Red Wings Blank IronPigs to Win Third Straight
By: Wendy Halik
Updated: July 7, 2012
The Red Wings got seven stellar innings on the mound from Liam Hendriks, part of a 4-0 win over the first place Lehigh Valley IronPigs Saturday night at Frontier Field. The teams will enjoy a three-day All-Star Break after Sunday's 12:05 p.m. doubleheader; The Wings resume play here on Thursday night July 12 against the Toledo Mud Hens.
Wings starter Hendriks had not allowed a first inning run in his previous seven Red Wings starts, and continued that early success with a nine-pitch first inning Saturday. Lehigh Valley's Tom Cochran matched Hendriks with an equally efficient, one-two-three first inning.
Hendriks allowed back-to-back singles with one out in the top of the second, but battled back to retire the next two Lehigh Valley batters and end the top half of the inning.
After Hendriks again held the Iron Pigs scoreless in the top of the third, the Red Wings offense began to show some life. Clete Thomas singled with one out in the bottom of the third and Michael Hollimon ripped a double to the left field wall, scoring Thomas and giving Rochester the early 1-0 lead. A single from Tsuyoshi Nishioka allowed Hollimon to advance to third, and a hit from Pedro Florimon allowed Hollimon to score, giving the Red Wings a 2-0 lead at the end of three innings.
In the top of the fourth, Hendriks stifled the Iron Pigs' offense once again to preserve the 2-0 lead. The Red Wings added on to their lead when Wilkin Ramirez roped a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, increasing Rochester's lead to 3-0 at the end of four. Ramirez has now hit in eight straight games.
Thomas ripped a double to the gap in right-center against Cochran (5-2) in the seventh, with Rene Rivera scoring all the way from first base to give the Wings a 4-0 lead. It was the second straight two-hit game for Thomas.
Hendriks (6-0) scattered five hits over his seven innings pitched, with one walk and one strikeout. He extended his scoreless inning streak with Rochester to 22 2/3 innings. Hendriks' effort broke a streak in which Red Wings' starting pitchers were winless in the last 11 games.
Esmerling Vazquez took over for Hendriks in the eighth, and got some help from his defense. Ramirez threw out Kevin Frandsen at second base, when Frandsen tried to turn his long single into a double.
