ROCHESTER, NY --- The Rochester Red Wings lost a tough game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Thursday night, 7-4. Rochester had 11 hits but a three run first inning from Lehigh Valley gave the IronPigs a cushion that would last.
"The tempo was kind of set early when they hit the three run homer in the first," Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said. "We did answer in the bottom of the first, we just couldn't keep it close."
Andrew Alvarez got his first start for Rochester after coming off the injuried list. Lehigh Valley welcomed him back to the mound by scoring three runs in the first. Shortstop Scott Kingery and left fielder Buddy Kennedy led off the game with base hits. DH Kody Clemens from the four-hole stepped up and went yard on a 380 foot three-run homer. Alvarez surrendered four hits and three earned runs in the first. He remained clean in the second and third innings giving up just a single walk in the third.
"I thought he (Alvarez) was fine I thought he competed well he had some well located fastballs and some decent secondary pitches," LeCroy said.
The MLB's fourth-ranked prospect according to MLB.com Dylan Crews led off the bottom of the first with his first triple in Triple-A. Right fielder Alex Call hit third and batted Crews in with an RBI double. Rochester's offense was then muted until the sixth.
IronPigs starter David Buchanan pitched five strong innings, surrounding just one earned run on four hits and a walk which earned him the win.
"He (Buchanan) kept us off balance," LeCroy said. "He had a nice cutter, breaking ball worked and we just didn't make enough adjustments to get back in the game."
Lehigh Valley's offense was on full display, scoring four runs across the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Alvarez finished his outing after just 3.1 innings, giving up seven hits, four earned runs, two walks, with just a single strikeout, taking the loss. Joan Adon replaced him in a long relief outing. Adon didn't fair much better than Alvarez, entering in the middle of the fourth. Adon fought through 2.2 innings surrounding three runs, two earned, five hits, one walk and getting two strikeouts.
The IronPigs bats generated base hit after base hit throughout the night which put the Red Wings in a tough spot offensively trying to keep up. Five different bats had multi-hit nights for Lehigh Valley. Kingery and second baseman Jim Haley had three-hit nights as well.
Rochester's defensive highlight of the night came from Crews. In the top of the seventh with centerfielder Matt Kroon on second base for Lehigh Valley, Kingery crushed a sharp line drive to center field. Crews fielded it and launched a rocket from the outfield back to home to get Kroon out at the plate.
In the sixth, Rochester DH Travis Blankenhorn hit his third home run in two days. Blankenhorn is hitting .410, slugging .949 with five home runs, 10 RBI and 11 extra-base hits over the past 15 days. Blankenhorn's homer was a solo shot.
"I'm seeing the ball pretty well right now, I'm getting the ball in the zone and swinging at good strikes and I'm not missing the ones I'm getting to hit," Blankenhorn said.
Rochester's next jolt of offense came in the bottom of the ninth, attempting to spark a late rally. Catcher Drew Millas led off the inning with a base hit. Left fielder Stone Garrett was next up and also got a base hit, but advanced Millas to third and himself to second because of a throwing mishap. Shortstop Jackson Cluff got an RBI groundout which scored Millas and sent Garrett to third. Crews came to the plate next and grounded out in similar fashion but scored Garrett for an RBI. Second baseman Darren Baker reached first on an infield hit before the game ended with a strikeout by right fielder Alex Call. Rochester finished with just four runs off 11 hits.
"We got some hits late rather than early," Blankernhorn said. "We needed to chip away a little more in the middle of the game."
These two teams will square off for the final time in Rochester this season on Sunday. They will meet for their final series of the season on August 20 in Lehigh Valley. First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 1:05, the starting pitchers are expected to be Brad Lord for Rochester and Zach Haake in a probable bullpen day for the IronPigs.
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