Rochester Red Wings Game Notes – September 14 vs. Lehigh Valley
September 14, 2022 – International League (IL) – Rochester Red Wings News Release
Lehigh Valley IronPigs (72-63) vs. Rochester Red Wings (60-76)
Wednesday, September 14, 2022 – 1:05p.m. ET – Frontier Field – Rochester, NY
Radio: Fox Sports 1280/iHeartRadio TV: MiLB.tv
RHP Jack Perkins (0-1, 14.73) vs. RHP Joan Adon (1-2, 4.02)
WINNING IS FUN: The Rochester Red Wings secured the victory in the series opener over Lehigh Valley last night, 5-3…all five runs for the Wings came in the third inning, the first on a solo shot by C Taylor Gushue, followed later in the inning by a grand slam off the bat of Jake Alu, his fifth homer in six games…RHP Patrick Murphy got the start and set his season-high in innings pitched (4.2) and pitches thrown (83), while RHP Reed Garrett pitched a scoreless ninth to become the fifth Red Wing this season to record multiple saves.
60 CLUB: The Wings got to win number 60 on the year with last night’s victory, which also marked their 30th win at home this year…the 60 wins is the most since 2019 when it took that Red Wings squad just 118 games to reach that mark…Rochester was the 17th team in the International League to get to 60 wins, now leaving just three other teams below that 60-win mark.
Only Sacramento (SF) has a worse run differential than the Red Wings among Triple-A teams with 60 wins….Sacramento posts a -97 run differential compared to the Wings’ -64 mark.
HOW MANY RUNS YOU GOT? A LOT: The Red Wings offense has scored 626 runs through 136 games played…their 626 run total is the second highest total for a Wings squad in the past seven seasons (790 in ’19)…to overtake the 2019 total, this Rochester team would need to average 12 runs per game for the remaining 14 contests.
Rochester ranks 16th in the IL in the runs scored category.
KEEPING THE TEAM SEAMSTRESS IN BUSINESS: The Washington Nationals promoted UTL Jack Dunn from Double-A Harrisburg, tying the franchise record for the number of different Wings to appear in a game in a single season (78)…C Onix Vega was also added to the roster, the 81st player on the roster this season, a new franchise record…should he appear in today’s game, it would set a franchise record for most players to appear in a game for the Wings for the fourth consecutive year (79).
IN BALDY WE TRUST: Since 8/3, LHP Alberto Baldonado has pitched to 2.65 ERA over 17.0 innings in 13 games…through 58.1 innings pitched this season, Baldonado has struck out 74, leading the team among active relief pitchers.
Entering today, excluding his outings vs. LHV, Baldy has a 2.88 ERA (16 ER, 50.0 IP)
In 8.1 innings pitched against LHV, Baldonado has given up 11 runs, including an outing at Lehigh Valley (4/24) where he surrendered six runs in 0.2 innings pitched.
GO DJ, THAT’S MY DJ: RF DJ Peters picked up a knock in last night’s contest marking his 100th career hit at the Triple-A level…in four games since joining the Wings on 9/9, Peters has collected hits in three of the four games and four total over that span.
SMOOTH CRIMINAL: With two stolen bases Tuesday night with one from CF Andrew Stevenson and 2B Jecksson Flores, the Wings have totaled 139 swipes on the season…this is the most stolen bases in a season since the 2001 Wings also stole 139 bags…with 14 games remaining, the Wings are 15 stolen bases away from their 1992 mark (152), which was the most since 1944 when they stole 180.
GUSHING OVER GUSHUE: C Taylor Gushue launched his fourth homer of the season last night, his first since 8/23 against Indianapolis…this marks the switch-hitting catcher’s first home run of the season from the left-handed batters box and his first long ball off a righty since 5/3 off RHP Ryan Watson with Double-A Harrisburg…the long ball was his 75th in his professional career which spans across eight seasons.
AL-U NEED IS A GRAND SLAM: With a third-inning grand slam, 3B Jake Alu has now hit his ninth home run of the season with the Red Wings and his fifth long ball in his last six games, good for the most homers in a six-game stretch by a Red Wing this season…since 8/1, Jake Alu has played 34 games and leads the Wings in hits (39), doubles (9), and RBI (26) while ranking second in home runs (7) and runs scored (20).
His bases-loaded homer marks the second grand slam of the season for Rochester, with the last coming off the bat of former teammate Joey Meneses on 5/24 in Syracuse.
PATRICK’S A STAR: RHP Patrick Murphy recorded his longest outing of the season in tonight’s game, pitching 4.2 innings, giving up an earned run on five hits and two walks while tying his season-high in strikeouts with five…the Arizona native also threw a season-high 83 pitches (52 strikes), the most he has thrown in a contest since he threw 96 with Double-A New Hampshire on 5/28/19.
ACTION JECKSSON: Jecksson Flores went 1-for-3 with a walk in the win, extending his hitting streak to eight games over which he has gone 10-for-24 since 9/2…Flores’ eight gamer is the longest active hitting streak for Rochester…
The Venezuelan is currently sitting on 698 MiLB hits which spans his 11-year career.
ANDREW KNOCK-SON: OF Andrew Stevenson picked up two singles Tuesday night, marking his team-leading 139 hit of the season…should Stevenson continue at a pace of 1.07 hits/game, he would finish with 154 hits on the year, which would be the most for a Wing in a single season since 2000 when Jose Herrera collected 163 in 122 games.
Stevenson’s 139 hits are already the most for a Wing since 2017 when Matt Hague finished the year with 149.
This marks the second-highest season hit total for Stevenson in eight years of professional baseball (1st, 2016 – 146)
FILLING THE LEADERBOARD: Stevenson’s 139 knocks rank fourth in the International League, just four behind league leader Alec Burleson (MEM, 143 hits).
Stevenson is also tied for second in the IL with 30 two-baggers, just six off the lead (Josh Lester, 36)
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