Game Recaps 5/23

Westbrook, Bullpen Lights Out in 4-0 Win

AKRON, OH – Jake Westbrook looked strong in six innings of work and the Aeros bullpen picked up where he left off in Akron’s 4-0 win over Erie before 5,981 fans at Canal Park Friday. The Aeros claimed their fifth win in a row and raised their record to 23-21, while the SeaWolves dipped to 17-30. It was Akron’s fifth shutout of the year and second in four days.

Westbrook, making a rehab start while recovering from a left intercostal strain, has been on Cleveland’s 15-day disabled list since April 22nd. He worked quickly on this night however, finishing under his 90-pitch limit and allowing just three hits and four walks in six shutout innings. The Aeros played excellent defense behind him, and Westbrook himself made a sharp play in the second. Max St. Pierre chopped a ball down the third base line and Westbrook got off the mound quickly, fielded it with his bare hand, wheeled and fired a strike to Stephen Head at first. Then in the fourth with one down and runners at first and second, Justin Justice hit a sharp grounder into the hole at second that looked like it would score the first run of the game. Brandon Pinckney raced to his left however, made a diving stop, and flipped from his knees to Josh Rodriguez covering second, who then made leaping relay to retire Justice for the double play.

Erie starter Jon Connolly was just as good over the first six innings, allowing just three hits, but the Aeros got to him in the seventh for two runs. Chris Gimenez walked to lead off, and Head doubled him to third. Matt Whitney then singled to left to score Gimenez, and Nathan Panther lined a single to right to score Head and give Akron a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, Jose Constanza hustled out of the box on a ball roped into right-center and the speedy center fielder beat the throw to second for a leadoff double. Gimenez singled him in on a liner to center, and advanced to second on the throw home. Wes Hodges then drove home his league-leading 39th RBI on a single to center, plating Gimenez.

Jeff Stevens and Scott Roehl dominated SeaWolves hitters out of the bullpen, retiring all nine men they faced, including a stretch of six consecutive strikeouts. Stevens (5-1) picked up the win after replacing Westbrook, tossing two perfect innings and striking out four. Connolly (0-4) suffered the loss, finishing with four runs on eight hits in 7.2 innings after carrying a shutout into the seventh. Head paced the offense with a 3-4 effort, and Panther chipped in with a pair of hits as well. Pinckney finished 0-3 and saw his season-high 13-game hitting streak come to an end.

The Aeros will continue their eight-game homestand at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night, as they take on the SeaWolves in game two of this four-game series. Akron left-hander Ryan Edell (1-3, 5.57 ERA) will go up against Erie southpaw Daniel Christensen (0-4, 5.23 ERA). Saturday is Flyaway Night at Canal Park with Akron-Canton Airport giving away two roundtrip tickets to anywhere AirTran Airways flies in the continental United States. The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com.

Kinston Splits with Winston-Salem

On Friday night the K-Tribe beat Winston-Salem 6-3 in a game that started way back on April 4th. The opening night game was suspended in the bottom of the third inning when a city wide power outage caused the game’s suspension. The K-Tribe picked it up with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the third, getting a run when the game restarted when Nick Weglarz walked. Kinston couldn’t score again in the inning, but added a run in the fourth and sixth to cruise to the 6-3 win. Johnny Drennen, Beau Mills and Alex Castillo each had two hits for the K-Tribe. Josh Tomlin got the win for Kinston, giving up three earned runs in four innings. Tomlin struck out seven and did not walk a batter.

In game two, the K-Tribe erased a 2-0 deficit with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kinston sent 12 men up to the plate, notching five hits, three walks and a hit batter. The Warthogs came back with five more runs in the top of the sixth inning, to tie the score and send the regularly scheduled seven inning game into “extras”. Winston-Salem scored an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning to break the tie and head for the 8 to 7 victory. Neil Wagner (1-5) was the tough luck loser, giving up two hits in the top of the ninth inning. Former East Carolina University Pirate Ricky Brooks (1-2) was the winner, pitching four innings of one hit relief.

Kinston will do it again tomorrow picking up last Sunday’s suspended game in the bottom of the fifth inning with the K-Tribe having a 1-0 lead. Jim Deters will pick up the suspended game for the K-Tribe at 6pm for Historic Grainger Stadium. The Indians will play a seven inning game to follow with Steven Wright taking the mound for Kinston.

CAPTAINS LOSE FINALE TO POWER

(Eastlake, OH) –Eric Farris had an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning to score David Fonseca to break a 1-1 tie and lead the West Virginia Power to a 2-1 victory over the Lake County Captains on Friday night in front of a sell out crowd at Classic Park. The Power took three of five games in the series and four of the five games were decided by one run. The Captains lead in the Northern Division is 3.5 games over Delmarva.

The Captains took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Mark Thompson doubled off of Power starter Amaury Rivas and scored on a Lucas Montero’s fielder’s choice. The Power tied it up off of Captains reliever Josh Judy in the sixth inning on Eric Fryer’s solo home run.

Captain’s starter Ryan Miller pitched four scoreless innings before giving way to Judy. Miller was looking for win number eight on the season. He gave up four hits and walked a season high five while striking out five. Josh Judy gave up the one run on one hit and struck out three. Gary Campfield followed Judy and picked up the loss to drop to 2-2. Corey Frerichs notched his second win against the Captains and upped his season record to 3-4 while Mike Ramlow pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure his third save.

The Captains will begin a four game series on Saturday in Lexington against the Legends with game time at 7:05 PM. RHP Joey Mahalic (2-0, 6.52) will start for the Captains against the Legends LHP Jeff Icenogle (0-3, 6.75). The games can also be heard on AM 1330 WELW, WELW.COM or CAPTAINSBASEBALL.COM.

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