What a night for the Red Wings. Rochester stages incredible comeback capped by walk-off HR
Wednesday will be a big night at Innovative Field, especially if you are a fan of the wildly popular television show The Office.
The Rochester Red Wings will welcome Kevin, one of the memorable characters who was portrayed by actor Brian Baumgartner. There will surely be a nice turnout for the event, and if fans are willing to pay $30 they can get their picture taken with Baumgartner before the game.
Exciting as that will be for some, it’s going to be tough to match the excitement and drama that took place at the ballpark Tuesday night as the Red Wings put on a stunning ninth-inning rally by scoring a touchdown and extra point to walk off Worcester, the top farm club of the Boston Red Sox.
All cards on the table here: I was at the ballpark and because I wasn’t covering the game - I was there as a fan so I had the option of leaving early, which I did, in the top of the eighth inning when the Red Wings were down 6-1.
More: Kevin from ‘The Office’ is finally coming to Rochester
So yes, unlike the fans from the original attendance count of 6,675 who were still there, I missed Rochester’s remarkable seven-run rally to pull out the 8-7 victory.
The Wings’ improved their second-half record to 20-24, but they still remain seven games behind first-place Lehigh Valley with about five weeks left in the season and are a longshot to capture the International League East and earn a playoff berth.
Still, this was a night to remember for the Wings. They fell behind 5-0 in the second inning as starting pitcher Roddery Munoz allowed all the runs on three hits and five walks in less than two innings of work. From there, the Rochester offense did very little, but fine work by relievers Luis Reyes, Hobie Harris and Tim Cate kept the Wings from getting blown out.
However, with the Wings down to their final three outs and trailing 7-1, their chances of winning this game were equivalent to Blutarksi’s grade point average in Animal House.
The rally started innocently enough with three straight singles by Drew Millas, Matt Adams and Jack Dunn to make it 7-2, but it escalated quickly when Richie Martin hit a three-run homer to make it 7-5, still with no outs.
Darren Baker then singled and took second on an error by center fielder Bradley Zimmer. After an out and a pitching change from Justin Garza to Cam Booser, Booser wild-pitched Baker to third from where he scored on a Luis Garcia groundout.
Now with two outs and no one on base, Jake Noll grounded a double to left, and Travis Blankenhorn, who has been Rochester’s best hitter all season, hit a fly ball down the right-field line that clanged off the foul pole for a two-run homer which touched off a big celebration at home plate.
It was the first time the Wings have scored at least seven runs in the ninth inning since at least 2005. For Blankenhorn, he now has 22 homers, 73 RBI and two walk-off homers this season.
Here’s the rest of the promotion schedule for the series which concludes Sunday:
Thursday, 1:05 p.m.: College students, faculties, and staff can purchase a $15 ticket with $5 free diamond dollars. It’s also Open Door Mission Day. Anyone who donates two unopened toiletries, non-perishable food items, or gently-used clothing can get any grandstand ticket for $10.
Friday 6:45 p.m.: Beach Night, with fireworks and a Hawaiian Shirt giveaway to the first 1,000 fans.
Saturday, 6:05 p.m.: Grateful Dead Night with special Red Wings/Grateful Dead merchandise, a tie-dye station, and more. In addition, there will be a replica jersey giveaway for the first 1,000 kids ages 12-18, the Collectorfest Card and Collectible Show, postgame fireworks, and a special House of Guitars t-shirt launch.
Sunday 1:05 p.m.: Giveaways of kids backpacks (first 1,000 kids 12 and under) and eclipse glasses (first 2,500 fans) in honor of next year’s solar eclipse. In addition, kids will be able to run the bases post-game.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during training camp, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Red Wings rally to win in dramatic fashion with walk-off HR
