Game Recaps 5/20

I was in Lake County on Tuesday night and was able to talk to left-handed starters Kelvin De La Cruz and Ryan Miller as well as outfielder Adam White and pitching coach Ruben Niebla, all of which I plan to have feature pieces on in the next week or so.

In case you were wondering where first baseman Chris Nash and outfielder Matt Brown have been, they are both a little dinged up and out injured. Nash has a triceps issue he is battling through, and the hope is that with some time off he'll be good to go here in a few days. Brown's injury could be a little more serious as the Indians called up outfielder Ramon Hernandez from extended spring training today. Brown had an MRI on his left wrist, and although he and the org does not feel it is serious, they could be cautious with it and give him a little more time off.

Also, minor league infield coordinator Ted Kubiak is in town and working with the Lake County infielders. Particularly with Nash, whom the org is working with a lot to get him to become more consistent fundamentally.

Aeros Ride Dixon’s Gem to 3-0 Win

AKRON, OH – Aeros starter Kevin Dixon tossed eight shutout innings and Wes Hodges roped a two-run double in the first to lead Akron to a 3-0 victory over Altoona in front of 5,423 fans at Canal Park Tuesday night. The Aeros moved to 20-21 on the season with their fourth shutout of 2008, and Akron pitching has now turned in 17.1 consecutive scoreless innings. The Curve fell to 15-26.

The Aeros picked up the only runs they would need in the first inning, as Josh Rodriguez drew a one-out walk and Chris Gimenez followed with a single to start the rally. Hodges then drove a 2-0 fastball off the wall in left-center to drive in both runners and give the Aeros a 2-0 lead. Hodges leads the Eastern League with 37 RBI in 41 games. Akron ran Curve starter Jimmy Barthmaier from the game later in the inning after the right-hander issued consecutive walks to Matt Whitney and Nathan Panther to reach the 35-pitch mark in the inning, arriving at the limit Pittsburgh puts on its minor league pitchers.

The Aeros added another run in the third when Hodges drew a one-out walk, and Stephen Head drove his own RBI double off the wall to the deepest part of the park in center field, scoring a sliding Hodges to give the Aeros a 3-0 lead that proved to be insurmountable the way Dixon was pitching.

Dixon faced the minimum through three innings, allowing just a single to Brad Corley, whom the Aeros quickly eliminated on a nifty 3-6-1 double play. The Curve brought runners to first and third in the fourth with two down, but Corley popped to short to end any chance of a two-out rally. That pop-up started a string of 13 consecutive outs for Dixon to end his best outing of the season and his fourth straight quality start.

Dixon (2-3) nailed down the win with a final line of eight innings, two hits, no runs, no walks and five strikeouts, while dropping his ERA nearly a full run from 5.26 to 4.34. His eight-inning sting tied left-hander Ryan Edell for the longest start by an Aeros pitcher this year. Barthmaier (2-3) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on two hits and three walks in just two-thirds of an inning. Randy Newsom snagged his 12th save in as many chances and moved into a tie with Bowie’s Julio Manon for the Eastern League lead. It was also the 30th career save for Akron’s all-time leader.

The Aeros will look for their first three-game winning streak of the season Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. as they continue this four-game series. Left-hander David Huff (3-1, 2.14 ERA), the reigning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, is Akron’s scheduled starter, while Altoona will send Yoslan Herrera (3-3, 2.57 ERA). Cleveland Indians reliever Joe Borowski will also be in uniform for a rehab assignment as he continues to work his way back from a right triceps strain. Wednesday is Family Pack Day at Canal Park with four tickets, four hot dogs, four bags of chips, and four sodas for just $48. The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com.

Kinston Slips By First Place Pelicans

The K-Tribe scored a run in the top of the ninth inning, breaking a tie to beat Myrtle Beach 4-3 Tuesday night in South Carolina. With two-outs in the top of the ninth inning Carlos Rivero drew a two out walk. Jared Head followed with a double down the third base line. On the play Pelicans left fielder Willie Cabrera tried to throw Rivero out at third base, but missed the mark and sent the ball to the backstop. Rivero scored from third to give Kinston the 4-3 lead. The Pelicans threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning, but closer Luis Perdomo got Ernesto Mejia to ground into a game ending double play. Perdomo notched his ninth save of the season, capping of a great bullpen performance by Kinston. Perdomo, Matt Meyer and Mike Pontius combined for four shutout innings from the bullpen. Meyer (1-0) picked up the win.

Kinston got on the board in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Alex Castillo. The K-Tribe would tie the score at three with RBI’s from Cirilo Cumberbatch and Johnny Drennen in the sixth inning. Every batter in Kinston’s lineup had at least one hit as the K-Tribe racked up 11 hits on the night. Castillo and Niuman Romero each had two hits for Kinston.

The K-Tribe takes on Southern Division leading Myrtle Beach Wednesday at 7:05 for game two of the three game series. Carlton Smith will take the mound for the K-Tribe.

CAPTAINS FALL IN TWELVE TO THE POWER 3-2

(Eastlake, OH) – Scott Houin hit a solo home run off Captains reliever Gary Campfield in the top of the twelfth inning to send the West Virginia Power to a 3-2 win over the Captains at Classic Park on Tuesday. The Captains are now 1-3 in extra inning games. This is the first win for the Power versus the Captains this year. The Captain are 3-1 against the Power in 2008.

West Virginia’s Zelous Wheeler led off the fourth inning against Captains starter Kelvin De La Cruz by hitting his third home run of the year to give the Power a 1-0 lead. The Captains took the lead in the fifth inning off Power starter Dan Merklinger when the Captains got runners to second and third with no outs when Roman Pena walked and was doubled to third by Jeff Hehr. W ild pitch scored Pena with Hehr taking third. Hehr scored on a ground out by Michael Valadez and the Captains led 2-0 after five innings. The Power tied it up in the seventh inning after they had loaded the bases on walks off of Captains reliever Josh Judy, Judy uncorked a wild pitch that scored Brent Brewer to tie the game at 2-2.

Houin’s homer made a loser out of Campfield whohad his record drop to 2-1. Corey Frerichs upped his record to 2-4 with the win and Mike Ramlow picked up his second save pitching a scoreless twelfth inning.

The home stand continues on Wednesday as the Captains host West Virginia Power in a double header at 12:05 PM. The Captains will send LHP Ryan Morris (5-0, 2.59) to the mound in game one against the Power’s RHP Evan Anundsen (3-3, 4.02). In game two RHP Joanniel Montero (0-, 6.00) will start for Lake County against RHP Rob Bryson (1-2, 4.50). The games can also be heard on AM 1330 WELW, WELW.COM or CAPTAINSBASEBALL.COM.

Posted in: