The Empire State Yankees rode a strong start by John Maine to a 6-0 win over Red Wings Sunday night at Frontier Field. Wilkin Ramirez had four hits for Rochester, who fell to four and a half games behind wild card leader Pawtucket; the Wings and PawSox meet in a two-game series in Rhode Island Monday and Tuesday.
P. J. Walters, making another rehab start with the Red Wings, worked around singles in both the first and second innings - but also notched five strikeouts.
Through three innings, Walters had thrown 59 pitches, allowing three hits and walking two while striking out a total of six. Jeff Manship took over for Walters, and got himself into a jam by walking the first batter he faced. Melky Mesa followed with an RBI double to put the Yankees ahead 1-0. Manship loaded the bases with one out, and Corban Joseph snuck a chopper just past second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka's glove to extend the lead to 3-0.
In the fourth inning, Maine walked Chris Parmelee, and Ramirez singled to give the Wings their first scoring threat. But a pair of ground outs stranded the runners and kept the lead at 3-0.
After Manship walked the first three batters of the sixth inning to load the bases, the Yankees capitalized on the opportunity and expanded upon their lead with a two-RBI single for Joseph, making the score 5-0. Luis Perdomo was brought to the mound in relief and he allowed an RBI sacrfice fly before getting the Wings out of the inning down 6-0.
The Red Wings had defeated Maine on August 9 here, when Maine lasted just four innings. On Sunday, Maine allowed just four hits - three by Ramirez - over six innings, while Manship's rocky relief outing saw him yield six earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings.
Perdomo struck out two and did not allow a baserunner. Anthony Slama pitched the eighth for Rochester, striking out the side. Kyle Waldrop pitched a perfect ninth inning for Rochester.
