Red Wings woes continue as losing streak reaches 19 after giving up late runs

UPDATE, AUGUST 11: Once again, the Wings blew another game in the late innings Wednesday and fell 9-8 to Norfolk that extended their losing streak to 19 games.

This one was yet another dagger through the heart of a team that is enduring a stretch of losing that is exceedingly uncommon.

The Wings fell into an immediate 3-0 hole in the top of the first when starting pitcher Joan Adon got the first two outs, only to give up a walk and three straight singles. But in the bottom half, Rochester erupted for five runs as Abrams got it started with a single, and eventually David Dahl had a two-run single, John Nogowski had an RBI single which started him on a 5-for-5 night, and three straight walks forced in two runs.

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ORIGINGAL STORY: To fully appreciate just how bad things are going for the Rochester Red Wings, I give you the top of the second inning of Tuesday night’s 11-4 loss to Norfolk in front of 7,215 fans at Frontier Field.

The Tides sent 10 men to the plate and scored four runs on three singles, four walks, and a balk.

There were 61 pitches thrown by Rochester starter Daniel Ponce de Leon (37) and Curtis Taylor (24). The Tides fouled off 17 of those pitches, and the Wings used three of their five mound visits, all of which helped drag the inning on for nearly a half hour;

Norfolk had one 10-pitch at bat and two that lasted nine pitches, and it won all three battles with two singles and a walk as Ponce de Leon − the former St. Louis Cardinals who was just signed by the Nationals on July 22 − and Taylor simply couldn’t put batters away;

All four runs scored after two men were out because Ponce de Leon gave up a two-run single to Jacob Nottingham, then walked No. 9 hitter Shayne Fontana to end his night. Taylor then came in and walked the first three batters he faced to make it 4-0.

If you’re looking for an explanation as to how it could be possible for a Triple-A baseball team to lose 18 games in a row, that one half inning encapsulated much of what has ailed the Wings for the last three winless weeks.

“That was a rough spot,” Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “Daniel was fighting but he didn’t have his good stuff and they were able to fight him off and he ran out of gas. We have a rule over here you can’t throw 39 pitches in an inning or we can’t start a hitter after 35 pitches and he ran out of pitches. I brought Taylor in and he’s been doing OK, and then he just couldn’t find the strike zone. It’s unfortunate.”

Here’s my recap of the long night:

Jefry Rodriquez didn’t help matters

Rodriquez took over for Taylor to start the fourth, and by the time he walked off the mound in the sixth, he had given up seven runs on six hits and three walks, just a terrible outing that raised his season ERA to 6.96.

In the fourth, he retired the first batter, then in succession gave up two singles, a walk, and a grand slam by Kyle Stowers that made it 8-0.

He retired five men in a row, but then in the sixth, he gave up a single and a walk before serving up a three-run homer to Jordan Westburg, a missile to dead center that cleared the wall so fast you could barely see it in flight. That made the score 11-3.

Matt Harvey trying to revive his career

The former Mets ace, whose career has plummeted since his days when he was known as the Dark Knight, made his ninth start of the season since his 60-day suspension for violating MLB’s drug program ended, sixth for Norfolk.

He had a very good outing against Worcester, but otherwise it has been a struggle against Triple-A hitters as he brought a 5.68 ERA into Tuesday’s game.

Against the Wings, it was a mixed bag for Harvey. He pitched six innings and gave up only three hits, but all three were home runs. Riley Adams hit a two-run shot in the fourth after Harvey hit David Dahl with a pitch. Andrew Stevenson ripped a solo shot in the fifth, and Alex Call − who was making his Wings' debut − hit a solo homer in the sixth.

Harvey struck out five, but he threw only 49 strikes on his 83 pitches and his ERA climbed to 5.74.

C.J. Abrams made his Wings home debut

The shortstop who came to the Nationals organization last week in the massive Juan Soto trade, played three games over the weekend in Columbus, but this was his first home game.

In the disastrous second inning, he had a chance to end it without a run being scored, but his diving attempt on Nottingham’s hot shot went off his glove and the first two runs scored. In the eighth, though, with the bases loaded he made a leaping catch that saved at least one run, maybe two.

At the plate, Abrams went 0-for-4 as he hit a soft grounder back to Harvey in the first; was robbed of perhaps a double when Fontana made a leaping catch at the wall in left; popped out to short in the fifth; and grounded to second in the eighth.

Around the horn

▶ Tyler Clippard is back in Rochester on a rehab assignment and he made his third straight scoreless appearance, but he had to work for the zero in this one. He gave up a single in the seventh, and then in the eighth he loaded the bases with one out on a walk and two singles before getting out of the jam, Abrams’ leaping catch the big play.

▶ Wings first baseman John Nogowski was spared having to watch the second half of the game. He struck out in the fifth and when he protested, he got ejected. Nogowski signed with the Nationals on June 22 and was at Double-A Harrisburg until Aug. 2 when he was called up to replace Joey Meneses after Meneses was recalled to Washington. Early on for the Wings he’s 7-for-20 with a homer and four RBI.

▶ Despite all the losing, the Wings’ bullpen had given up just five earned runs through the first six games of August, but that changed in a hurry with Rodriquez giving up seven in this game.

Clubhouse chatter

▶ LeCroy on the performance: “That was really tough and it’s one of the toughest games I’ve had to watch all year. Even through the streak, we haven’t had these types of games. We’ve been in every game but we weren’t in it tonight. We just didn’t put up a good fight tonight for sure.”

▶ LeCroy on what he can say to the team: “As a manager I gotta keep the clubhouse at ease, I can’t panic. They haven’t given me a reason to be angry and yell at them just because they haven’t won games because they fight and they work and they prepare. Hopefully tomorrow is the day, but it seems like I’m saying this every day; we gotta keep fighting and working and preparing and playing as hard as you can.”

▶ OF Alex Call on joining a team on an 18-game losing streak: “Obviously unfortunate, but I think that there’s a lot of good ballplayers in here. And sometimes baseball is just baseball. I think we put together pretty good at bats, and I don’t think it’ll be long before we get on our own little winning streak.”

What’s Next

The Wings are back at it Wednesday night for a 7:05 p.m. start in the second game of this six-game set with Norfolk. Joan Adon (3.86 ERA) will start for Rochester against the Tides’ Chris Vallimont (4.64). Adon hasn't pitched in a month since suffering a wrist injury when he was up with Washington. He hasn't pitched for Rochester since June 22.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Red Wings losing streak reaches 19 in close loss