Bowden Shuts Door on Rochester Red Wings to Earn DH Split
It was a game of extremes Friday night in Norfolk. Or would it be better to say a double-header of extremes? The Rochester Red Wings pounded the Tide in Game 1 of the double-header, only to see Norfolk shut down the Rochester offense in Game 2
In Game 1, Kennys Vargas showed that he has no intention of staying in Rochester after being sent down by the Minnesota Twins last Sunday. The Red Wings first baseman belted two home runs and drove in four in an 11-4 win over the Norfolk Tides.
The Rochester Red Wings jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the Tides would score. In the top of the first, Eric Farris doubled to begin the inning and moved to third when James Beresford reached on an error. Josmil Pinto grounded into a double-play that scored Farris and the Red Wings were up 1-0. That brought Vargas to the plate and he promptly deposited a Bud Norris pitch over the center field fence to make it 2-0.
Norris allowed no further runs to score, but in the second inning Rochester blew it open. Ryan Wheeler doubled to begin the inning and moved to third on a ground out. Two batters later Farris singled to right field scoring Wheeler. Farris promptly stole second base and came into score when Beresford grounded a single back up the middle. Pinto followed with a single to put runners at first and second with two outs. That brought Vargas to the plate. He waited on a Norris offering and drilled it over the right-center field fence to make it 7-0. That gave Vargas five hits in his first six at-bats with Rochester.
In the top of the third the Red Wings added two more runs. Wheeler singled with one out. Two batters later Doug Bernier singled to put runners at first and second. That brought Farris to the plate again, and he grounded a single into left field scoring Bernier. It was Farris’ third hit and the game was only in the third inning. Beresford followed with a double to left field that scored Bernier and Rochester was up 9-0.
Rochester Red Wings starter Pat Dean retired the Tide in order in first inning, and gave up a single in the second, but he was looking like his usual dominant self through the first two frames. In the bottom of the third Norfolk finally was able to get on the board. The Rochester lefty hit Paul Janish to lead off the inning, and Julio Borbon followed with a triple to the wall in right field that scored Janish. Two batters later Chris Parmalee hit a sacrifice fly that scored Borbon and the third inning would end with the Red Wings leading by seven.
Neither team could plate a run in the fourth, but in the top of the fifth the visitors added two more runs. Jose Martinez and Bernier recorded back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Two batters later Beresford grounded out forcing Bernier at second, and putting runners at first and third with two outs. Pinto then ripped a double to the wall in left field, scoring both runners to make it 11-2.
Dean retired the Tide in order in the fourth and allowed a two-out double in the fifth. He was settling in, and with the teams playing a double-header he had a shot at recording his second complete game of the season. The left-hander allowed a lead-off double in the sixth, then retired the side to keep it 11-2.
Onto the bottom of the seventh the game went. Dean gave up a single to Derrick Gibson to begin the inning, then got Janish to fly out for the first out. Borbon reached on an error and Christian Walker flew out for the second out of the inning. Needing one out to complete the game Dean came right at Parmalee, but the first baseman fought off the pitch and grounded it to Beresford who could not make a play. That allowed Gibson to score and Dean was done.
Ryan O’Rourke came on to finish out the game. He allowed a line drive double to right that scored Borbon, and the Tide had their fourth run of the night. That was as close as they would get however. O’Rourke struck out Steve Clevenger to end the game.
Dean (4-3) earned the victory, allowing 2 earned runs on 7 hits. He also struck out 2. Norris (0-1) took the loss in his first AAA start for the club. He gave up 12 hits in 2.2 innings of work. All 9 runs that scored were earned.
The Red Wings rapped out 17-hits. Every player had at least one. Farris had three hits, scored two runs and drove in two. Nolan Reimold had four hits for Norfolk, including two doubles.
In Game 2, the Norfolk Tide rode the arm of Michael Bowden in a 3-0 shutout win over the Rochester Red Wings. The Norfolk starter combined with two relievers on a four-hitter.
The Tide got all their runs in the first two innings of the game. Taylor Rogers started for the Red Wings. He gave up a two-out single to Christian Walker in the bottom of the first inning. Dariel Alvarez followed by taking a Rogers offering and drilling it over the right field wall for his fourth home run of the year.
In the bottom of the second Audry Perez singled with one out. Derrik Gibson laid down a bunt and should have been out but Rogers throwing error allowed both runners to reach safely. Pat Janish and Julio Borbon followed with back-to-back singles, with Borbon’s hit plating Perez to make the score 3-0.
That was all the runs that Bowden would need. The Norfolk starter allowed a single in the first and a walk in the second, then retired nine hitters in a row, including five by strikeout.
In the sixth Bowman gave up a single before recording the first out of the inning. That put him at 82 pitches and he was done for the night. Cesar Cabral relieved and closed out the sixth inning.
After the first two innings of the game Rogers really settled down for the Red Wings. He allowed 8 hits over 6 innings of work with 3 runs allowed. Rogers (3-3) took the loss.
Jorge Rondon took over in the seventh and closed out the game. It was Rondon’s first save of the season. Bowden (3-1) earned the victory, going 5.1 innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk. He also struck out 6.
The two teams will go at it again tomorrow evening. Tyler Duffey is making his debut for the Rochester Red Wings. Elih Villanuena (0-1, 10.80) goes for Norfolk.
By Robert Pannier
