Game Recaps 6/29

I was out of town in D.C. over the weekend to see Kinston and do some sightseeing in the Nations capital. Sorry if anyone tuned in over the weekend and did not see any updates. In any case, here are the wraps from Sunday. I'll do a thorough listing of any noteworthy news late Monday once I catch up on the eight gazillion e-mails I have.:-)

Aeros Sneak Past Phillies, 7-6

AKRON, OH – The Aeros survived a ninth-inning scare to win a 7-6, back-and-forth contest over Reading before 3,691 fans at Canal Park Sunday afternoon. The Aeros improved to 49-32 and claimed the series victory, while Reading fell to 31-49. Akron also won its 20th game of the month, reaching the 20-win plateau for just the sixth time in franchise history (and the first time since August of 2005).

The Aeros put up a 2-0 lead in the bottom of third inning as Jose Constanza bunted for a single with one down and Trevor Crowe tripled off the wall in right-center to drive him home. Josh Rodriguez followed with an RBI groundout for the second run.

Reading took the lead in the fifth with three runs on just one hit off Akron starter Steven Wright, who had faced one batter over the minimum to that point. Joey Hammond and Luke Appert walked in the inning, and Neil Sellers pounded a 3-1 mistake into the bullpen to take the 3-2 lead. In the bottom half of the fifth, however, Akron strung together four straight singles, including RBI hits from Matt Whitney and Stephen Head, to retake the lead at 4-3. Reading, though, tied the game in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Jeremy Slayden.

In the bottom of the sixth, Constanza doubled down the right-field line and Crowe and Rodriguez each drew walks to load bases with no outs. Bronson Sardinha then drew the third straight walk to score Constanza to give Akron a 5-4 lead, and Whitney followed with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 6-4. Crowe then led off the eighth with a line-drive home run, giving closer Randy Newsom a 7-4 lead to work with in the top of the ninth.

Newsom would need Crowe’s insurance as the first three batters reached off him to load the bases. The sidewinder buckled down though, getting Appert to ground into a 4-6-3 double play as a run scored. Sellers followed with an RBI infield single in the hole between first and second, but Newsom struck out Kevin Nelson to end the game.

J.D. Martin (7-3) earned the win with 2.2 innings of scoreless, two-hit relief while striking out three. Tyson Brummett (1-1) took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings. Newsom nailed down his league-leading 23rd save, which ties Wilmer Montoya’s franchise record for saves in a season. Wright worked 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits, walking three and striking out three.

The Aeros hit the road for an eight-game, two-city road trip beginning Monday night with a 7:05 p.m. game against the Erie SeaWolves. Akron will likely activate Frank Herrmann (7-3, 5.08 ERA) to make the start against Erie’s Ben Fritz (2-3, 5.63 ERA). Akron does not return home until July 8th when they begin a three-game series against Bowie. The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com.

Kinston Wins 6-1

The Kinston Indians got three consecutive two-run innings and another sparkling pitching performance from Hector Rondon to win their third game in a row, beating the Potomac Nationals, 6-1, in the first of three at Historic Grainger Stadium. Jason Denham had a two-out, two-run double to score Niuman Romero and Cirilo Cumberbatch in the fourth. Jerad Head hit an RBI-triple in the fifth to score Johnny Drennen, and came home on a groundout from Nick Weglarz. Denham doubled home Romero again in the sixth, and came home on a run-scoring single from Cristo Arnal.

Niuman Romero had three hits in the Kinston victory, and Jason Denham was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, his fourth multiple hit game in this last five starts.

After Rondon let up a solo home run to Dee Brown in the second inning, he settled down and threw four straight scoreless innings. Rondon struck out six batters and now leads the Carolina League in strikeouts with 89. Mike Finocchi had his best relief outing since coming back from injury pitching a perfect seventh inning. Matt Meyer finished the game with two scoreless innings of his own.

The Indians have been in first place every day in the second half, and their win against Potomac gives them the best record in the Carolina League at 8-2. They look to make it four in a row with Carlton Smith (5-4) taking the mound at Historic Grainger Stadium at 7:00 PM on Monday.

SUNS BEAT CAPTAINS 4-3

(Eastlake, OH) – An unearned run was the difference in the game as the Lake County Captains fell to the Hagerstown Suns 4-3 on Sunday. After several hit batters, the game saw a bench clearing incident where several players on both sides were ejected. Both managers were ejected following separate hit batters. The Suns extended their first place lead over the Captains to four games.

The Suns got to Captains started Chris Archer in the second inning as they loaded the bases with no outs. Valerio Heredia grounded out to score a run with the other runners moving to second and third. Boomer Whiting then doubled home both runners and it was 3-0.

The Captains rallied for two runs in the fourth inning when the starter Ryan Harrison allowed two base runners before being relieved by Terrence Engles. Jansy Infante singled off of Engles and Karexon Sanchez scored with Michael Valdez taking third. Valadez was able to score when the throw back to the infield from right fielder Michael Burgess was wild and it was 3-2. The Suns scored an unearned run off Captains reliever Josh Judy in the fifth inning when Aaron Seuss reached on a three base error by Lucas Montero and would score on a sacrifice fly by Michael Burgess to make it 4-2.

The Captains tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Sanchez bounced into a double play and Jeff Hehr scored to cut the lead to 4-3. After the double play, Michael Valadez was hit by a pitch and both benches cleared.

Archer’s record fell to 2-8 going four innings allowing three runs on four hits, walking five and striking out five. Judy relieved Archer in the fifth inning and allowed just the unearned run on one hit before being ejected for hitting Dan Lyons. Joanniel Montero relieved Judy and threw 2.1 scoreless innings. Kyle Landis pitched a scoreless ninth. Terrance Engles got the win in relief to move his record to 4-1. Kyle Gunderson came on with two and one out in the ninth inning and picked up his fifth save.

The Captains begin a six game road trip on Monday with a two game series in Delmarva followed by a four game series in Kannapolis. Game time Monday is 7:05 PM and the Captains will send LHP Ryan Morris (6-2, 3.24) to the mound against the Shorebirds LHP Zach Britton (7-5, 2.95). The All Captains games can be heard on AM 1330 WELW, WELW.COM or CAPTAINSBASEBALL.COM.

In Other Action...

- Buffalo won 7-5. 1B Jordan Brown went 2-for-3 with a 2B, HR, and RBI. DH Michael Aubrey went 0-for-4.

- Mahoning Valley lost 4-1. The Scrappers managed just four hits, and LHP Kaimi Mead went 5 innings and allowed 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB and had 2 Ks.

- The GCL Indians did not play.

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