Sunday 6/15/08
WINGS FLASH THE LEATHER IN FATHER'S DAY WIN A barrage of outstanding defensive plays by several different Wings led Rochester past Louisville, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at Frontier Field. Francisco Liriano threw 7 1/3 solid innings, allowing only two runs while striking out five to earn the win. Jason Pridie had three hits, scored three runs and made two tremendous plays in the outfield. The Red Wings got on the board early with two runs in the first. Tommy Watkins lined a base hit to left to lead off the inning and moved to third on Pridie's double to the right-center field gap. A pair of RBI groundouts by Darnell McDonald and Garrett Jones brought home Watkins and Pridie. The Wings took advantage of two walks from starter Adam Pettyjohn in the third, adding a run on an RBI single by Jones. Liriano was flawless through the first three innings, notching two strikeouts without allowing a baserunner. Fine defensive plays by Liriano, Pridie, Alejandro Machado, and Watkins took away potential Louisville hits. A bloop single by Norris Hopper to lead off the fourth was the first Bats baserunner. Hopper would come around to score on a sac fly, cutting the Red Wings lead to 3-1. Pridie made another great play to end the sixth inning, extending fully to make a diving catch with a runner on base. Rochester tacked on a run in the seventh. Sergio Santos got it started with a double down the left field line. Trevor Plouffe followed with his first career Triple-A hit, a hard-hit liner to left, moving Santos to third. Machado picked up his first RBI of the season with a groundout to third, scoring Santos. Liriano (3-2) left after a one out double in the eighth, with Bobby Korecky taking over on the mound. A single put runners at first and third, thne Korecky made an incredible fielding play on a perfect bunt by Andy Green. Korecky fielded the ball and threw a strike to home while falling to the ground, nailing Michael Griffin trying to score. Jeff Keppinger lifted a shalow fly ball down the right field line that just dropped fair, bringing in the second Bats run and making it a 4-2 game. Korecky struck out cleanup hitter Kevin Barker looking on a 3-2 pitch, ending the inning and the threat. Pridie and Jones teamed up again for an insurance run in the eighth, with Jones bringing in Pridie with a double. Korecky picked up save number eight on the season.

Saturday 6/14/08
BATS LEAVE WINGS IN THE DARK Daryl Thompson nearly pitched a complete game to help the Louisville Bats beat the Rochester Red Wings, 4-1, on Saturday night at Frontier Field. Randy Ruiz had the lone RBI for the Wings as they could never seem to figure out Thompson. "[Thompson] was going right at us," Red Wings' manager Stan Cliburn said. "He wasn't trying to fool us at all. The key to his pitching was that he kept the middle of the line-up off-balance." The Red Wings might've known the first inning wasn't going to be a positive one after lead-off hitter Jeff Keppinger lined the first pitch from Wings' starter Brian Duensing into center field. Two batters later, Ryan Hanigan golfed a home run over the left field bullpen, making the score 2-0 Bats. Louisville tacked on one run in both the fourth and fifth innings. The run in the fourth came when Kevin Barker hit a sacrifice fly into center field to score Drew Anderson. The Bats (41-29) added another in the fifth as Norris Hopper doubled home Michael Griffin. those runs put the Bats ahead, 4-0. After pitching the sixth, Duensing was removed in favor of Julio DePaula. He finished allowing four runs on five hits while striking out eight. The seventh was almost disasterous for DePaula. After getting two quick outs, he walked Keppinger and Hopper singled. After those batters, DePaula was removed for Ricky Barrett. Barrett walked the first batter he saw to load the bases but got out of the jam when he struck out Hanigan looking. The Wings finally struck against the Bats in the seventh inning. With one out, Garrett Jones laced a double into center field. Ruiz followed with another double to plate Jones, narrowing the score to 4-1. Thompson finished the game pitching eight and two-third innings after walking what would have been the final out of the game. He allowed one run on five hits, walked two and struckout six. Josh Roenicke came in to get the final out and record his second save of the season. The Red Wings (30-41) still have three more games left to go in the series against Louisville and Cliburn is confident that, if his team plays well, the next three will have a different result. "I don't see the [the Bats] being anymore dominant than anyone else that's come here," Cliburn said of the IL West Division leaders. "It should be a good rest of the series."

Friday 6/13/08
WINGS NOT FRIGHTENED OF BULLS The only thing that was frightening on Friday, June 13 at Frontier Field, where the Rochester Red Wings edged the Durham Bulls, 1-0, was the rain delay that lasted one hour and 52 minutes. The storm scared most of the 11,391 fans, a 2008 season-high, away from the final game of the series, which the Wings took three of four from. Bulls starter Jeremy Cummings and Wings starter Kevin Mulvey both pitched shutouts - until the fifth inning when the rains came and delayed the game. Cummings, a former Red Wing, held Rochester to two hits. Mulvey did one better as he allowed just one hit, which came in the third inning. Mulvey also finished with seven strikeouts. After a rain delay that started at 8:13 p.m., play commenced again at 10:05 p.m. with Carmen Cali on the mound. The Bulls countered with Juan Salas in place of Cummings. After Salas retired the side in the fifth, the Wings scored the first, and final, run of the game in the sixth. After Darnell McDonald reached on a single, he stole both second and third, his 11th and 12th of the year, while Garrett Jones was batting. After those, Jones hit a looping ball into center to score McDonald, putting Rochester up, 1-0. After the fifth inning, Sala (3-3) was taken out in favor of reliever Dale Thayer. He pitched two innings allowing just the one run. Cali (4-0) exited after three innings. He only allowed one hit and struckout three. In his place, Bobby Korecky came in and finished off the Bulls in the final two innings to earn his seventh save of the year.

Thursday 6/12/08
WINGS TOUGH IT OUT, TAKE BIG WIN VS. BULLS On a bizarre night when two different Red Wings pitchers batted -and singled-, a short-handed Red Wings squad scrapped to a 9-4 win over the Durham Bulls at Frontier Field Thursday night. Starter Danny Graves tossed 5 1/3 innings and also singled, and reliever Mariano Gomez singled in his only at-bat. A series of injuries and player moves Thursday forced the Red Wings pitchers to bat in the game, with no other batters available for designated hitter duty. The Wings struck first in the bottom of the second. Garrett Jones, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a RBI single by Sergio Santos to give Rochester an early 1-0 lead. Durham got two runs right back on RBI hits from Jon Weber and Hector Gimenez. Graves stepped into the batter's box with in the third, with Ryan Jorgensen on first base. Graves put down a nice bunt on the first pitch, but a fine play by catcher Josh Johnson resulted in a double play. Rochester stormed back with a big rally in the fourth. Chris Basak led off with a solo shot to left field, evening the score at two. Basak's home run was the 12th of the series, setting a Frontier Field record for most homers in a series here. Darnell McDonald followed by showing off his speed with an infeld hit, and then stealing second. Jones' single to right field brought McDonald around to score on a colision with Durham catcher Johnson at home plate for a 3-2 Wings lead. Jones, who advanced to third on the play, made the score 4-2 in Rochester's favor, thanks to a Randy Ruiz groundout. In the fifth, Graves singled to right field, making him first Red Wings pitcher to record a base hit in nine years. The last Rochester pitcher to get a hit was Jason McCommon, who hit a home run on September 5, 1999 in Buffalo.It was the final weekend of the 1999 season, and the Wings were also short of players that day. History aside, the rest of the fifth was very successful for the Wings. Tommy Watkins scored on a Basak double for a 5-2 Rochester lead. Basak crossed the plate on rather unusual occurence when Durham shortstop Reid Brignac made two errors on one play. Brignac mishandeled a sharply hit ball by McDonald, and then overthrew Johnson at home, making the score 6-2 in favor of the Wings. The Bulls struck back in the sixth. Graves was taken out with one out in the inning. He threw five and one-third innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and striking out three. His replacement, Gomez, gave up a double to Chris Richard, which brought in Gimienez to trim Rochester's lead to 6-3. Richard scored when McDonald misplayed a ball hit by Brignac, making the score 6-4 in favor of the Wings. Rochester increased their lead in the sixth inning, when Pridie drove in Ruiz on a single off new Durham pitcher Kurt Burkins, for a 7-4 Red Wings advantage. Jorgensen followed with a two run blast to left, making the score 9-4 Rochester. Gomez, hitting in the pitcher's spot in the batting order, singled to right field in his only at-bat. Casey Daigle, the final Rochester pitcher, struck out in his only at-bat.

Wednesday 6/11/08
BULLS' BIG INNING TOO MUCH FOR WINGS Durham posted six runs in the fifth inning, clubbing three home runs en route to a 9-7 win over the Red Wings at Frontier Field Wednesday night. The teams meet again Thursday night at Frontier. Randy Ruiz homered and drove in two runs, and Sergio Santos had three hits for Rochester. Rochester's Julio DePaula was making his first start since August 26, 2002 with the Rookie level Elizabethtown Twins, and just the 23rd start in his Minor League career. DePaula, subbing for scheduled starter Philip Humber, had made 250 relief appearances since his start in 2002. He drew a high profile opponent for the game: Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay's first pick (fourth overall pick) in the June 2004 draft. Niemann was coming off a start with six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts against Richmond June 5. DePaula set down the side in order with two first inning strikeouts and a groundout, then watched his teammates put up a run for him. Jason Pridie stroked a one-out single, stole second, and scrambled home on Darnell McDonald's RBI hit for a 1-0 Wings lead. Durham got on the board in the top of the second when Chris Richard hit a solo shot to right field to tie the score at one. After Joel Guzman walked and Reid Brignac singled, Nathan Haynes followed with a single to left field to give the Bulls a 2-1 lead. The Wings ended the inning in style, however, as Ryan Jorgensen picked Haynes off first base for the third out. The Wings retook the lead in the bottom of the third. Santos reached on a ground rule double with two outs, and Jorgensen hit a towering two-run home run to left field for a 3-2 Rochester lead. DePaula, who was on a 45-pitch count, was relieved by Ricky Barrett after throwing two and 2/3 innings (46 pitches), giving up two runs on four hits and striking out two. Barrett came in with two on and two out, and retired Richard to end the inning. Durham tied the game in the top of the fourth. Barrett walked Hector Gimenez with two outs. Haynes singled, followed by a walk to Fernando Perez to load the bases for Jon Weber. Weber was walked, scoring Gimenez to tie the game at 3. Following the bases loaded walk, Barrett was taken out for Tim Lahey. Lahey promptly ended the inning by striking out Elliot Johnson, the first batter he faced. The top of the fifth saw Durham score six runs. The inning began with back to back home runs by Richard, who hit a two run shot and Guzman for a 6-3 lead. Durham tacked on another run when Brignac walked and then scored on Gimenez double for a 7-3 Bulls lead. The third home run of the inning for the Bulls came on Weber's two run shot to right field, putting Durham at a 9-3 advantage. Rochester chipped away at the Bulls lead in the bottom of the fifth. Santos lead off the inning with a double, and then stole third base for his fourth swipe of the season. A Pridie single drove in Santos to make the score 9-4 in favor of Durham. The Wings again narrowed the deficit in the bottom of the sixth. After Garrett Jones led the inning off with a single, Ruiz hit a two-run home run to center field, cutting the Bulls lead to 9-6. Santos ripped an eighth inning double off the left field wall to bring in Jose Morales and pull Rochester to within two runs at 9-7. Carmen Cali tossed three innings of solid relief, allowing just one hit while striking out three. Bobby Korecky pitched the ninth for the Red Wings, notching two strikeouts.

Ruiz has been scorching the ball the last nine games batting .378 (14-for-37) with one double, six home runs, 13 RBI and five multi-hit games during this nine-game stretch. Ruiz has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games...The Red Wings had won nine of their last 11 games vs. Durham at Frontier Field....OF Denard Span (DL, broken finger) threw in the outfield and took some swings in the indoor batting tunnel Wednesday afternoon...Tommy Watkins and Chris Basak were guest instructors for a clinic earlier in the day, with guests from the School of the Holy Childhood enjoying time with the Wings...Watkins hit his first triple of the season in the seventh, using pure hustle to end up at third on a close play.

Tuesday 6/10/08
WINGS STOMP OUT BULLS The Rochester Red Wings scored runs in six consecutive innings as they demolished the Durham Bulls, 14-2. It was the most runs that the Wings have scored this season. Brian Buscher set the pace for the Wings as he hit a three-run blast in the third to help break the game open. The teams meet again Wednesday night at Frontier starting at 7:05 pm. Despite getting crushed, the IL South Division-leading Bulls (34-31) drew first blood against Wings' starter Francisco Liriano. To lead off the first inning Fernando Perez took the third pitch he saw and laced a single to right field. He stole second two batters later when Elliot Johnson struckout. Perez scored when Joel Guzman singled to right. Although Guzman was tagged out after rounding around first base too far, Perez reached the plate before Guzman tagged. The score gave the Bulls an 1-0 advantage. After missing scoring opportunities in the first and second innings, the Wings broke out the bats in the third. Ryan Jorgensen led off the inning with a single and Tommy Watkins followed suit with a single of his own. The next batter, Jason Pridie, smoked a ball down the first base line but it was caught by Chris Richard. Richard tagged the base to get out Watkins as well. Despite the stop of momentum, the Wings (28-39) still broke out. After the double play, Darnell McDonald walked. Garrett Jones then hit a dribbler toward third baseman Josh Labandeira who threw the ball away to allow Jorgensen to score. The next batter, Buscher, blasted the ball to the right field bullpen to bring both McDonald and Jones home. The bomb put Rochester up, 4-1. The Wings tacked on three more runs the next two innings, both when there were two outs. For the second inning in a row, Jorgensen got a single, this time with two outs, and Watkins doubled him in. That run put the score at 5-1. In the fifth inning, Buscher reached on a two-out error. Randy Ruiz followed in the next at-bat with a blast to center that nearly hit the batter's eye. The score gave Rochester a commanding 7-1 lead. Bulls' starter Chris Mason was pulled after the fifth inning for Calvin Medlock. Mason finished with five innings, allowing seven runs (five earned), two walks and three strikeouts. Despite the big lead, the Bulls had a chance the take a chunk out of it in the sixth inning. After Liriano loaded the bases with two singles and an error, he struckout two batters and enduced Andy Cannizaro to fly out to McDonald to end the top half of the inning. As for the Rochester offense, the hit parade didn't stop. After Sergio Santos reached on an error, Jorgensen laced the ball past Labandeira for a double. Watkins followed with the identical hit to plate both Santos and Jorgensen. After Watkins advanced to third on a McDonald single and a Jones struckout, Buscher hit a routine fly ball to center. It was dropped and both Watkins and McDonald scored. The four-run inning put the Red Wings up, 11-1. For the top of the seventh inning, Liriano was pulled in favor of reliever Casey Daigle. Liriano finished pitching six innings while allowing one run on seven hits and seven strikeouts. Rochester reached a dozen runs when Jose Morales hit a towering shot that went down the right field line in the seventh. McDonald hit a home run of his own in the eighth, a two-run shot to left, to put the score at 14-1. Red Wings reliever Carmen Cali pitched the final inning and his only mistake was allowing a home run by Jon Weber to bring the margin to 13.

Howie Clark (abdominal strain) is unavailable for at least the next few days...RHP Philip Humber (sore right elbow) will miss his scheduled start Wednesday as a precautionary measure, and reliever Julio DePaula will make the spot start....The Red Wings and Batavia Muckdogs both landed in the top 25 of all Minor League Baseball clubs for merchandise sales in 2007. ..The Twins have signed six players from the 2008 First-Year Player draft...second round pick (60th overall), Tyler Ladendorf, an infielder from Howard College, third round pick Bobby Lannigan, a right handed pitcher from Adelphi University, 10th round pick Evan Bigley, an outfielder from Dallas Baptist University, 13th round pick Michael Harrington, an outfielder from College of Charleston, 21st round pick Steve Blevins, a righthanded pitcher from Marshall University and 25th round pick Alex Curry, a righthander from Cypress College...all six players have reported to the Lee County Sports Complex in Ft. Myers, where the Twins Mini-Camp started Tuesday..

Monday 6/9/08
DUENSING GEM SENDS WINGS HOME WITH WIN Brian Duensing tossed seven shutout innings, as the Red Wings beat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 6-1 Monday night. The Red Wings return home to open an eight-game homestand Tuesday night at Frontier Field. The Wings staked Duensing to a 2-0 lead through five innings. Brian Buscher's run-scoring sacrifice fly off Les Walrond in the fourth brought home Darnell McDonald, and Jose Morales scored on a double play in the fifth. Sergio Santos knocked in a run in the seventh to pad the Rochester lead, bringing home Randy Ruiz with one out. Ruiz's third hit of the game knocked in Garrett Jones in the eighth inning for the final Rochester run. Duensing (3-5) allowed five hits without a walk and struck out three through seven innings.The outing ran Duensing's scoreless streak to 15 innings over two starts, a stretch in which he didn't allow a walk or a runner to reach third base. Bobby Korecky took over in the eighth, then ran into trouble in the ninth when he loaded the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly by Rich Thompson brought in a run and left two runners on with two outs, but Korecky got a groundball out to end the game and preserve the win for Duensing.

Howie Clark (abdominal strain) is unavailable for at least the next few days...The Twins' Class A Fort Myers Miracle club had six players picked for the Florida State League All-Star Game June 14: pitchers Jeff Manship, Rob Delaney, Anthony Slama and infielders Danny Valencia and Brian Dinkelman. Outfielder Rene Tosoni was selected, but will miss the game due to a broken leg....A five-run fifth inning Monday gave the Miracle a 6-4 win over Vero Beach, clinching the first half title.  RHP Deolis Guerra improved to 7-2, and closer Anthony Slama picked up his 11th save of the year. Slama struck out four in 1 2/3 innings, and has a season ERA of 0.54.

Sunday 6/8/08
IRONPIGS TOP WINGS IN EXTRAS Andy Tracy's double with one out in the 10th pushed the Lehigh Valley IronPigs past the Red Wings, 5-4, Sunday afternoon. The Red Wings led early behind the strong pitching of Kevin Mulvey, then fell behind before rallying to tie the game in the seventh inning. The teams play again Monday night, and the Red Wings return home to open an eight-game homestand Tuesday night at Frontier Field. Darnell McDonald had three hits for Rochester, who out-hit Lehigh Valley 14-10. The Red Wings jumped out in front when Randy Ruiz clubbed his seventh homer of the season in the fourth inning, along with a an RBI single by Tommy Watkins. Mulvey didn't allow a hit and faced the minimum through three innings, before allowing a hit in the fourth and a run in the fifth. Lehigh Valley reached Mulvey for three more runs in the sixth. Ricky Barrett relieved Mulvey and struck out three in and inning and 2/3 pitched. The Wings tied the game in the seventh on RBI hits from Brian Buscher and Sergio Santos.

The Red Wings offense has hit at least one home run in 11 straight games...The Wings left 17 runners on base for the second straight game...Rochester fell to a 4-14 in games played on Saturday and Sunday...Check out our coverage of the June draft, click here for all the details on the Twins' draft choices......The Twins' Class A Fort Myers club had six players picked for the Florida State League All-Star Game June 14: pitchers Jeff Manship, Rob Delaney, Anthony Slama and infielders Danny Valencia and Brian Dinkelman. Outfielder Rene Tosoni was selected, but will miss the game due to a broken leg. The Miracle will have a chance to clinch the first-half division title Monday night with RHP Deolis Guerra (6-2, 4.89) on the mound.

Saturday 6/7/08
WINGS DROP SERIES OPENER The Rochester Red Wings lost to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 8-2 Saturday, in the opener of a three-game series. Jose Morales homered for one of the two Rochester runs. Lehigh Valley led 6-0 when the Wings scored a pair of sixth inning runs, on Morales' third homer of the season and an RBI single by Jason Pridie. Danny Graves walked four and allowed seven hits and three runs in four innings pitched. Julio DePaula also allowed three runs. The Pigs added two more runs in the eighth. Howie Clark left the game with an abdominal strain in the fifth inning. Randy Ruiz was tossed by umpire Mike Estabrook in the same inning. Brandon Watson had four hits, and Oscar Robles knocked in four runs for the last place Iron Pigs.

The Wings struck out 10 times, most in a game so far this season...MiLB.com's Lisa Winston posted a feature on Tommy Watkins Wednesday morning; click here to read the feature entitled "Perspective: Watkins sets the right example." ...The Red Wings offense has hit at least one home run in 10 straight games.....Check out our coverage of the June draft, click here for all the details on the Twins' draft choices......Ruiz had his eight-game hitting streak snapped...The Twins' Class A Fort Myers club had six players picked for the Florida State League All-Star Game June 14: pitchers Jeff Manship, Rob Delaney, Anthony Slama and infielders Danny Valencia and Brian Dinkelman. Outfielder Rene Tosoni was selected, but will miss the game due to a broken leg.

Friday 6/6/08
WINGS' BIG COMEBACK TOPS BISONS (Bisons.com/RedWingsBaseball.com) - The Rochester Red Wings extended a well-pitched game with a ninth-inning comeback, before collecting a 4-3 victory over the Bisons in 11 innings. Jose Morales' RBI-single to left drove home Garrett Jones and helped the Red Wings earn a split of the four-game series with the Herd. Two days after the Bisons roared back from six down in the ninth to defeat Rochester, the Red Wings had a comeback of their own. Trailing 3-1 in the ninth, Howie Clark hit a two-run homer off Buffalo reliever Bubbie Buzachero to force extra innings. In the 11th, Rochester started a rally with back-to-back walks by Jones and Clark. After Rich Rundles struck out Randy Ruiz, Morales came up with the game-winning single off Oneli Perez. The Bisons attempted a rally in the bottom of the 11th inning as Jordan Brown led off the frame with a single. After Aaron Herr sacrificed his at-bat, Brad Snyder drew a walk. Two batters later, Jason Cooper kept the rally alive with a two-out walk. But Rochester closer Tim Lahey struck out Josh Barfield with the bases loaded to end the game. Buffalo used the long ball to build a 3-1 lead that lasted until the ninth inning. Michael Aubrey golfed a two-run homer into the right-centerfield berm area in the first inning for his first home run as a Bison. Brad Snyder knocked his fifth homer of the year off the Heron's Landing Party Deck in the fifth. Clark forced extra-innings with a two-run homer off Buzachero in the top of the ninth inning. Triple-A rookie David Huff was extremely impressive in his Bisons debut. The southpaw showed extraordinary control, only needing 77 pitches to get through the first six innings of the game. Working quickly and efficiently, Huff allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five. He retired the final 12 batters he faced. Huff was promoted from Double-A Akron prior to Friday's game. Through 11 starts with the Aeros Huff was 5-1. Philip Humber made the start for Rochester and struck out six in five innings.

MiLB.com's Lisa Winston posted a feature on Tommy Watkins Wednesday morning; click here to read the feature entitled "Perspective: Watkins sets the right example." ...The Red Wings offense has hit at least one home run in 10 straight games.....Check out our coverage of the June draft, click here for all the details on the Twins' draft choices......Ruiz now has an eight-game hitting streak, and has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games...RHP Heath Totten was given his release after yesterday’s 8-3 win in Buffalo. Totten was 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA in 16 games (four starts) for Rochester. Totten had just one appearance (took the loss allowing four runs in 2.0 innings pitched vs. Scranton on June 2) in the last 12 days...

Thursday 6/5/08
WINGS BOUNCE BACK, TOP HERD 8-3 (Bisons.com/RedWingsBaseball.com) - On Wednesday night, the Bisons used one big inning to spark an amazing comeback victory over the Rochester Red Wings. A day later, it was the large rally that caused the Herd's demise. Rochester scored five runs in the third inning and three more in the seventh to defeat the Bisons, 8-3, in front of 7,241 at Dunn Tire Park. Ryan Mulhern's first-inning three-run homer was the team's only offense as there was no comeback in the cards for the Herd on Thursday. It looked like Buffalo was going to build off the momentum of their six-run comeback victory from a night before. Mulhern stepped in against Francisco Liriano and lined the first pitch he saw over the wall in left field. It was the fifth home run of the season for the Bisons first baseman. But the Herd advanced only one run past first base following the first inning. Meanwhile, the Red Wings roared ahead of the Bisons with a five-run rally in the third. The first five batters of the inning reached base with Jones getting the Wings on the board with a two-run single. Howie Clark followed with a two-run triple to deep centerfield before scoring himself on Jose Morales' one-out single. Rochester tacked on three more runs in a seventh inning highlighted by Randy Ruiz's two-run homer to left. Liriano (1-2) struck out seven in six innings, walking four and allowing four hits. Ricky Barrett struck out five in three perfect relief innings, picking up his first save. The loss for Buffalo went to Dan Reichert (0-2). The veteran worked six innings and held the Wings off the scoreboard in five of them. He struck out five, but was undone by the big Rochester rally in the third. Jeff Stevens fanned four in a pair of innings of relief while Rich Rundles struck out a pair in a scoreless ninth.

MiLB.com's Lisa Winston posted a feature on Tommy Watkins Wednesday morning; click here to read the feature entitled "Perspective: Watkins sets the right example." ...The Red Wings offense has hit at least one home run in nine straight games.

Wednesday 6/4/08
'PEN COMES UNHINGED IN STUNNING WINGS LOSS (DemocratandChronicle.com/RedWingsBaseball.com) - Five Rochester relievers lost a six-run lead in the bottom of the ninth and then a one-run lead in the bottom of the 10th as the Buffalo Bisons rallied from a 6-0 hole to begin the ninth and won 8-7 over the Red Wings at Dunn Tire Park on Wednesday. The collapse wasted an eight-inning shutout thrown by Rochester left hander Brian Duensing, as well as four home runs by Red Wings hitters. Brad Snyder singled off of Rochester reliever Carmen Cali to score Todd Linden in the 10th for Buffalo (28-32).The Rochester bullpen has allowed 16 runs in its last 11 innings of work, including the eight runs Wednesday night. The Red Wings (24-37) held a 5-0 lead against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before losing 10-6 on Monday.Home runs by Garrett Jones, Randy Ruiz, Darnell McDonald and Jason Pride helped the Red Wings build a 6-0 lead. It was the first time the Red Wings had hit four home runs in a game since June 28 of last season when Rochester did it at Durham. Duensing cruised through eight shutout innings and was pulled in favor of Bobby Korecky to start the ninth inning.
Duensing allowed four hits and no walks in eight innings while striking out three, but received a no decision for his efforts. It marked the first time that Duensing pitched into the eighth inning in his career at the Triple-A level. Korecky allowed two singles and a walk and had four runs charged to him after Tim Lahey threw a passed ball, a wild pitch and allowed a double and two singles as Buffalo tied the game at 6-6. But Rochester rebounded from the ninth-inning collapse to take the lead again when Howie Clark, who finished 3-for-5, drove home Tommy Watkins for a 7-6 Rochester lead.
Mariano Gomez came on for Lahey in the 10th to try to close the game again for Rochester, but he gave up a single and a walk. Casey Daigle came on as the fourth Rochester reliever and allowed a hit before giving way to Carmen Cali, who gave up the winning single to center field. Jones gave Rochester a 1-0 lead when he drove a pitch on a 1-1 count from Buffalo starter Jeff Harris (2-4) to center field for his sixth home run of the season.Following a shallow single to left from Clark, Ruiz hit a ball to the opposite field that carried over the right-center field wall for a 3-0 Rochester lead.The Red Wings continued to pound the ball in the third inning when McDonald homered to deep left field for his eighth home run of the season and a 4-0 lead. Jones followed with a double and scored on a single up the middle by Ruiz to push the Rochester lead to 5-0. The Red Wings managed just one baserunner from the fourth until the eighth inning when Pridie homered to right field to lead off the inning for his fourth home run of the year and a 6-0 Rochester lead.

MiLB.com's Lisa Winston posted a feature on Tommy Watkins Wednesday morning; click here to read the feature entitled "Perspective: Watkins sets the right example." ...The Red Wings offense has hit at least one home run in eight straight games. Rochester has now hit 45 home runs this season; Toledo leads the IL with 102 home runs entering play Wednesday.

Monday 6/2/08
BISONS ROOKIE HELPS TOP WINGS The Buffalo Bisons beat the Red Wings 4-3 Tuesday night. Randy Ruiz and Jason Pridie homered for Rochester. Pitcher Josh Tomlin was impressive in his Triple-A debut. The offense took second billing to Tomlin, who worked seven innings on the same day he was promoted from Single-A Kinston. He gave up three runs and six hits, two of them solo shots to Ruiz and Pridie. Tomlin struck out three, walked one and threw 50 strikes in 79 pitches. The Red Wings threatened in the ninth, after Darnell McDonald singled with one out. McDonald stole second base, and then advanced to third on an error from Toregas. After a walk to Garrett Jones, the Red Wings had runners on the corners, with only one out. Chris Basak then flared a soft line drive up the middle, but was robbed of a game-tying base hit by Josh Barfield. Oneli Perez was able to get out of the jam with a groundout to win the game. Kevin Mulvey took the loss for the Wings.

The Red Wings pitching staff had allowed at least one home run (eight total home runs) in seven straight games, a streak that ended Tuesday...Rochester has a 19-9 record when the Wings score four runs or more in a game, but only a 5-27 record when the Red Wings score three or fewer runs....Fort Myers Miracle starter Jeff Manship only needed an hour and 56 minutes to pick up his first career complete game, blanking the Dunedin Blue Jays with a four-hit shutout in a 5-0 win Tuesday night. The Miracle trimmed the first-half magic number to clinch the division down to six.

Monday 6/2/08
WINGS LOSE EARLY LEAD, FALL TO YANKEES The Red Wings built an early 5-0 lead but couldn't hang on as they fell to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 10-6, Monday night at Frontier Field. Sergio Santos hit a two-out, three run home run in the bottom of the first for the Wings. Red Wings starter Danny Graves, a winner in his last two starts, went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned), five hits and four walks. The Red Wings jumped out to an early 5-0 lead against Kei Igawa in the first inning. A Tommy Watkins lead off walk, followed by singles by Jason Pridie and Darnell McDonald loaded the bases for Garrett Jones with no one out. Jones hit a sac fly to left to score Watkins. After a double steal, Pridie scored on an Igawa wild pitch. Two batters later, after a Brian Buscher walk, Santos hit a three-run shot over the left field wall, his second two-out, three RBI hit in as many days. The home run was Santos' first of the year. After the Yankees got a run back in the top of the second, Pridie answered in the bottom half of the inning with a solo shot to straight away centerfield to give the Wings a 6-1 lead. The Yankees mounted a rally in the fifth. Greg Porter took Graves deep to left to lead off the inning. Then with two out in the inning, Jones booted a groundball off the bat of Ben Broussard leading to two more unearned runs and a 6-4 score. Scranton knotted the game in the sixth on a two-run home run by Chris Stewart off of Wings pitcher Casey Daigle. In the seventh, the Yankees pulled ahead after three singles off reliever Heath Totten, who had not pitched in a game since May 24. Justin Christian's triple cleared the bases and made it 9-6 Scranton. Christian scored on a close play at the plate on Chris Stewart's RBI fielder's choice, boosting the lead to 10-6. After a rough first few innings Igawa settled down nicely, not allowing a run after the second inning. He went seven plus innings allowing six runs on nine hits while striking out six. The Red Wings loaded the bases in the eigth on singles by Buscher and McDonald and a two-out pinch-hit walk to Howie Clark, but couldn't cash them in as Watkins flew out ending the threat and his seven game hit streak.

Sunday 6/1/08
WINGS RALLY, HANG ON After falling behind 5-0 early in the contest, the Red Wings rallied behind a six run third inning to defeat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 8-7 Sunday afternoon at Frontier Field. Sergio Santos belted a bases-clearing double in the third, and made a great play to help snuff out a ninth inning Yankees rally. The Yankees got on the board first in the top of the second. Eric Duncan hit a two-run shot to right field off Red Wings starter Philip Humber (3-5) to give Scranton an early 2-0 lead. Scranton tagged Humber for three more runs the top of the third. After J.D. Closser walked to leadoff the inning, Bernie Castro singled, moving Closser over to third. A Ben Broussard single drove in Closser for a 3-0 Scranton lead. The next batter, Cody Ransom, doubled to right field, driving in Castro and Broussard for a 5-0 Yankees lead. The bottom of the third inning saw the Wings strike back in a big way, as they scored six runs to take the lead. Chris Basak hit a solo home run off the first pitch he saw from Steven White (4-3), who relieved Scranton starter Dan Giese after the first inning. A Ryan Jorgensen hit by pitch, Tommy Watkins single, and Jason Pridie walk, loaded the bases for Darnell McDonald, who hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Jorgensen to make the score 5-2 in favor of Scranton. With the bases loaded again, White walked Brian Buscher on four pitches, allowing Watkins to come across the plate for a 5-3 Yankees lead. Sergio Santos came to the plate with the bases loaded for the third time in the inning, and delivered in spectacular fashion with a double down the left field line. The double drove in Pridie, Jones and Buscher for a 6-5 Wings lead. Rochester scored again in the bottom of the fifth. Jorgensen lead the bottom of the fourth inning with a single off new Yankees pitcher Billy Traber. Watkins' sacrifice bunt, and Pridie reached first on an error put runners on first and third for McDonald, who had a RBI groundout, scoring Jorgensen for a 7-3 Rochester lead. The Wings got on the board for the third consecutive inning in the bottom of the sixth. Buscher and Randy Ruiz lead the inning off with back-to-back singles. After Santos and Basak went down on a fly out and line drive, respectivley, Jorgensen hit a line drive to center field. Although Ruiz was thrown out at third for the final out of the inning, Buscher crossed the plate before the out was recorded for a 8-5 Red Wings lead. Ricky Barrett relieved Humber in the top of the sixth, and made a flawless debut, retiring Ransom, Duncan, and Nick Green for a 1-2-3 inning. The Yankees would not go quietly, however. Jason Lane lead off the top of the eighth with a single off new Rochester pitcher Tim Lahey, followed by a Broussard double. Duncan then hit a double just over the head of Pridie in center field, scoring Broussard and Lane to cut the Red Wings lead to 8-7. Mariano Gomez was then brought in to pitch for the Wings. Gomez walked pinch hitter Justin Christian, putting runners at first and second for Closser. However, Gomez got Closser to fly out to center field, ending Scranton's scoring threat. With Bobby Korecky pitching in the ninth, Brett Gardner tripled to open the ninth and put the tying run at third with none out. Korcky got an groundout on a nice play by Garrett Jones at first base, and Santos gunned down Gardner trying to score on Lane's hard hit groundball. The last hope for the Yankees was Broussard, who Korcky struck out swinging to end the game. Korecky his sixth save of the season.