Rochester falls short in slugfest

Louisville 10 at Rochester 9

W: M. Belisle (4-0, 5.29); L: D. Graves (3-2, 5.40); SV: J. Adkins (14)
HR: LOU: K. Barker (9), D. Anderson (4), J. Keppinger (1). ROC: C. Basak (6).

Twins correspondent Kelly Thesier in her recent mailbag tackles the question of calling up Danny Graves and where he might fit in the Twins roster.

After Jay Rainville and Oswaldo Sosa earned a demotion by winning their last starts, I'd say that after giving up 9 runs (7 earned) on 8 hits and one walk over two innings, Graves sounds like a prime candidate for starter material to me. Yes, yes, I know. Sour grapes and all that.

But honestly, despite their pitching staff taking a drubbing, the Rochester Red Wings battled back against the Louisville Bats in slug fest, falling just a little short in the end.

Kevin Barker hit a grand slam home run over the center field wall off Graves, to give the Bats a 5-0 lead. Norris Hopper had lead off the inning with a double, moved to 3rd on a fielding error by Trevor Plouffe and came home on a fielding error by Chris Basak. Those same errors also put Jeff Keepinger and Drew Anderson on base and a Ryan Hanigan single loaded the bags just in time for Barker to go Bang.

Rochester answered back with Denard Span leading off with a walk. He's be caught stealing however, so it would Jason Pridie's single that got the offense going. Pride then stole 2nd, which allowed room for a walk to Garrett Jones. Randy Ruiz was hit by pitch, loading the bags. Sergio Santos then doubled to drive in Pridie and Jones, making the score look a little more respectable at 5-2.

Keppinger hit a solo shot home run off Graves in the second.

Basak answered back in the bottom of the second, sending a ball over the left field wall. Span would double then come home on a wild pitch by Justin Mullett. Pridie singled and McDonald walked before Jones single would drive in the Wings' right fielder. Jones would be taken out at 2nd on the play, but Randy Ruiz followed it up with a walk. Santos then doubled to drive in McDonald before Trevor Plouffe would line out to end the inning.

Graves would allow back-to-back singles to Barker and Adam Rosales before a coaching visit to the mound paused things for a moment. Once they resumed, Luis Bolivar singled to load the bases and Stan Cliburn pulled Graves in favor of Carmen Cali. Cali would hit Andy Green with a pitch to force in a run, then give up a single to Michael Griffin that brought in two more runners. He would get Hopper to strike out swinging and Keppinger to ground into a double play however to retire the side.

Drew Anderson would go yard off Cali in the top of the fourth. That also, mercifully ended the Bats scoring and it was now up to the Wings to catch up.

With one out in the bottom of the 5th, Plouffe would single, then move to 3rd on Basak's double. Ryan Jorgenson walked to load the bags, and a single by Span brought in Plouffe. However Bats reliever Todd Coffey would get Pridie and McDonald out on strikes to end the inning, stranding the remaining runners.

Ruiz would double in the bottom of the sixth, moving to 3rd on a Santos ground out and scoring on a line drive by Plouffe.

With two outs on the board on the bottom of the eighth, Basak and Jorgensen would hit back-to-back singles. Span would then hit a line drive to plate Basak before Pridie ground out to end the inning.

They need just one run to tie in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't find it, despite a single to Ruiz.

Basak would finish up the game 4-for-5 with 2 runs and a run scored, Span was 3-for-5 with a walk, a run and 2 RBIs. Ruiz and Jorgensen were 2-for4, Ruiz with a run, Jorgensen with a walk. Santos and Pridies were both 2-for-6, Pridie with a pair of runs and Santos with 3 RBIs.

The league has Wednesday off. The Wings then hit the road, starting a four-game series against the Indianapolis Indians on Thursday, before visiting Louisville for another 4-game set.

Garrett Jones hit his seventh home run of the season Monday night, and his 65th as a Red Wing. Jones is just one home run shy of tying Luke Easter and John Valle for 9th all-time (66 home runs) on the Red Wings home run list and 12 away from tying Steve Bilko for 8th all-time (77 home runs). Jones has now hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games.

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New Britain at Portland - Postponed

Tuesday's game between the Portland Sea Dogs and the New Britain Rock Cats was postponed, due to the fact it was raining cats and dogs. The game as been rescheduled for Tuesday, August 26th at Hadlock field with a start time of 6:00 PM. The two teams will play Wednesday, June 18 - weather permitting - with a 7:00 PM start time.

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