Playoff Recap: 9/4

DH Travis Hafner will be in Akron on Friday for Game 3 of their series with Bowie, and may play in Game 4 on Saturday.

C Carlos Santana and IF Brandon Pinckney were taken off the Akron roster today and replaced with C Damaso Espino and IF/OF Jerad Head.

Aeros Fall to Baysox 11-3, Series Tied 1-1

BOWIE, MD – Nolan Reimold socked three home runs and drove in eight, leading Bowie to an 11-3 romp over Akron in game two of the Southern Division Championship Series Thursday night at Prince George’s Stadium. Both teams now stand at 1-1 in the playoffs, and the best-of-five series is tied at a game apiece. Bowie’s win also assures that the series will go at least four games, and game four is set for 6:05 p.m. Saturday night at Canal Park.

The Aeros got off to a good start Thursday, as Josh Rodriguez tripled to lead off the game and Bronson Sardinha promptly brought him home with an RBI grounder to short. Bowie answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning however, as Reimold crushed a two-run homer to left-center to put the Baysox ahead for good. Matt Weiters followed with an infield single and went to second when Akron starter J.D. Martin threw it away, and Jeff Nettles made it 3-1 with an RBI knock to right.

The Baysox then manufactured a run without a hit in the second, as Sebastien Boucher reached on a fielding error by Rodriguez, went to second on a walk, to third on a sacrifice, and scored on a sac fly by Carlos Rojas.

Reimold’s second home run made it 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth, but the Aeros got the run back in the sixth on another RBI grounder by Sardinha, scoring Rodriguez for the second time. Reimold answered with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the inning, and the clubs then traded home runs in the seventh with Matt Whitney going deep for the Aeros and Steve Torrealba going yard for Bowie. Reimold then capped his big night in the eighth with a grand slam to right-center.

Brad Bergesen (1-0) earned the win for Bowie, working eight strong innings and allowing just three runs (two earned) and four hits, while walking one and striking out six. Martin (0-1) was touched for five runs (three earned) and seven hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and a season-high three walks. Rodriguez paced the offense with two hits and two runs scored.

Game three in the best-of-five series is set for 7:05 p.m. Friday and will feature Akron left-hander Ryan Edell (7-8, 3.80 ERA) against Bowie’s David Hernandez (10-4, 2.68 ERA), the league leader with 166 strikeouts in the regular season. Edell went 0-1 with a 5.49 ERA in four starts against Bowie in the regular season, while Hernandez was 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in three starts against the Aeros. Cleveland DH Travis Hafner will also be in the lineup for Akron as he continues his Major League rehab assignment. The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com.

In Regular Season Action....

SCRAPPERS RALLEY FOR 5-2 WIN OVER CROSSCUTTERS

On Thursday night the Scrappers wrapped up their brief two game series with the Williamsport Crosscutters and both teams came out swinging. The Cutters plated two in the first on a RBI triple by Brian Frew and a sacrifice fly, only to see the Scrappers respond in the bottom of the first in scoring one on a fielders choice RBI from cord Phelps and it was 2-1 Cutters’ after one.

In the bottom of the seventh the Scrappers plated four run to take the lead for the first time on Thursday night. Key hit in the inning included a two RBI triple from Tim Fedroff and a wild pitch thrown by the Cutters, making the score 5-2 Scrappers after seven innings.

Scrapper reliever Brian Grening worked a scoreless eighth and ninth innings and the Scrappers took game two 5-2.

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