Zach Wheeler tossed a three-hit shutout for his first Triple-A win today as the Buffalo Bisons blanked the Rochester Red Wings, 1-0, in the first game of a doubleheader in Coca-Cola Field. Rochester overcame a 4-0 deficit in the nightcap to earn an 11-9 win and gain a split.
Wheeler, the New York Mets' top prospect, had been 0-2 with a 4.71 earned-run average in his first four starts with the Herd since being promoted from Double-A Binghamton. But he was still throwing 95 mph in the final inning of this one. Wheeler struck out seven and walked two, and needed 98 pitches to complete the shutout in the seven-inning game. He threw 65 strikes.
It was Buffalo's first complete-game shutout of the season and Wheeler's second as a pro. He threw a six-hitter for Binghamton July 14 in a 1-0 win over Erie.
Wheeler retired the first eight men he faced before Rene Rivera singled with two out in the third. He also gave up doubles to Matt Carson in the fourth and sixth. The Red Wings never got a runner to third base in the game in losing their 11th straight in Buffalo.
Rochester's Emerling Vasquez (9-6) also went the route, allowing six hits. The Bisons got their only run in the fourth as Adam Loewen walked with one out, went to third on Josh Rodriguez's single and scored on Matt den Dekker's sacrifice fly.
Brian Dozier went 3 for 3 and scored four runs for Rochester in the nightcap. The Bisons lost despite four home runs. The teams meet again here Monday night at 7.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
