Game Recaps: Wednesday 4/15

Huff Leads Clippers To Win

The Columbus Clippers beat the Indianapolis Indians on Wednesday afternoon 4-1. The story of the game was some timely hitting by the Clippers combined with a solid starting effort by lefty David Huff and an oustanding job by the bullpen to close the door.

Huff got the win and is now 2-0 on the season in his first two starts, but unlike his first start where he was a little erratic, he was much better the second time out going 5 innings and allowing 1 run on 5 hits, 2 walks, and had 3 strikeouts. Relievers Rich Rundles, Matt Herges, and Greg Aquino combined to throw 4 shutout innings in relief of Huff.

The offensive star of the game was Jordan Brown - who got the start in left field - as he went 3-for-4 with a 2B, HR, and 2 RBI. Designated hitter Michael Aubrey continued his sizzling start getting two hits in four at bats and catcher Wyatt Toregas went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Santana’s Slam Propels Aeros

Carlos Santana belted a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning and that one swing proved to be the difference as Akron defeated Altoona 4-1 before 1,255 fans on the first Education Day of the season Wednesday morning at Canal Park. The Aeros finished their opening homestand of the year at 5-1 while keeping the Curve winless at 0-6.

Akron starter Hector Rondon whiffed a pair of hitters in the top of the first, and the offense went right to work in the bottom half. Josh Rodriguez led off with a walk against Altoona left-hander Tony Watson, and Carlos Rivero flared a single into shallow center field. Beau Mills then surprised everyone with a perfect bunt down the third base line that came to a rest on the chalk to load the bases, and Santana then hammered a 2-1 fastball deep over the fence in left-center for a quick 4-0 lead.

Rondon (2-0) took over from there, working into the sixth before departing. He allowed just one run and four hits in 5.2 innings, walking one and striking out five. Watson (0-2) didn’t make it out of the first inning for Altoona, surrendering all four runs on four hits in just 0.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Carlton Smith made his Akron debut out of the bullpen with 1.1 innings of perfect relief, and Erik Stiller survived a scare in the eighth, allowing a single and hitting a batter to bring the potential tying run to the plate with just one out before a pair of fly balls ended the threat. Closer Vinnie Pestano surrendered a leadoff double in the ninth before recording the final three outs in order to notch his third save in as many chances. Santana finished 1-3 with a walk and four RBI, and has driven in eight of his 10 runs and hit both of his homers in Rondon’s two starts. Mills went 3-4 and Niuman Romero finished 2-4.

The Aeros now hit the road to begin a weeklong trip to Bowie and Harrisburg. Game one of the four-game series with the Baysox is set for 7:05 p.m. Thursday, with Akron’s Frank Herrmann (1-0, 1.50 ERA) taking on Bowie southpaw Troy Patton (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who beat the Aeros Friday.

Kinston Falls to Wilmington 6-2

A K-Tribe comeback attempt fell short as Wilmington beat Kinston 6-2 Wednesday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

Down 6-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the K-Tribe took advantage of two Wilmington errors getting RBIs from Cord Phelps and Lonnie Chisenhall. Chisenhall was 2-for-4 on the night, his second hit an RBI single that cut the Blue Rock lead to 6-2. The Indians used back to back singles from Matt Brown and Ronald Rivas to start a rally in the bottom of the ninth, but a double play put down the comeback attempt.

Wilmington used a big seventh inning to break the game open, highlighted by a two-run home run from Wilmington’s Jeff Bianchi. Bianchi went 2-for-5 with 3 RBI. Jeanmar Gomez was the tough luck loser for Kinston, giving up four hits and two earned runs in five innings. Gomez (0-2) walked two and struck out one. Kinston reliever Chen-Chang Lee gave up his first runs of the season, giving up four hits and four earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Dallas Cawiezell looked good from the K-Tribe pen, giving up just two hits and no earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Starter Danny Duffy (1-0) records the win for Wilmington.

The K-Tribe takes on Wilmington Thursday night at Historic Grainger Stadium at 7pm. Eric Berger will take the bump for the Indians.

Captains Topple BlueClaws 4-2

(Eastlake, OH) – The Captains jumped out to an early lead and never trailed as they ended a five game losing skid with a 4-2 win over the Lakewood BlueClaws on Wednesday night. The Captains are 2-5 on the young season as they head out for their first road trip of the year.

For the third game in a row the Captains scored in the first inning. Jeremie Tice grounded home Donnie Webb and then Karexon Sanchez singled home Mark Thompson and it was 2-0. The Captains added two more runs off of Claws starter Jason Knapp in the second inning on a RBI double by Michael Valadez and a Sacrifice fly from Thompson and it was 4-0.

Lakewood picked up a run in the third inning when Captains starter T.J. House walked Troy Hanzawa with the bases loaded and they added another run in the fourth on a RBI double by Anthony Gose and the score was 4-2.

House did not factor in the decision going 3.2 innings and allowing the two runs ion four hits, walking four and striking out two. Mike McGuire threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first win of the season. Kyle Landis pitched a scoreless ninthinning to register his first save of the year. Knapp took the loss and saw his record fall to 0-2.

The Captains travel to Delmarva for a four game series starting on Thursday at 7:05 PM. The Captains will send RHP Alexander Perez (0-0, 1.50) to the mound against the Shorebirds RHP Ryan O’Shea (0-0, 1.80).

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