Rochester Red Wings Game Notes – September 20 at Buffalo
September 20, 2022 – International League (IL) – Rochester Red Wings News Release
Rochester Red Wings (64-77) vs. Buffalo Bisons (72-67)
Tuesday – 6:05p.m. ET – Sahlen Field- Buffalo, NY
Radio: Fox Sports 1280/iHeartRadio TV: MiLB.tv
RHP Joan Adon (2-2, 4.73) vs. RHP Bowden Francis (5-10, 6.95)
DON’T LET US GET HOT: The Rochester Red Wings hit their way to a 12-2 victory in the series finale against the IronPigs Sunday afternoon behind a season-high 22-hit effort…2B Jake Alu went 4-for-6, just a double shy of the cycle while DH Onix Vega went 4-for-5 in his first game above High-A…all nine batters for Rochester recorded a hit and seven collected multiple…C Wilmer Perez hit his first Triple-A home run as part of his three-hit day at the plate…RHP Patrick Murphy turned in five innings of work, allowing just one earned run in his start, striking out seven in the process…the 22-hit effort is tied (five other times) for the most hits in a contest since 2012 (25 in 2012)…the Wings will travel to Buffalo in search for their seventh win in their last eight games which would mark the first time they’ve done so since their nine-game winning streak in May (7th-15th).
HIT ‘EM UP: The Rochester Red Wings recorded a season-high 22 hits in Sunday’s series final, four more than their previous high of 18, which came on 4/16 vs. Buffalo…the Wings were led by four-hit games from 2B Jake Alu, and DH Onix Vega… all nine starters collected at least one hit and seven of nine collected multiple hits.
The last time all nine starters recorded a base hit was 8/18 against Worcester.
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGA-S STAYS IN VEGA-S: Recently promoted C Onix Vega made his Triple-A debut in Sunday’s game becoming the 78th player to make an appearance in a Red Wings’ uniform this season, surpassing last year’s record of 77 players…the right-hander went 4-for-5 with three RBI, recording the first four-hit game of his career in his first game above High-A.
RAKE ALU: 3B Jake Alu hit a three-run home run in the first inning Sunday, his 10th with the Red Wings and his 19th of the season between Rochester and Double-A Harrisburg…the lefty has now reached base safely in 13-straight games dating back to 9/4 and has picked up multiple hits in seven of those 13 games.
The Boston College alum finished the game 4-for-6 with a home run, a triple, four RBI, and two runs scored…just a double away from becoming the first Red Wing since Michael Restovich in 2004 to hit for the cycle…Alu was thrown out after coming off the bag at second base in his final at-bat trying for a double.
During his current on-base streak, Alu leads all Wings in hits (22), home runs (6), RBI (19), and runs scored (12).
PUNCHING THE MOST TICKETS: With 11 strikeouts in the Sunday rout, the Wings have set a new franchise record for total strikeouts in a season with 1,291, topping their 2019 record of 1,285.
The Wings currently rank fourth in the International League in the strikeout category…this comes a year after Rochester ranked second to last in the punchout rankings with 982 in 127 games.
The 2022 squad averages 9.2 strikeouts per game, compared to the 7.7 strikeouts per game the 2021 team accumulated.
UNTIL NEXT YEAR, PIGS: The Wings finished their season matchup against Lehigh Valley Sunday afternoon and split their 24 contests down the middle, going 12-12 against the Phillies’ top affiliate this season…
Since 2008, the Wings have a record of 116-135 against Lehigh Valley
ANDREW KNOCK-SON: OF Andrew Stevenson picked up three hits in the hit parade Sunday afternoon, marking his 143rd, 144th, and 145th hits of the year…should Stevenson continue at a pace of 1.13 hits/game, he would finish with 170 hits on the year, which would be the most for a Wing in a single season since 1976 when Rich Dauer collected 176 in 132 games.
Stevenson’s 145 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)
Since 1960 (61 seasons), only two Wings have reached 170 hits in a season when Ozzie Virgil and Pete Ward collected 179 hits in 1963 and 1962, respectively.
ANDREW TRIPLE-SON: CF Andrew Stevenson led off the game with a triple in the first inning…this was the lefty’s eighth three-bagger of the season, tying him with Indianapolis OF Travis Swaggerty for second in the International League…Stevenson would finish the game 3-for-6 with a triple, and a run scored, recording his team-leading 42nd multi-hit performance of the season.
Stevenson also stole his team-high 33rd bag of the season, tying him for fourth in the IL OF Delino DeShields (GWN) and Oswald Peraza (SWB).
WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY: SS Lucius Fox recorded the first RBI of the day for the Red Wings, picking up a double in the first inning and extending his on-base streak to 13 games…the switch-hitter would finish Sunday 2-for-6 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored.
Since returning from the Injured List on 8/20, Fox leads the team in stolen bases (8), and is second in walks (11) and RBI (17).
THE BIG NOGOWSKI: 1B John Nogowski walked in the first inning of Sunday’s game, finishing the contest 1-for-3 with a double, two runs, and three walks…since joining the team on 8/3, the righty leads the squad in doubles (11) and walks (29) while ranking second in runs (25) and third in hits (43).
Nogowski leads all Red Wings (min. 20 AB) in OBP at .410 while walking more than he strikes out (29 BB/21 SO).
Has walked 10 times in his last six games, recording multiple walks in four of six contests.
THE MURPH: RHP Patrick Murphy allowed just one earned run Sunday afternoon, giving up five hits and striking out a season-best seven batters in a season-high five innings…his last start with seven or more punchouts came on 5/15/19 with Double-A New Hampshire…excluding his start on 9/7 vs. Syracuse where he gave up six earned runs, Murphy has pitched to a 2.18 ERA in 20.2 innings (5 ER) in his seven starts this season.
IN CHAVI WE TRUST: After the Wings allowed just two runs in the series finale, Rochester surrendered just 14 runs over the six-game set versus Lehigh Valley, the fewest they’ve allowed in a six-game series…the Wings own an International League-best 2.21 ERA over the last seven days…in the last 30 days, Rochester has pitched to a 3.79 ERA, the best in Triple-A.
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