By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The cheer that rose from the first base side stands seemed a little late. The traditional “We Want A Hit” coming from the groups of kids enjoying the matinee at Frontier Field reached its crescendo in the ninth when the Rochester Red Wings sent eight to the plate but fell short in a 12-5 loss to the Louisville Bats.
A few hours after banging out 13 hits in a 13-6 win in the series opener, the Wings managed two hits in the first inning and two more in the ninth. In the other seven innings, Joel Skinner‘s squad had just four hits: two-out singles in the third and sixth and a base hit apiece in the fourth and fifth.
“It’s a different day,” Skinner said of the two games. “That’s baseball in general. From day to day, everything can change. There are different people in the lineup. There are all sorts of different things that go on.”
The loss dropped the Wings to 44-47 on the season and 11.5 games behind first place Lehigh Valley in the International League’s North Division. After winning the first two games after the all-star break, Rochester has dropped three of four.
Coming off a three-hit performance in a win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his previous outing, Adalberto Mejia took Tuesday’s loss. The left-hander allowed seven runs on eight hits over six innings.
“They were able to jump on us early,” Skinner noted. “Mejia settled the game down which is important. He was able to go out there and give us six innings which in that situation is a big deal. From that stand point, he did give us a chance.
MEJIA’S OUTING
About those six innings – the Dominican Republic native faced the minimum in four innings and threw to 14 batters combined in the first and third innings. Mejia allowed four runs on three hits in the first frame when Louisville sent seven to the plate to grab a lead they never surrendered. The left-hander needed just seven pitches to get through the second.
He allowed three more runs in the third before setting down the last seven batters he faced. Mejia struck out seven on the day and walked one. He threw 92 pitches (61 strikes).
“He had the two innings where they able to have multiple hits,” Skinner said. “It looked like from my vantage point some balls got in the middle of the plate that had a little elevation to ‘em. They were able to put some good swings on them. That’s just part of it. He got back into it and actually got a handle on the game.”
LIKING THE FRONTIER VIBE
Recently promoted from Double-A Chattanooga, Andy Wilkins mentioned after Monday’s win that he didn’t have many positive memories of the Flower City – referring to the chilly temperatures last time the first baseman spent time in Rochester. That might be changing after his grand slam in last night’s win followed by a 2-for-3 outing Tuesday with his second home run in as many days.
“He has some experience in this league,” Skinner said of Wilkins. “Any time you can add somebody that’s swinging the bat well that’s good.”
STREAK SNAPPED
LaMonte Wade entered Tuesday with an 18-game on-base streak. That came to an end with an 0-for-4 performance including (shield your eyes) three strike outs. Wade had a 27-game on-base streak earlier in the year with Chattanooga – that is still the longest streak of the year in the Southern League. Wade’s 18-gamer matched Jermaine Curtis with the Wings season high. Wade was on deck when Kennys Vargas made the final out of the game.
WEARING OUT THE HOME NINE
Louisville’s Brandon Dixon finished 4-for-5 on the day and hit for the cycle. The Bats second baseman scored four runs and drove in three. The last time an opponent hit for the cycle against the Wings?
Brandon Dixon’s cycle today was the first against the Red Wings since Justin Turner did it for Buffalo the last game of the 2010 season. (The Mets did NOT call him up in September after that.)
— Josh Whetzel (@JoshWhetzel) July 17, 2018
Dixon connected on three home runs when the Bats and Wings had their final meeting of 2017.
A note on Turner’s cycle:
Turner was 6 for 6 that day — #Bisons first 6-hit game since 1936. No callup. https://t.co/2R52D2hz6K
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) July 17, 2018
AT LEAST WE HAVE THIS
Wings pitchers have thrown 25 strike outs in the last two games. Along with Mejia’s seven fans, Luke Bard had four and Jake Reed one in Tuesday’s matchup. The Wings Zack Litter’s had five of the 13 Ks on Monday.
NEXT UP
Wings and Bats conclude the three-game set with a 7:05 PM start Wednesday. Stephen Gonsalves (6-3/3.86) is scheduled to take the mound for Rochester. Louisville counters with Homer Bailey (1-2/5.87) on rehab. Billy Heyen will have the coverage for Pickin’ Splinters.
ted says
Season just keeps getting worse. Shut out and losing a home series to the last place team just reinforces what a lousy team we have this year. True, the personnel change almost daily but what was once our strength…the bullpen, has been just awful in July. All those late inning meltdowns. And still no offense…except for the rare outlier. Not impressed with our manager. Less impressed with the team.
Wasted season for the most part.