Game Recaps 6/7

Just a note, tomorrow (Monday) I will have a piece on Jordan Brown up on the site. Also, on Tuesday I have a big piece coming recapping a conversation I had with a scout where we talked about a dozen prospects. Can't wait to post it.

Aeros Score Final 11 Runs, Clip Dogs 11-10

PORTLAND, ME – The game was over.

At the end of five innings, Portland had put up 10 runs on 13 hits. The Aeros had no runs on three singles. Sea Dogs starter Dave Gassner had faced the minimum 15 hitters. Akron was on its third pitcher of the night. The game was over.

The Aeros didn’t care.

Akron erupted for 11 runs over the final four innings Saturday night, shocking Portland and the 7,368 fans in attendance at Hadlock Field in a wild and borderline unbelievable 11-10 triumph. The Aeros improved to 33-26 (a season-best seven games over .500) while the Sea Dogs fell to 36-25.

Akron got on the board innocently enough, as Ryan Goleski scored on a fielding error in the top of the sixth to avoid a shutout. The Aeros tacked on two more in the inning on RBI singles from Josh Rodriguez and Chris Gimenez, and things got very interesting in the seventh. Three straight singles loaded the bases with no one out, and Brandon Pinckney delivered an RBI single to make it 10-4. A sacrifice fly from Trevor Crowe cut the margin to 10-5, and Rodriguez then lofted a two-run triple into the right field corner to get Akron within three at 10-7.

Scott Roehl turned in his second straight perfect inning in the bottom of the seventh to get the offense back to the plate, and a clutch two-run, two-out single from Crowe in the top of the eighth made it a 10-9 contest.

After closer Randy Newsom stranded a runner at second in the bottom of the eighth, the Aeros capped their comeback in the ninth. Gimenez drew a leadoff walk to start the rally, and two batters later Bronson Sardinha lined a single to right field to put runners at first and second. Matt Whitney then tied the game on the very next pitch with an RBI single to center, as Gimenez chugged around third and got his left hand on the plate just ahead of the tag from catcher Mark Wagner. Stephen Head popped up for the second out, but a four-pitch walk to Goleski loaded the bases. That brought Brandon Chaves to the plate, who had only entered the game a half-inning before as a defensive replacement. Reliever Carlos Vasquez got two quick strikes on Chaves, but the switch-hitter grounded a 1-2 offering sharply back through the box. Vasquez got his glove on the worm-burner but couldn’t corral it, and the ball died in the infield grass as Sardinha raced home with the winning run.

Newsom (4-0) got the win with 1.2 shutout innings, but Roehl’s performance (3.1 innings, one run, final eight batters retired) cannot be discounted. Mike James (2-2) suffered the loss for Portland. Crowe and Rodriguez led the charge offensively with three RBI each, while Goleski went 3-4 and scored two runs. Every Akron starter had a hit for the second straight night, and Rodriguez and Sardinha both extended their hitting streaks to 12 and 10 games, respectively.

The Aeros will look for a sweep in this three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m., with Akron’s Frank Herrmann (5-3, 4.83 ERA) facing off against Eastern League ERA leader Michael Bowden (5-3, 2.12 ERA). The game broadcast begins at 12:45 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com.

Kinston Walks off with an extra inning win

A Niuman Romero RBI single scored Jerad Head and gave Kinston a 10-9 extra inning win over Myrtle Beach Saturday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. In a back and fourth affair, Kinston bolted out to an 8-1 lead through four innings thanks to three Indian home runs. Nick Weglarz had a two-run shot in the first, Niuman Romero a solo homer in the fourth and Beau Mills with a grand slam later in the inning. Myrtle Beach came back with their own home run derby, hitting four home runs to tie and then take the lead. A two-run home run by Gorky’s Hernandez tied the score at eight in the top of the eighth and a solo home run by Eric Campbell in the ninth inning gave Myrtle Beach a 9-8 lead. Kinston came back in the bottom of the ninth, when Cirilo Cumberbatch delivered a game-tying RBI single, scoring Jerad Head and sending the game into extra innings.

With two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Jerad Head was hit by a pitch. Jared Goedert singled and Cirilo Cumberbatch reached on a fielder’s choice. Niuman Romero hit a chopper to the first base side that took a high bounce, getting over the glove of first baseman Ernesto Mejia and giving Kinston a 10-9 extra innings victory. Luis Perdomo (3-1) got the win for Kinston, Michael Broadway the loss for Myrtle Beach.

Kinston returns to Grainger Stadium tomorrow for the final game of the three game series with the Pelicans. Steven Wright takes the mound for Kinston, game time 2pm.

HAGERSTOWN HR SINKS CAPTAINS

(Hagerstown, MD) – Dan Lyons hit a walk off solo home run off of Dallas Cawiezell in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Hagerstown Suns past the Lake County Captains on Saturday 5-4. This was the first walk off loss this year against the Captains.

The Suns scored a run in the first inning off of Captains starter Ryan Morris when Boomer Whiting singled to start the inning. He stole second and third base and then scored on a wild pitch by Morris to make it 1-0. The Captains tied it 1-1 in the top of the second inning when Jeff Hehr doubled and he went to third on a ground out by Matt Brown and scored on a sacrifice fly by Doug Pickens. The Captains took the lead in the top of the third inning when Lucas Montero was hit by a pitch. He stole second and went to third sacrifice bunt by Adam White. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Thompson and the Captains led 2-1.

The Captains tacked on another run in the top of the fourth inning when Brown singled and went to second when Doug Pickens was hit by a pitch. Browns would score on a two out single by Montero to make it 3-1. The Suns cut the lead to 3-2 on a solo home run by Tim Pahuta. The Suns tied it 3-3 in the fifth inning when with two outs Stephen King singled. He scored on a double by Michael Burgess. The Captains grabbed the lead back in the top of the sixth inning on a Ron Rivas grounder that scored Brown to make it 4-3. The Suns tied it at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh of reliever Kyle Landis when Whiting walked and eventually scored on and RBI single by Bill Rhinehart.

Morris went 4.2 innings allowing three run on four hits, walking a season high six and striking out three and did not factor in the decision. Kyle Landis relieved Morris with two outs in the fifth inning and pitched 2.1 innings allowing one run on three hits striking out two. Cawiezell came on in the eighth inning in relief of Landis with runners at second and third and no outs and got out of the inning before giving up the ninth inning home run and had his record drop to 2-3. Kyle Gunderson got the relief win to up his record to 1-2.

The Captains and Suns conclude the series on Sunday at 2:05 PM with the Captains sending RHP Chris Archer (1-6, 4.40) to the mound against the Suns RHP Cole Kimball (1-2, 6.19). The game can be heard on AM 1330 WELW, WELW.COM or CAPTAINSBASEBALL.COM.

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