Bats top Wings, take series with Sunday win

The Rochester Red Wings fell to the Louisville Bats 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Frontier Field. The Wings return home August 19 to open a four-game set with Buffalo (Blue Jays).

Box Score: Click here for the box score and play-by-play narrative.

Kohl Stewart cruised through the top of the first inning, recording a 1-2-3 inning on eight pitches.
Stewart ran into a jam in the top of the second, allowing runners on second and third with two outs. The right-hander got out of trouble by striking out Mitch Nay to keep the game scoreless.
Rochester gained their first scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second off Louisville starter Keury Mella. Alejandro De Aza started the inning with a single and later stole second base. Tomas Telis advanced De Aza to third on a groundout. Zander Wiel hit a fly ball to center, hoping to score De Aza from third. Jose Siri came up throwing from center, forcing De Aza to retreat. Mike Miller grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
After another 1-2-3 inning by Stewart in the top of the third, Rochester looked to break through in the bottom half. With one out, Ian Miller ripped a double down the right-field line. Ronald Torreyes grounded out to shortstop to advance Miller to third with two outs. Flores recorded a walk to put runners on first and third, but Wilin Rosario grounded out to shortstop to stop the scoring chance.
Rochester made an early call to the bullpen before the top of the fifth, bringing in Sam Clay. Stewart finished his outing with one hit in 4.0 innings of work on the mound. He walked two and struck out four, throwing 59 pitches with 35 strikes.
Louisville broke the 0-0 tie in the top of the fifth on an RBI groundout by Narciso Crook, giving the Bats a 1-0 lead.
The Bats extended their lead off Clay in the top of the sixth on an RBI double by Ryan Lavarnway and RBI single by Jose Siri, making the score 3-0. After giving up a single to Mitch Nay, Jake Reed came into pitch for Clay. Reed stopped the threat with a strikeout to end the inning. Clay finished with 1.2 innings of relief, giving up five hits and two earned runs, walking and striking out one.
Louisville made a pitching change before the bottom of the seventh inning, bringing in Jimmy Herget. Mella finished with 6.0 innings pitched, giving up four hits and no runs. He walked two and struck out three on 79 pitches, 48 for strikes.
Rochester's offense finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Mike Miller recorded a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Ivan De Jesus Jr followed the walk with a single to left. Nick Longhi mishandled the ball on a hop, allowing Miller to score to cut Louisville's lead to 3-1.
Rochester made their third pitching change of the afternoon with Ryan Eades coming in for Reed in the top of the eighth inning. Reed finished with 1.1 innings of hitless relief, striking out two.
Louisville gained a run in the top of the eighth off Eades on a solo home run by Rob Refsnyder, giving Louisville a 4-1 lead.
The Wings offense gained another run in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Flores recorded his second hit of the afternoon on a double to center. After Rosario flew out to center, De Aza hit an RBI single to right field, 4-2.
Louisville gained another run in the top of the ninth on a solo homer by Narciso Crook, 5-2.

THIS DAY IN RED WINGS HISTORY
1999 - the Red Wings batted around and scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Lynx 9-6 in Ottawa. The rally featured DH Julio Vinas hitting his team leading seventeenth home run of the season. The win snapped a five game losing streak for Rochester.

2005 - Scott Barker's grand slam highlighted a six-run fourth inning as Syracuse doubled up Rochester 10-5 on Thursday night at Alliance Bank Stadium. Chris Heintz had two doubles, extending his hitting streak to 17 games. With Buffalo's win over Ottawa Thursday afternoon, the Wings slipped back to two games out of first place in the International League North Division. Heintz's streak is a season-high streak for the team is now the fifth longest by a Wing since 1993.