Wings, Hens split first half of series

Monday: Toledo 6 at Rochester 4

W: E. Bonine (10-2, 4.30); L: J. DePaula (1-5, 6.39); SV: B. Neal (24)
HR: TOL: B. Clevlen 2 (19), T. Perez (11). ROC: G. Jones (12), J. Pridie (9).

The Toledo Mud Hens took game one of their 4-game series against the Rochester Red Wings, 6-4, at Frontier Field. Brett Clevlan homered twice for the Mud Hens.

The Mud Hens wasted no time going after Wings starter Julio DePaula. Clevlan would hit his 18th yarder of the year over the left field fence in the top of the first to put the Hens on the board.

The top of the second saw Kody Kirland and Dane Sardinha hitting back-to-back singles. A double by Fredy Guzman brought in Kirkland and a sac-fly by Timo Perez scored Sardinha. Guzman would then steal 2nd, but Clevlen went yard again for number 19, making it 5-0 Hens

Garrett Jones would homer for the Wings in the bottom of the stanza to give them their first run of the night.

Casey Daigle would replace DePaula for the top of the 3rd. Despite giving up a single to Clete Thomas and a walk to Mike Holliman, he'd get out of the inning without allowing further damage.

The Wings made a stab at catching up in the bottom half of the stanza with Alejandro Machado doubling to lead off. Jeff Christy reached on a Holliman throwing error and Jason Pridie reached on a fielders choice when Jeff Larish threw the ball to Dane Sardinha in an attempt to get Machado out at the plate. Sardinha would miss the ball however, and Machado scored. Howie Clark and Darnell McDonald both ground into force outs that scored Jeff Christy, to make it 5-3 Hens.

Timo Perez would homer in the top of the 4th to give the Hens their sixth run.

Eddie Bonine would work 7.1 innings, allowing 4 runs - 2 earned - on five hits while striking out 5. Jason Pridie would homer off him in the bottom of the 8th, which also ended his tenure on the mound.

Pridie was 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Jones as 1-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Randy Ruiz and Matt Macri both hit singles, while Machado was good for a double and a run.

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Sunday night’s win was the 10th time this season the Red Wings have won a game in their final at-bat. (10-8 record). Since Rochester changed affiliations to the Minnesota Twins in 2003, the Red Wings have a 73-49 record in games decided in last at-bats.

LHP Brian Duensing is scheduled to make one more start for the Red Wings (July 25 in Scranton) before leaving the team on July 28th. Duensing will join the USA Olympic Team in preparation for next month's Summer Games in Beijing.

The Red Wings were held to six hits, after racking up 10 or more hits in each of their last three games.

DePaula is headed back to the Bullpen as is Danny Graves. Phil Humber returns to the rotation to take over Graves role, while Casey Daigle will take over for De Paula.

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Tuesday: Toledo 0 at Rochester 13

W: F. Liriano (9-2, 3.13); L: V. Vasquez (6-10, 5.04)
HR: ROC: H. Clark (3).

Francisco Liriano worked seven innings scattering a pair of hits and a pair of walks while fanning 10 in route to a blanking of the visiting Toledo Mud Hens by the Rochester Red Wings. Carmen Cali worked the final two innings, allowing a pair of hits and a pair of walks, but no runs.

Jason Pridie tripled to lead off the bottom of the first. Howie Clark hit his third home run of the season to bring in two.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Clark reached on a fielding error and following a fly out by Darnell McDonald, Garrett Jones reached on a force attempt. Hens starter Virgil Vasquez would miss-field a ball, allowing Ruiz to reach and Clark to score. Matt Macri then double to bring in Jones. After a break for a coaching visit on the mound, Trevor Plouffe sacrificed in Ruiz. Alejandro Machado doubled to plate Macri. Ryan Jorgenson followed that up with a walk, but Jason Pridie would line out to end the inning.

Clark doubled in the bottom of the 4th and McDonald singled him in. A throwing error by Jeff Larish put McDonald at 2nd. He'd move to 3rd on a fly out by Jones, and come home on Ruiz's sac-fly. Macri would double before Jeremy Johnson came in to replace Vasquez. Plouffe would double off the new hurler to plate Macri before Macado went down on strikes.

Liriano struck out the first three batters he faced and would not allow a hit until Erick Almonte doubled in the 3rd. He'd walk Clevlen in the fourth, but strike out two in the fifth, with Clete Thomas grounding out.

Pridie doubled in the bottom of the 5th and made his way to 3rd on a Clark single, but McDonald and Jones went down on strikes to strand him.

Plouffe doubled in the second half of the sixth inning and came home on a throwing error by Mike Hessman that also allowed Machado to reach.

Liriano would allow a walk to Clevlan and a single to Larish in the top of the 7th, but got Hessman to fly out and Thomas to strike out to finish of his stint on the mound.

Brian Rogers took over the pitching chores for the Hens in the bottom of the 8th. Jones would take a walk off him to start things off and move to second on Randy Ruiz ground out. Macri then walked and Plouffe singled to score Jones. After Machado ground out, Ryan Jorgensen doubled to drive in Macri and Plouffe to finish off the Wings scoring.

Clark was 3-for-5 with 3 runs and a pair of RBIs. Plouffe was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and 3 RBIs, and Macri was 2-for-4 with a walk, 3 runs and one run scored. Jorgensen was also 2-for-4 a the plate with a walk, a double and a pair of RBIs.

McDonald was 2-for-5 with a run, while Pride went 2-for-6 with a double and a triple, and one run. Ruiz was 1-for-3 with a run and a RBI, while Machado was 1-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Jones was the only Wing without a hit, but he had one walk and a pair of runs to make up for it.

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In his last 10 starts Liriano is 9-0; Liriano at Frontier Field is now 6-2 and has allowed just five earned runs in his last 47.2 innings pitched at Frontier.

The Red Wings have not yet had a roster transaction in the month of July. The Red Wings' last transaction was June 30 when outfielder Denard Span was promoted to Minnesota and infielder Howie Clark was activated from the disabled list. The last time Rochester went an entire month without promoting a single player from their roster to the Major Leagues was April 1991. Rochester had eight transactions that month but none of them were Major League promotions (4 DL, 2 players released, 1 free agent signing and one Double-A promotion).

Outfielder Garrett Jones hit his 12th home run of the season Monday night, his 70th as a Red Wing. Jones is the first Rochester player to hit 70 home runs during his Red Wings career since Terry Crowley hit 87 home runs from (1968, 69, 71, 76-77). Jones’ 70 home runs put him 10th all-time on the Red Wings home run list and 5 away from tying Allie Clark for 9th all-time (75 home runs).

The Wings will receive a pitcher from New Britain to replace Olympic bound Brian Duensing. The top candidates are reported to be Ryan Mullins (7-6, 3.99 earned-run average) and Anthony Swarzak (3-7, 5.74).

Photos of Jason Pridie and Trevor Plouffe courtesy of Nancy Zinni at Sandlot Swashbucklers.