Game Recaps 5/10

Dixon Settles In, Aeros Win 3-1

AKRON, OH – Akron starter Kevin Dixon allowed four hits and a run in the first inning, but recovered to allow just one hit in his final five frames as the Aeros beat the Trenton Thunder 3-1 Saturday in front of 3,137 fans at Canal Park. The rest of the pitching staff picked up where Dixon left off and did not allow a hit in three innings of relief. Akron improved to 16-19 on the season and the Thunder, which had won eight straight games, dropped to 24-13.

Trenton’s lone run came in the first inning off Dixon. Four singles keyed the inning, including the first three batters. With the bases loaded however, Dixon struck out cleanup hitter Edwar Gonzalez looking for the first out. Cody Ehlers then singled to left, scoring Ramiro Pena for Trenton’s only run. Dixon struck out Jose Tabata for the second out, and with the bases still loaded, escaped the inning with no further damage when P.J. Pilittere grounded to second.

Akron took the lead for good with two runs in the third, taking advantage of two errors by the Trenton defense. Ryan Goleski led off and reached second when Tabata dropped his fly ball in right field, and Brandon Chaves reached on a bunt single to put runners on the corners with no outs. After Jose Constanza flied out, Josh Rodriguez tapped a roller in front of the plate for an RBI infield single, plating Goleski. Chris Gimenez then struck out swinging with Rodriguez running on the play, but the throw from Pilittere skipped into centerfield, allowing Chaves to steal home on the back end of the double steal.

Akron would add the final tally of the contest in the sixth. Hodges led off with a walk and moved to third on a single to right by Stephen Head. Two batters later, Nathan Panther drove in Hodges on a sacrifice fly to center.

The Thunder brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth off Akron closer Randy Newsom. The side-armer got a pop-up for the first out but then walked the next two hitters, bringing Pena to the plate. Pena hit a sinking liner to short, but Brandon Chaves went down to a knee to spear it and flipped to second to double off Chris Malec and end the game.

Dixon (1-3) picked up the win, allowing one run on five hits and striking out six in six innings of work. Jeff Stevens and Scott Roehl each earned holds, pitching scoreless seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Newsom notched his ninth save of the season. Trenton starter George Kontos (1-4) suffered the loss, after allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits and striking out eight in seven innings. Goleski paced the offense with a 2-3 night.

The rubber match in this three-game series is set for 2:05 p.m. Sunday at Canal Park, as Akron sends left-hander Chuck Lofgren (1-3, 5.51 ERA) to the hill against Trenton’s Dan McCutchen (4-2, 2.15 ERA). Sunday is Family Pack Day at Canal Park, where fans can get four tickets, four hot dogs, four bags of chips, and four soft drinks for $48. The game broadcast begins at 1:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com.

K-Tribe Wins 3-1

Kinston starter Carlton Smith had his best outing of the season, leading the K-Tribe to a 3-1 victory over Potomac. Smith went seven innings, giving up three hits and no runs. Sung-Wei Tseng, just sent down from Double A Akron, finished the game for Kinston and picked up his first save of the season.

The K-Tribe got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Beau Mills singled home Adam Davis. Both teams’ bats would be silent until Kinston opened up the seventh inning with a Jared Goedert walk. Nick Weglarz then singled to put runners on the corners. Goedert would score on a ground ball to Potomac’s shortstop Seth Bynum. Bynum fired to plate, but the ball was mishandled by catcher Brian Peacock and Goedert was safe. Later in the inning, Nick Weglarz scored from second when Peacock had trouble finding a wild pitch from Potomac reliever Carlos Martinez. Adam Davis went 3-for-4 on the night for the K-Tribe.

Kinston’s now won six of their last eight games and will go for their fourth series win in a row on Sunday. Jeanmar Gomez will take the mound against Potomac Sunday afternoon at 2pm.

Captains Win 9-0

(Greensboro, NC) – Michael Valadez knocked in three runs and the Captains got three hits each from Roman Pena, Ron Rivas and Matt Brown as they beat Greensboro 9-0. The Captains had seventeen hits which ties a season high and pitched their fifth shutout of the year. In the last two games against Greensboro Captains pitching has allowed only one run on eleven hits while striking out twenty. The Captains remain in first place two games ahead of Delmarva who lost to Lexington.

The Captains scored first in the second inning off Grasshoppers starter Kyle Kaminska. With one out Matt Brown singled and move to second when Chris Nash reached safely on an error. Brown scored when Jeff Hehr doubled down the left field line to make it 1-0. The Captains added two more in the third inning. With one out, back to back hits by Karexon Sanchez and Roman Pena put runners at first and third and then Dustin Realini singled home Sanchez with Pena taking third. Matt Brown followed with a single to score Pena and the Captains led 3-0.

The Captains tacked on four more in the fifth inning on RBI’s by Chris Nash, Hehr, Michael Valadez and Adam White to make it 7-0. They weren’t done there. Valadez singled with the bases loaded and drove in two more runs in the sixth inning off reliever Jeremiah Haar and the lead was upped to 9-0.

Ryan Morris became the fifth pitcher in the SAL to get to five wins. Morris went five scoreless innings scattering three hits, walking four and striking out five to go to 5-0. Jonathan Holt relieved Morris and threw three scoreless innings striking out three. Vinnie Pestano pitched a scoreless ninth inning. Kaminska who was making his first appearance for Greensboro picked up the loss.

The Captains and Grasshoppers wrap up the series on Sunday at 5:00 PM. RHP Chris Archer will get the start (1-4, 2.96) against the Grasshoppers RHP Cristhian Martinez (3-1, 3.89). The Captains will continue the road trip with four games in West Virginia against the Power starting on Monday. The games can be heard on AM 1330 WELW, WELW.COM or CAPTAINSBASEBALL.COM.

Posted in: