Jason Wheeler Pitches Well in Rochester Red Wings 3-1 Loss
It is hard to look at a game where a pitcher gives up back-to-back home runs and take away positives, but the Rochester Red Wings had a lot of positive things to take away from Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Louisville Bats. Especially concerning the play of left-hander Jason Wheeler. Despite taking the loss, the lefty looked quite sharp and this should buoy the hopes of the Minnesota Twins organization concerning the starter.
Both Wheeler and Bats starter Jon Moscot breezed through the first two innings. The Louisville starter allowed just a two out single in the first inning, while the starter for Rochester retired all six batters he faced.
In the bottom of the third, Louisville finally broke through against Wheeler. With one out. Eugenio Sanchez hit a line drive into the gap in centerfield that he legged out for a double. One out later Irving Falu lined a single into center scoring Sanchez and staking Mascot to a 1-0 lead.
He was not able to hold the lead for long. In the top of fourth he retired the lead-off batter, but Reynaldo Rodriguez followed with his second home run of the year to tie the score. Rodriguez would finish 2-4 on the day. It was his fourth straight game with at least two hits.
Wheeler retired the side in order in the fourth, but in the fifth he got in a bit of trouble. Ryan LaMarre led off with his second home run of the season, and Yorman Rodriguez followed with his third shot of the season. This could have sent the Red Wings starter into a tail spin, but he remained calm. Suarez singled following the home runs, but Wheeler then retired the next three batters to end the inning.
In the sixth the left-hander hit the first batter of the inning, then mowed down the Bats in order, and followed by retiring the side in order in the seventh. In the eighth Wheeler struck out the first batter of the inning, and gave up a single before his day was over. He had reached 90 pitches, 61 of which were strikes and so his day was done. The lefty allowed six hits and no walks in 7.1 innings pitched. He also struck out three. It was his second quality start out of the last three and he looks like he is warming up as the temperature rises.
Unfortunately on this day, Moscot was just too much for the Red Wings. Following the home run in the fourth, the Bats starter retired 13 of the next 15 batters he faced, only allowing two walks in that span. For the day Moscot (5-0) allowed three hits and two walks in eight innings of work, while striking out seven. Nate Adcock came on to close out the gam, earning his fifth save of the year.
While it was a disappointing conclusion to the game, the club had to feel very good about how Wheeler pitched. He threw strikes and showed a lot of perseverance following the back-to-back home runs.
The Louisville Bats won two of the three games in the series and now head to Charlotte. Rochester heads home to take on the Toledo Mud Hens. Pat Dean (2-2, 2.45) heads to the mound in the series opener, tomorrow at 7:05 local time.
By Robert Pannier
