Game Recaps: Sunday 5/10

Clippers beat Pawtucket

The Clippers withstood four innings from Daisuke Matsuzaka and beat the Pawtucket Red Sox 4-1 in front of a capacity Mother's Day crowd at Huntington Park. Pawtucket gave Matsuzaka a quick lead when the second batter of the game, Jonathan Van Every, hit a Zach Jackson pitch over the right field wall for a solo home run.

In the fifth inning, Pawtucket replaced starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka with knuckleballer Charlie Zink. The Clippers scored two runs on no hits after four walks and sacrifice flies by Wes Hodges and Tony Graffanino.

The Clippers added to the lead in the seventh inning when Trevor Crowe walked and Hodges hammered a two-run homer increasing the lead to 4-1.

Rich Rundles pitched two scoreless innings to earn his first save of the year. Frank Herrmann also delivered a pair of shutout frames. Zach Jackson earned the win with five innings of work. The pitching trio allowed only three hits.

Matsuzaka, who is recovering from a mild right shoulder strain, is likely to make another rehab start for Pawtucket on Friday in Toledo. He threw 58 pitches, 37 for strikes against the Clippers, allowing four hits and waking two in four scoreless innings.

The series finale is Monday night at 6:35pm.

Aeros Win 8-2, Sweep Senators Again

Starting pitching was the story once again for Akron, as left-hander Chuck Lofgren crafted a quality start and the Aeros completed their second three-game sweep of the Harrisburg Senators this year by the final score of 8-2 Sunday at Canal Park. The California-born Lofgren delivered the third consecutive quality start for Akron pitching as the club improved to 8-0 against Harrisburg this season before 1,852 fans. The Aeros also upped their record to 22-5 overall, the best mark in all of professional baseball, while the last-place Senators fell to 6-21.

The Aeros got on the board in the first inning when back-to-back, two-out singles by Beau Mills and Carlos Santana ignited the rally. Niuman Romero was then plunked by a pitch, and Canadian sensation Nick Weglarz singled home both Mills and Santana to give Akron an early 2-0 advantage.

Harrisburg put up its first run of the day in the top of the third, as an RBI groundout off the bat of Edgardo Baez plated Ofilio Castro. The Aeros responded by manufacturing two more runs in their half of the third however, as a passed ball brought home Mills and a sacrifice fly from Damaso Espino scored Santana, bringing the Akron lead to 4-1.

More run support came around for Akron in the fourth, when Jared Head doubled just past the third base bag leading off. Jose Constanza picked up a beautiful single on a bunt down the third base line, and Harrisburg intentionally walked Mills to load the bases. Senators’ reliever Josh Wilkie struck out Santana, but then promptly walked Romero on four pitches to force in the fifth Aeros run of the afternoon.

Akron’s final offensive burst came in the bottom of the eighth inning against Harrisburg reliever Dave Williams. The left-hander walked Carlos Rivero, Mills, and Romero to load the bases with one out, and Weglarz then delivered a huge smash yet again, lining a double down the right field line to clear the bases and account for the final margin.

Lofgren (2-0) led the Aeros with six strong innings, allowing only one run on two hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts. He remained fourth in the Eastern League in ERA, although the number did rise slightly from 1.29 to 1.33. He also tied the now-departed Frank Herrmann with his third quality start of the season in five outings. Zack Segovia (0-2) suffered the loss for the Senators in a spot-start, getting touched for four runs (three earned) and five hits in three innings. Josh Judy stranded a pair of inherited runners in the eighth and went on to record his second save of the season with a pair of scoreless innings. Akron pitching combined to hold the Senators to just 14 hits and six runs in 27 innings during the three-game set. Weglarz was the star for the Akron hitters, finishing 2-4 with five RBI and matching Rivero’s team-high, five-RBI effort against Harrisburg April 30th. Mills and Constanza also had stellar afternoons with two hits each, picking up their ninth and 10th multi-hit games of the season, respectively.

This six-game home stand continues on an already sold out Dollar Dog Monday, as the Bowie Baysox come to town for a 7:05 first pitch in game one of a three-game series. Newly minted Akron starter Erik Stiller (1-1, 4.60 ERA) will take on Jake Arrieta (2-1, 3.80 ERA) of the Baysox.

Kinston's Four Game Win Streak Snapped With 5-1 Loss

Lonnie Chisenhall hit his sixth home run of the year, but Cody Johnson hit his Carolina League leading tenth and eleventh home runs to give Myrtle Beach a 5-1 win over Kinston Sunday afternoon at Historic Grainger Stadium. The loss snapped a season high four game win streak for Kinston (17-14), but the K-Tribe still won the series taking two of three from the Pelicans.

Johnson started the home run derby for Myrtle Beach in the third inning, hitting a three-run shot off of Kinston starter Ryan Morris. Chisenhall unloaded a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Pelican lead to two. The bomb was Chisenhall’s sixth of the season; Lonnie ended the day 2-for-4 and is now hitting .333 for the season. Johnson hit another home run off of Morris in his next at bat, a two-run shot to center in the fifth inning. Morris (1-4) picked up the loss for Kinston, giving up nine hits in five innings while striking out a season high seven batters. The K-Tribe bullpen kept the score close as relievers Garrison Campfield and Heath Taylor each pitched two no-hit innings. Both pitchers fanned four Pelicans each. Kinston ended up striking out a season high 15 batters in the game.

Kinston infielder Matt McBride went 0-for-3 with a walk, snapping his Minor League leading 23 game hitting streak. The hit streak was the longest by a Kinston Indian in more than five years and the longest in the Carolina League since 2007. McBride had 15 multi hit games over the streak, which began on April 19th. McBride is now hitting .405 on the season.

The K-Tribe will enjoy an off day Monday and next play Tuesday night in Wilmington, Delaware. Game time 6:35pm on Tuesday as Kinston’s Russell Young will get the start against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The K-Tribe will return home Friday, kicking off a seven game homestand against the Frederick Keys.

Captains Shutout Intimidators 9-0

The home run ball was flying out of Classic Park on Sunday as the Captains connected three times in the first two innings on their way to a 9-0 win over the Kannapolis Intimidators on Sunday. The Captains have taken the first two games of the series.

The Captains got an early lead and never looked back scoring six runs in the first inning as they strung together six straight hits. Matt Willard and Karexon Sanchez each had RBI hits and Nate Recknagel and Chris Nash each had two run home runs. The Captains made it 7-0 when Sanchez hit his team leading sixth home run in the top of the second inning.

The Captains tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Adam Abraham doubled home two runs and it was 9-0.

Captain’s starter T.J. McFarland got his first win of the year (1-2) going six scoreless innings allowing three hits, three walks and striking out three. Eddie Burns pitched three scoreless innings of relief to pick up his first career save. Dexter Carter took the loss (1-1) allowing seven runs in five innings of work giving up ten hits and striking out eleven.

Game three of the four game series is Monday at 6:30 PM with the Captains sending RHP Mike McGuire (0-2, 5.96) to the mound against the Intimidators LHP Justin Edwards (1-0, 0.00).

Posted in: