Buchholz

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As it became apparent that the Pawtucket Red Sox were not going to make the playoffs this year, manager Ron Johnson marveled at his team’s resiliency and head’s-up play.

In the bizarre eighth inning of last night’s game, those traits took the night off, and it led to five runs and a 10-5 Rochester romp before 11,553 at Frontier Field.

“We just had a bad inning,” PawSox manager Johnson said. “We misplayed some balls and they hit some balls and it just steamrolled.”

With Rochester clinging to a 5-4 lead, the PawSox suffered a pitching and mental breakdown in the bottom of the eighth.

Luis Rodriguez slapped a leadoff double to left off Abe Alvarez, and Chris Basak laid down a sacrifice bunt. Catcher Dusty Brown inexplicably threw the ball to third baseman Joe McEwing, as if the force were on, and both runners were safe. The infield then walked toward the mound, and the quick-thinking Basak raced to an uncovered second base.

Denard Span then drilled a two-run single – his fourth hit of the night – to give the Wings a 7-4 lead. Darnell McDonald followed later in the inning with a two-run single off Lincoln Holdzkom.

The PawSox simply couldn’t record an out. Glenn Williams hit a tapper back to the mound, and Holdzkom threw it past first baseman Chris Carter, putting runners at second and third. As if that weren’t enough, shortstop Royce Clayton booted a routine grounder by Lew Ford to load the bases.

One out later, Holdzkom threw a wild pitch that allowed another run to score.

“The floodgates just opened for us,” Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn said.

Rochester starter Brian Duensing (11-5) scattered six hits and struck out nine in a strong seven-inning performance. The left-hander gave up three runs in the second inning but then shut the PawSox down.

The nine strikeouts ties a season-high for a Red Wing pitcher. It’s the sixth time this year a Rochester pitcher has recorded that many strikeouts in a game.

The PawSox spotted Rochester a run in the first on an RBI groundout by Glenn Williams, then answered with three in the second.

All three runs came with two outs. Jeff Bailey singled and scored on Bobby Scales’ double to the gap in left-center. Brown ripped an RBI double to left, McEwing reached on an infield single to keep the inning alive and Jacoby Ellsbury lined an RBI single down the right-field line for the 3-1 lead.

Ellsbury extended his club-record hitting streak to 23 games, going 2-for-5 with a solo home run in the ninth.

Bailey would single to center in the third, but that would be the last hit off Duensing, a streak of 13 straight batters retired by the Triple-A rookie.

The Red Wings rallied with three runs in the fourth to regain the lead. With runners at first and second and no outs, Matt Macri hit a grounder to Clayton for what could have been a double play. Instead, the former major-leaguer bobbled the ball and his throw to right was late, loading the bases.

Clay Buchholz (1-3) then walked Rodriguez on five pitches to force in a run. He struck out Basak but gave up a two-run double to Span that pushed Rochester in front. Span’s liner bounced once and sailed past the onrushing Ellsbury in center.

Another run scored on Matt Tolbert’s grounder to first, giving Rochester a 5-3 advantage.