The Rochester Red Wings, the Washington Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, had a moment to forget in Tuesday's loss to the Buffalo Bisons. The Bisons led by two runs in the fifth inning, and Yohendrick Pinango stood on second with two outs in the inning. Jay Harry shot a single into right field, and left fielder Trey Lipscomb came up throwing to try and catch Pinango at the plate.
He airmailed the throw, though pitcher Jack Cebert backed it up and threw to the plate. The play should have ended there, but Cebert also missed the catcher and threw the ball into the infield, prompting Pinango to break towards home. First baseman Buddy Kennedy recovered the ball in plenty of time, slinging the ball towards home, but also managed to throw the ball away as Pinango came around to score.
That run made all of the difference in the game, as the Red Wings lost, 9-8, despite putting together a three-run rally in the top of the ninth inning. They have five games left in the season, all of which come on the road against Buffalo. Buffalo are well out of the postseason race, but the loss dropped the Red Wings out of first place in the International League, and they now trail the Indianapolis Indians by 0.5 games following the latter's win Wednesday afternoon.
The Red Wings already have a spot in the postseason, as they had the best record of all teams in the International League in the first half of the season. They'll play against the winners of the second half of the season in the International League Championship Series. If they also claim the top spot for the second half of the season, they'll face the team with the best winning percentage in the second half.
The winner of the International league Championship Series goes on to face the winners of the Pacific Coast League Championship Series in the Triple-A National Championship Game. They currently sit 0.5 games behind the International League West's Indians, and will almost definitely face them with just five games remaining in the Triple-A regular season.
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