Game Recaps 5/5

First baseman Jordan Brown's left knee injury is not considered serious at this time. From a source close to the situatio it is just a nagging thing and he will get about a week or so to rest it.

Aeros Rally Late for 9-4 Victory

AKRON, OH – The Aeros battered the Altoona bullpen for seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, snapping a three-game losing streak in dramatic fashion with a 9-4 triumph over the Curve before a season-high 9,072 fans at Canal Park Monday night. Akron improved to 13-17, while the last-place Curve dropped to 12-18.

Altoona opened the scoring on Jason Delaney’s ringing two-run homer to right-center in the top of the second, but Akron rebounded to cut the margin to one when Nathan Panther scored on a throwing error by Luis Cruz. The Curve got the run right back in the top of the fourth however, as former Cleveland farmhand Brian Finegan led off with a single and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 3-1. Altoona then took advantage of a rare error from Panther in the top of the seventh, as the Akron leftfielder dropped Jonel Pacheco’s line drive and Brad Corley followed with an RBI double to right-center to push the Curve lead to 4-1.

Matt Whitney cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the seventh, sending a solo home run just inside the left field foul pole for his third home run of the season and first since April 8th. The Aeros then broke through in a big way in the eighth, sending 11 men to the plate and putting up seven runs in an inning for the third time this year.

Jose Constanza opened the frame with a single to right, and then wasted little time in stealing second. Chris Gimenez delivered a run-scoring double down the left field line to make it 4-3, and after a walk, Stephen Head singled to left to plate Gimenez and tie the game at 4-4. The Aeros then pulled ahead for the first time all night as Wes Hodges scored on a passed ball to give Akron a slim 5-4 advantage. Ryan Goleski and Panther followed with two-out walks to load the bases, and Brandon Pinckney then came through with a clutch two-run single to left to make it 7-4. Constanza then put an exclamation point on the inning with a two-run triple to left-center to make it 9-4, and became the first Aero since Heath Hayes on May 25th, 1999 to have two hits in an inning.

J.D. Martin (3-1) earned the win with two solid innings of relief, while Altoona’s Kevin Roberts (1-1) was tagged for five runs on three hits and three walks in just 0.2 innings for the loss. Neither starter factored into the final decision, but both pitched well. Akron starter Kevin Dixon turned in his second straight quality start, rebounding from a rocky beginning to hold the Curve to three runs on seven hits over six innings. He walked four and struck out a season-high seven. Curve starter Yoslan Herrera was also impressive, allowing just one unearned run and five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out two. The hot-hitting Constanza paced the offense with a three-hit night, going 3-4 with a walk, a triple, two RBI and a stolen base. Head and Pinckney had two hits each, while Panther reached base twice and scored two runs.

Game two in this three-game series is set for 7:05 p.m. Tuesday, with Aeros ace Chuck Lofgren (1-2, 6.85 ERA) taking on Altoona’s Josh Hill (2-2, 3.33 ERA). It’s a two-for-one Tuesday at Canal Park, with two-for-one deals on tickets and select concessions. The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at http://www.akronaeros.com/.

Kinston Wins Their Third Straight Game

The K-Tribe scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to topple the Frederick Keys 3-1 on Monday. Kinston is on a three game winning streak, their longest of the season.

With the score tied at one in the top of the ninth inning, Jared Goedert started the frame with a single. Nick Weglarz followed with a double, advancing Goedert to third. With the infield pulled in Carlos Rivero delivered a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Goedert. After an intentional walk to Jason Denham, Cirilo Cumberbatch walked with the bases loaded driving in Weglarz and giving Kinston a 3-1 lead. Weglarz went 2-for-2, with two runs scored. The 20-year-old Canadian is now hitting .316 on the season.

Carlton Smith had his best start of the season for Kinston, going seven and one-third innings, giving up just one earned run. Josh Tomlin (4-1) got his fourth win of the season, not giving up a hit in two-thirds of an inning. Luis Perdomo allowed a hit and a walk in the bottom of the ninth, but held on to pick up his sixth save of the season.

The K-Tribe returns to Frederick for game two of the three game series Tuesday night at 7pm. Jeanmar Gomez will be on the hill for Kinston.

CAPTAINS FALL TO KANNAPOLIS 13-8

(Eastlake, OH) – The Captains gave up a season high thirteen runs on a season high seventeen hits and the Kannapolis Intimidators topped the Captains 13-8. Eight of the nine starters for the Intimidators had at least one hit. The Captains trailed 13-2 at one point and battled back to make it game, but fell short.

The Captains jumped on the Intimidators in the first inning against starter Nathan Jones. Adam White lead off the inning with a towering home run to right field, his first homer of the year. Two batters later Roman Pena singled and he eventually would score on Chris Nash’s RBI.

The Intimidators took the lead for good in the third inning when with the bases loaded, Christian Marrero cleared the bases with a double off of Captains starter Chris Archer. The Intimidators would bat around three times in the game. They would score five runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Sergio Morales had two doubles and scored three runs, Jim Gallagher had three hits and also scored three times and Jose Martinez had three hits including his first home run of the year. Luis Sierra also hit a home run.

The Captains got a three RBI double from Karexon Sanchez in the seventh inning when they scored five runs. Adam White and Mark Thompson had solo home runs in the game to lead the offense.

The series concludes on Tuesday with a double header schedule for 5:05 PM. The Captains send LHP Ryan Miller to the mound in game one (4-0, 1.00) against the Intimidators RHP Jason Rice (1-2, 4.18). The game two starter is Jonathan Holt (0-3, 8.76) but the Intimidators starter is undecided. The Captains will begin an eight game road trip of Thursday in Greensboro with another double header.

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