STAFF REPORTS
The Rochester Red Wings used a two-out, bases loaded walk to top the Louisville Bats 6-5 in 10 innings Saturday night at Frontier Field. With Scranton and Buffalo both winning Saturday night, the Wings remain tied with Buffalo for second place, five games behind the division leading RailRiders.
The series and home stand wraps up Sunday afternoon, on Hockey Day at the ballpark with hometown hockey hero Brian Gionta, a bobble head giveaway, and specialty jerseys; it’s also another Knot Hole Kids’ Club game, and kids can run the bases with Spikes and Mittsy after the game.
Clemson University graduate Charlie Barnes took the mound for Rochester, making his Triple-A debut. Barnes faced off against Bats starter Tejay Antone.
A first inning walk by Ramon Flores and double by Wilin Rosario set up Alejandro De Aza for a two-out, two-run single to put the Wings ahead 2-0. De Aza continued to hit the ball well with two-outs and RISP, increasing his impressive average of .429 entering the game.
After loading the bases with nobody out, Louisville countered in the top of the second with three runs of their own to pull ahead 3-2. While Rochester struggled to figure out Antone, pinch hitter Mitch Nay singled in the fourth inning to tack on another run for the Bats.
Barnes’ debut came to a close after 4.1 innings. The twenty-three year old gave up six hits and four runs with five walks and five strikeouts on 100 pitches, 59 for strikes.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, De Aza came to the plate once again in a big spot with runners on first and second. The veteran crushed a 1-0 triple off the wall in right to bring the Wings level 4-4.
Louisville went to their bullpen in Justin Grimm to start the bottom of the seventh inning. Antone pitched 6.0 innings and finished with a line of seven hits, four runs, two walks, and five strikeouts. He threw 59 strikes on 92 pitches.
Preston Guilmet took over for Barnes and chipped in 3.2 scoreless relief innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four.
Ryan O’Rourke, a Red Wing pitcher during the 2014-16 seasons, made his return to the Wings Saturday after being signed by the Twins organiztion on Friday. O’Rourke pitched the ninth inning, and a one-out double followed by two walks gave the Bats a bases-loaded opportunity. O’Rourke got a pop out, then caught Nick Longhi looking at strike three to escape the threat.
R.J. Alaniz took the mound to face the Wings in the bottom of the ninth, setting down the side and sending the game into extra innings.
With the placed runner at second to start the top of the 10th inning, O’Rourke quickly got into another jam after a passed ball and a walk. Third baseman Drew Maggi made a nice play to cut down Longhi trying to score on a groundball, and a pop out helped O’Rourke nearly escape trouble again. But Alfredo Rodriguez blooped a hit into shallow right field on a 3-2 pitch, and Chadwick Trump scored to put the Bats ahead 5-4.
The Wings quickly made a bid to tie things up in their half of the 10th. With placed runner Ivan De Jesus Jr. at second base, pinch-hitter Tomas Telis reached on a fielder’s choice groundball with De Jesus sliding safely into third base. Maggi flew out for the first out, but Flores drilled a single to score De Jesus to tie the game at 5-5. Rosario walked to load the bases with one out for Brandon Barnes, but Barnes took a called third strike for the second out of the inning. That’s when De Aza worked a full count against Alaniz, then walked to force in the winning run.
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