Span Bridges Wings Over PawSox

Denard Spans four-hit, four RBI game keyed a crucial 10-5 win for the Red Wings over the Pawtucket Red Sox Monday night at Frontier Field. The win allowed Rochester to keep pace for the International League wild card spot; the Wings are a half-game out in the wild card race. After an off day Tuesday, Rochester plays in Ottawa Wednesday and Thursday before finishing the regular season with a four-game home set against Buffalo. TWSN cable 26/215 will show a replay of Mondays game Tuesday at 3 pm. Span led off the first inning with a single to left field. Matt Tolbert followed with a pop-up, then Darnell McDonald drilled a single to move Span to third base. Span crossed home on Glenn Williams RBI groundout, and the Wings led 1-0. The Paw Sox roughed up Brian Duensing for three runs on five straight hits with two outs in the second, including an RBI double from Bobby Scales. Span was the key to a four-run fourth inning rally. Lew Ford singled to open the inning, and an error and two walks loaded the bases. Clay Buchholz (1-3) walked Luis Rodriguez to force in a run, and Span slammed a double to bring in Morales and Matt Macri. Tolberts RBI groundout made it 5-3 Wings. Duensing (11-5) worked seven innings, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out nine. Closer Bobby Korecky came on in the eighth and yielded a run while providing a scare; he appeared to pull up after throwing a pitch to Royce Clayton. After a mound visit from Wings trainer Tony Leo and the Cliburns, Korecky threw a couple of warmup pitches and stayed in the game. In the bottom of the eighth, the Wings piled it on the Sox. Rodriguez greeted reliever Abe Alvarez with a double, setting off a sequence that included two-run singles from both Span and McDonald, a stolen base, a pitching change and back-to-back errors. The result? a 9-4 Wings lead with no one out in the inning. A one-out wild pitch from Lincoln Holdzkom scored Williams for a 10-4 advantage, finishing the scoring for the night. Korecky finished up the ninth despite a homer to Jacoby Ellsbury, earning his league-leading and team record-setting 35th save. NOTES: RHP Tim Lahey will join the Wings from Double-A New Britain in time for Wednesdays game. Lahey has an 8-4 record with a 3.54 ERA with 12 saves at Double-A; he played in the Eastern League All-Star Game in July...Red Wings pitchers Duensing and Nick Blackburn will join Double-A New Britains LHP Ryan Mullins, RHP Anthony Swarzak, C Drew Butera, SS Trevor Plouffe, and 3B/1B David Winfree in the Arizona Fall League. The group will play for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, a team also stocked with prospects from the A’s, Orioles, Pirates and White Sox organizations. Action begins on October 9 and runs through the one-game championship on Nov. 17.