Game Recaps: Friday 5/8

Clippers Shutout 4-0

Columbus was shutout 4-0 on Friday night after a strong starting pitching performance from Pawtucket's Clay Buchholz who went 7.1 innings of shutout ball allowing just 2 hits, 1 walk and striking out 8.

Right-hander Tomo Ohka kept Columbus in the game with another quality start going 6 innings and allowing 2 runs on 8 hits, no walks and had 4 strikeouts. John Meloan pitched in relief and his struggled continued as he allowed 2 runs in 1.2 innings of work walking 3 and allowing 3 hits.

The Clippers managed just two hits, with Jordan Brown going 1-for-3 with a 2B and Andy Marte going 1-for-3 with a 2B. Infielder Jamey Carroll made his first appearance on his rehab assignment and went 0-for-3.

Aeros Return Home, Defeat Senators 6-4

AKRON, OH – Josh Tomlin turned in his second quality start and the Aeros knocked off Harrisburg 6-4 in front of 4,278 fans at Canal Park Friday night. Akron improved to 20-5 on the year while the Senators dropped to 6-19. The Aeros also won for the sixth straight time against Harrisburg to open this season, and moved to 12-3 at home.

The hitting began for the Aeros in the bottom of the second when Carlos Santana started a rally with a single to left field. Jared Goedert followed with a double down the left field line, and Nick Weglarz got Akron on the board with a sacrifice fly. The early start would prove to be important, as Akron entered play 12-1 when scoring first and kept their winning ways intact.

The Aeros broke the game open with four runs in the third, as Jose Constanza picked up his second hit of the night to spark the rally and Carlos Rivero moved him to third with a hit of his own. Santana then plated Constanza with a single past Bill Rhinehart at first base, and Goedert cleared the bases with a stand-up, two-run triple to left. Weglarz then collected his second RBI of the evening with a base hit to score Goedert, as the Aeros pushed the advantage to 5-0.

Harrisburg got on the board with a two-run homer from Leonard Davis in the top of the fourth, but Akron answered back with a run in the bottom of the inning. Constanza kept the inning alive with a seeing-eye single to center with two away, and Rivero followed by lacing an RBI double to left-center to make it 6-2. The Senators made things interesting in the seventh off reliever Steven Wright, loading the bases with one down before Wright escaped unscathed. Marvin Lowrance accounted for the final margin with a two-run homer in the ninth off closer Vinnie Pestano, but the side-armer settled down from there and recorded the final two outs with no further drama.

Tomlin (3-1) earned the win by limiting the Senators to just two runs and four hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out five. Harrisburg starter Adrian Alaniz (1-1) didn’t make it out of the fourth in the loss, surrendering all six runs and 10 hits in just 3.2 innings. Constanza was the star offensively, finishing 4-5 with four singles and two runs scored while also extending his hitting streak to a season-high seven games. Goedert and Weglarz also provided a boost at the plate, as both finished 2-3 with a pair of RBI. Rivero and Santana had two hits apiece as well, as Akron tied its season-high with 14 hits. Ironically, the Aeros have set that season-high three times, all against Harrisburg.

Game two in this three-game series is set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday on the first United States Army game of the season, as the Aeros will sport special camouflage jerseys in recognition and appreciation of our men and women in uniform. Jeanmar Gomez (1-0, 1.80 ERA) will make his second start of the season for Akron opposite Senators left-hander Justin Jones (1-3, 4.22 ERA).
Kinston Beats Myrtle Beach 9-3

The K-Tribe turned a strong pitching performance into their third straight victory, beating Myrtle Beach 9-3 Friday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. With the victory Kinston (16-13) moved to three games over the five hundred mark for the first time this season and took over possession of first place in the Carolina League Southern Division.

Kinston starter Paolo Espino, just called up from Low A Lake County, delivered five solid innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits. Espino retired the last eleven batters he faced. Chen-Chang Lee (2-2) picked up the win in relief, giving up just one hit and striking out four in two innings. Kyle Landis notched the save, throwing two innings of two-hit ball.

The K-Tribe trailed Myrtle Beach 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning, when a triple by Matt Brown scored Lonnie Chisenhall and Matt McBride. John Allman would drive Brown home with a sacrifice fly one batter later, giving Kinston a 3-2 lead. Kinston would ad insurance on a two-RBI double by Chisenhall in the seventh inning. The K-Tribe would put the game away with four more runs in the eighth. Chisenhall had another big night, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Chisenhall is now hitting .330 on the season. McBride went 2-for-5 with an RBI of his own, extending his hitting streak to a Carolina League high 22 games. It is the longest hit streak by a K-Triber since Brian Barton had a 22 game streak in 2006.

Kinston returns to Historic Grainger Stadium Saturday night for a 7pm contest against Myrtle Beach. The K-Tribe’s Ryan Miller will get the start.

Captains Drop DH to Hickory

The Hickory Crawdads held the Lake Count Captains to only five hits in the doubleheader on their way to a sweep, 3-2 in game one and 6-2 in game two. The Captains dropped three of the four games in the series.

In game one, the Crawdads scored a run in the first inning when Eric Fry walked and then scored on a double by Matt West and the Dads led 1-0. The lead went to 2-0 in the second inning when Jared Bolden walked and scored on a double by Leonel De Los Santos.

The Captains scored a run in the bottom of the third inning when Adam White scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead in half. Hickory came right back in the top of the fourth inning scoring a run on a RBI single by De Los Santos and it was 3-1. The Captains made it 3-2 when Chris Nash scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Starter Danny Salazar made his Captains debut and took the loss going five innings and allowing three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out four. Hickory reliever Mark Hamburger (1-1) got the win pitching 2.2 innings scoreless innings and allowing one hit and striking out two. Matt Nevarez pitched a scoreless final inning to record his fourth save.

In Game two, Hickory scored again in the first inning on a solo home run by Erik Morrison and the Crawdads led 1-0. Abner Abreu tied it up in the bottom of the second inning when he bombed a home run out of the stadium and it was 1-1. The Crawdads got the lead back in the top of the fourth scoring twice on RBI singles by Matt West and Timmy Rodriguez to make it 3-1. They added another run in the top of the fifth inning on a two out single by Morrison and it was 4-1.

The Captains got a little closer in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ryan Blair doubled and then scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Mark Thompson to trail 4-2. The Crawdads scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning off of reliever Steve Smith to end the scoring at 6-2.

Captain’s starter T.J. House took the loss (1-3) going six innings and allowing four runs on eight hits, striking out four. Yoon-Hee Nam started for the Crawdads and got the win working five innings and allowing one run on one hit, walking one and striking out five. Tyler Tufts worked the final two innings and picked up his second save of the season.

The Captains and Kannapolis Intimidators, the class A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, begin a four games series on Saturday with Game time at 6:30 PM. The Captains will have RHP Alexander Perez (1-0, 2.28) on the mound making against LHP Charlie Leesman (3-1, 2.70) for the Intimidators.

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