Hot-hitting Wings find a way to lose

Rochester belts out 18 hits but strands 15 runners in slugfest

June 17, 2007 Frontier Field

The stat sheet read more like a horror novel for Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn after Tuesday's wild and wacky 10-9 loss to the Louisville Bats.

"You don't have 18 hits and lose too many times," he said, shaking his head. "We battled back, and I was glad to see it, but we should have won this game."

The Wings spotted Louisville five runs in the first, tied the game 6-6 in the second and then chipped away after falling behind by four. In the end, the number looming largest was the 15 runners the Wings left on base.

The teams combined for 32 hits in a strange game that included two rain showers (but no delays) followed by sunshine.

Every starting player on both teams reached base. Every player except Louisville's Andy Green and Darnell McDonald recorded hits.

Louisville didn't score after the fourth inning, but the Bats were able to hang on as Jon Adkins retired Sergio Santos on a pop fly to strand the tying run at first base in the ninth inning.

"To come back the way we did shows a lot," said Wings center fielder Denard Span, "but we definitely had our opportunities to win this game."

The Wings ended the homestand 5-3 against Durham and Louisville, a pair of first-place teams. "Fairly satisfied," is how Cliburn described it.

"Right now, our offense is as good as any team in the league, and our bullpen is improving," he said. "We just need to get our starting pitching situated."

That was an Achilles heel again on Tuesday, as Danny Graves was pounded for nine runs (seven earned) in just two-plus innings. The veteran right-hander saw his earned-run average jump from 3.89 to 5.40.

Louisville grabbed a 5-0 first-inning lead, thanks in large part to fielding errors by third baseman Trevor Plouffe and second baseman Chris Basak on routine plays. Kevin Barker made them hurt with a grand slam to center.

The Wings rallied in the bottom of the inning as Santos lined a two-out, two-run double.

In the second, Basak dropped Hopper's pop, but Hopper overslid second base and was thrown out. Jeff Keppinger, down on rehab from the Cincinnati Reds, then homered for the 6-2 lead.

Basak (4-for-5) atoned for his error with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning, and the Wings tied it with three more runs, including Span scoring from second on a wild pitch.

"I've never done that before anywhere," he said.

Louisville starter Justin Mallet couldn't hold the huge lead and allowed six runs in just 12/3 innings. The first two innings took 1 hour, 2 minutes to complete.

The wild game continued in the third, when Graves allowed three straight singles to load the bases. Carmen Cali then hit Andy Green with his first pitch to force in the go-ahead run. No. 9 hitter Michael Griffin followed with a two-run single. When Drew Anderson homered in the fourth, the lead was 10-6.

The Wings caught a break in the fifth. Span hit a hard grounder to shortstop with the bases loaded and two outs, but the ball struck Adam Rosales in the mouth.

One run scored, making it 10-7, and Rosales left the game. Todd Coffey then stranded three by striking out Jason Pridie and Darnell McDonald, a critical moment in the see-saw game.

"We were tentative with offensive counts," Cliburn said.

Plouffe's RBI single in the sixth made it 10-8, but once again the Wings left the tying run on base as Ryan Jorgensen struck out.

Span singled in a run with two outs in the eighth, but Pridie grounded out with the tying run 90 feet away.

The Wings stranded three in the fifth, two in the sixth, two in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth.

"It was," Cliburn said, "a game of missed opportunities."

JMAND@DemocratandChronicle.com