtucket switched pitchers in the bottom of the sixth, bringing in Dan Runzler. Tapia pitched 4.0 innings, giving up one hit, one walk and striking out two.
The Red Sox cut into Rochester’s lead in the top of the seventh on a solo home run by Marco Hernandez, making the score 6-2.
Rochester extended their lead in the bottom of the seventh on a two-RBI single to center by Telis, extending their lead to 8-2. Valdespin followed Telis with an RBI single to make the score 9-2.
Runzler was pulled after Valdespin’s single. The Wings went through the order for the second time in the game, leaving the bases loaded after Andreoli flew out to deep center.
Rochester made a call to the bullpen in the ninth, bringing in Trevor Hildenberger to relieve Poppen. Poppen finished with 6.0 innings pitched, giving up three hits and one earned run. He walked three and struck out seven, throwing 82 pitches, 48 for strikes.
Hildenberger shook off a lead off single in the ninth, retiring three straight Red Sox to finish the game.
Winning pitcher: Poppen (2-0)
Losing pitcher: Ramirez (1-3)
Save: none
Losing pitcher: Ramirez (1-3)
Save: none
Box Score: Click here for the box score and play-by-play narrative.
Game Two:
Wings starter Gabriel Moya settled in during the top of the first and second, recording consecutive 1-2-3 innings.
The Wings had their first scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second off Pawtucket starter Mike Shawaryn. With one out, Randy Cesar and Wilin Rosario hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. After a walk by John Andreoli, Tanner English struck out swinging with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Rochester made a pitching change in the top of the third, bringing in Fernando Romero. Moya finished with 2.0 innings of no hit baseball and striking out two Red Sox. He threw 32 pitches, 22 for strikes. Romero recorded the third-straight 1-2-3 inning for the Wings in the inning.
In the bottom of the second, the Wings scored first. Jake Cave started the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a flyout by Drew Maggi. After another walk by LaMonte Wade Jr, Zander Wiel ripped a two-RBI double past Pawtucket third basemen Jantzen Witte, giving Rochester a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the consecutive recorded out streak of nine for the Wings defense ended after Romero walked Mike Miller to begin the inning. After a hit by pitch, Romero recorded a double play to get two outs. On a 3-2 pitch, Sam Travis broke up the combined no-hitter on an RBI single to right, making the score 2-1.
After the RBI single, the Red Sox rattled off two consecutive singles to load the bases with two outs. The next batter, Gorkys Hernandez, was hit by a pitch, tying the game 2-2. After the hit by pitch, Rochester made a call to the bullpen, bringing in Jake Reed for Romero.
After the pitching change, Reed gave up a two-RBI single, giving Pawtucket a 4-2 lead.
Romero finished with 1.2 innings pitched, giving up three hits and four earned runs. He walked one.
The Red Wings battled back in the bottom of the fourth. Cave led the inning off with a single. After Maggi flew out to center and Wade Jr. struck out swinging, Wiel hit his second double of the game down the third base line. Cave scored on the play, putting the Wings within one, 4-3.
Pawtucket extended their lead in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout, making the score 5-3.
Shawaryn exited the game before the bottom of the sixth, as Jenry Mejia came in for Pawtucket. Shawaryn finished with 5.0 innings pitched, giving up six hits and three earned runs. He walked three and struck out six, throwing 95 pitches, 59 for strikes.
Reed pitched 1.2 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run with a walk and two strikeouts.
The Wings staged a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two out, Maggi singled off Mejia and Wade lifted a home run over the wall in the right field corner. The two-run shot tied the game at 5-5 and sent the game into extra innings,
The PawSox went ahead in the top of the eighth inning against Andrew Vasquez, when placed runner Rusney Castillo scored easily on a one-out triple from Josh Ockimey. The Sox added another run after Ryan Eades replaced Vasquez on the mound.
The Wings scored one in their half of the eighth, on a sacrifice fly from Rosario. The potential tying run was on second base with two outs after an infield hit by Jordany Valdespin, and a walk to Andreoli, but Josh Taylor fanned English to end the contest.
Winning pitcher: Mejia (2-3)
Losing pitcher: Vasquez (1-1)
Save: Taylor (3)
Losing pitcher: Vasquez (1-1)
Save: Taylor (3)
Box Score: Click here for the box score and play-by-play narrative.
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