Cold, wet weather greets Wings in their Opening Day loss to Lehigh Valley
Anyone who was paying attention to Friday’s weather forecast probably figured there was no way the Rochester Red Wings would be playing their season opener at newly-named Innovative Field.
But Mother Nature allowed it, cold and raw as it was for the fans who turned out which were far fewer than the announced attendance of 4,791. Needless to say, the first 1,000 fans who entered and received a free toboggan hat put it to good use as they watched the Red Wings drop an 8-7 decision to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
“It was fun,” said Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “I mean, the weather was brutal but guys were ready to play, they were prepared and we just didn’t get it done. It’s opening day, you feel good about it but once you get out there and you get in the dugout it’s wet and cold, but they know that’s part of playing baseball up here.”
Starting a baseball season on the last day of March in Rochester is no one’s definition of rational. But with the expansion of the regular season from 140 to 150 games last year and the need for a week at the end of the year for playoffs, pushing the start up was a necessity.
This is the earliest date the Wings have ever played a regular season game, home or away. Previously, the earliest season opener occurred on April 3, 2014 in Buffalo, and two days later was the earliest home opener, also against the Bisons.
“Yeah, it wasn't that bad, and that's coming from a Texas boy,” said outfielder Stone Garrett of the 43-degree temperature at first pitch. “It was probably worse watching the game in the stands just being cold and the blood not running. Once the adrenaline gets going you're not really thinking about the weather. You're just thinking about winning the game.”
Why the International League doesn’t have teams like Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse start each year on the road in a place where the weather would almost certainly be nicer is a mystery.
“I don’t know, I’m not involved with the schedule making but I’m sure a lot of people don’t like to play in April because they don’t draw well,” LeCroy said.
The Wings sure wouldn’t argue about spending the first week away from home given the revenue they lose out on in ticket sales and concessions. The crowd would have undoubtedly been thousands larger had the weather been even semi-nice.
Nonetheless, the season is underway and nicer weather will be here soon enough. Here’s what was going on at the Innovative icebox.
One bad inning ruined Joan Adon’s start
The 24-year-old righty is trying to rebuild his confidence after a brutal 2022 season when he went 1-12 with a 7.10 ERA in 14 starts for the parent Washington Nationals.
He got off to a good start, four scoreless innings with just one hit allowed, but things turned quickly. John Hicks led off the Lehigh Valley fifth with a double and after Adon retired the next two batters, Simon Muzziotti hit an RBI single and Scott Kingery followed with a tying-run homer. That ended Adon’s day at 81 pitches.
“We grabbed that lead and then Adon made a mistake there to allow them to tie the ballgame on a breaking ball,” LeCroy said. “He had a positive outing. He had a chance to finish that inning and just didn’t make the pitches and the offense went through a little down period.”
A pair of three-spots kept the Wings in it
The Wings scored in only three of the 10 innings - one run came in the 10th with a runner starting at second base - they batted, though they made good use of their limited opportunities.
The first three runs of the season came in the second inning against Iron Pigs starter Michael Plassmeyer. Garrett led off with a single and came around on a triple down the right-field line by Travis Blankenhorn. Yadiel Hernandez chased home Blankenhorn with a double, and he scored on a single by Onix Vega.
Rochester could have had more, but after Cody Wilson’s single, Baker grounded out and Chad Pinder flied out to end the inning.
Then, after falling behind 5-3 in the top of the seventh, the Wings answered with three runs that had to leave the Iron Pigs and relievers Francisco Morales and Erich Uelmen scratching their heads.
The first four batters reached base without getting a ball out of the infield. Onix Vegas reached via an error on the shortstop but then got thrown out trying to steal second. Cody Wilson then dribbled the first of three consecutive singles to third baseman Kody Clemens, Roger Clemens’ kid.
Wilson stole second, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Baker’s soft grounder. Pinder hit the next ball to Clemens and then he and Baker moved to second and third on a wild pitch. After Morales walked Matt Adams, Uelmen entered and have up a single to left to Garrett that scored two and put the Wings up 6-5.
“That’s part of putting the ball in play,” LeCroy said. “I thought we grinded it at the plate. They threw some different arms at us but we had a chance to win and we just didn’t finish it up.”
Not a great day for the Wings bullpen
LeCroy feels like his relief corps is the strength of the team, but it wasn’t Friday.Tommy Romero took over in the sixth and worked around a double, but he couldn’t escape trouble in the seventh. Esteban Quiroz led off with a single and he raced home on a triple by Muzziotti, and when second baseman Darren Baker’s relay throw to third sailed into the visiting dugout, Muzziotti was awarded home to make it 5-3.
Closer Jordan Weems coughed up the 6-5 lead in the ninth when he gave up a 435-foot moon shot home run to left off the bat of Aramis Garcia leading off the ninth.
And then in the 10th, Jesus Liranza got tagged for the game-winning two-run to right-center by Vimael Machin.
The Wings inched closer in the bottom of the 10th when Blankenhorn singled home Garrett who opened the inning at second, but Lehigh Valley closer McKinley Moore mowed down the next three batters to end the game.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Red Wings opening day: Here's what to know
