Rochester broke open a tight game with a five run eighth en route to a 12-5 victory over the Indianapolis Indians before near 10,000 fans at Victory Field on Saturday. The loss snapped the Tribe’s two game win streak and drops their overall record to 52-50. The Red Wings improved to 38-62 in International League play. The win evens the series at 1-1, as well as the season series at 3-3 after the Tribe and Red Wings split their four-game set at Rochester earlier this season.
Red Wings catcher Rene Riveria carried the big lumber for the Red Wings, clubbing a pair of home runs and driving in three as part of his four hit night. Not normally known for his power, he had just two dingers previously in 45 games split between Rochester and Minnesota prior to Saturday contest.
On the whole, Rochester, who came into Saturday’s game at the bottom of the International League in runs scored and home runs, plated 12 runs on 17 hits while also blasting four longballs, two by Rivera and one each by first baseman Jeff Bailey and pinch hitter Dustin Martin.
The Indians climbed back from a 4-0 deficit to cut the lead to one at 6-5 in the sixth, courtesy of 3B Pedro Alvarez’s two run homer, before the Red Wings onslaught against Indianapolis reliever Justin Thomas.
On the bright side, Alvarez has heated up since his assignment from Pittsburgh to Indy, hitting .454 (15-for-33) average with six runs and eight RBI over the last nine games.
Rivera (4-for-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI), Roberts (4-for-6, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI), Span (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) and Bailey (2-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI) all recorded multi-hit games for Rochester, while Alvarez (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Marte (2-for-4, 1 R) and Durham (2-for-4, 1 R) all tallied multiple base knocks for the Tribe. All but one batter in the Red Wings’ starting lineup recorded a hit, while Rochester’s four homers were the most allowed by Indianapolis this season.
Indians starter Sean Gallagher (3.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO) was pinned with the loss to fall to 5-10 after giving up five earned runs on nine hits in his 3.2 frames, while Red Wings starter and former Indians player Eric Hacker (5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO) earned the victory to improve to 4-10 despite allowing five earned runs on eight hits in five innings.
The Tribe and Red Wings hook up for game three of the four game series in a Sunday matinee at Victory Field. LHP Rudy Owens is scheduled to get the nod for Indianapolis, while the Rochester is expected to counter with LHP Scott Diamond.
