Game Recaps: Saturday 7/18

Clippers rally past Syracuse 6-3

The Clippers rallied from an early deficit to defeat Syracuse 6-3. Chuck Lofgren settled down after a rough start, lasting seven innings on three runs and six hits. He allowed two walks and recorded two strikeouts.

The Chiefs wasted no time scoring on Lofgren. The first three batters in the game scored after back-to-back doubles by Jorge Padilla and Corey Patterson and a home run by Elijah Dukes.

The Clippers closed the gap to 3-2 in the second when Stephen Head singled and Andy Marte doubled off the left field wall. Wyatt Toregas singled to left scoring Head and Josh Barfield singled to plate Marte.

The Clippers jumped ahead of the Chiefs in the third when Michael Brantley and Trevor Crowe singled opening the inning. Wes Hodges singled, but Brantley was thrown out at home. Hodges was then picked off first on an overthrow to second by the catcher. Matt LaPorta walked and Head doubled scoring Crowe. Marte stroked a three-run bomb over the left field wall, his third home run in as many games, to lift the Clippers to a 6-3 lead.

Jensen Lewis came in and pitched a scoreless eighth. Greg Aquino struck out the side in the ninth, gaining his seventh save of the season

The Clippers try to sweep the Chiefs on Sunday with the first pitch at 5:05pm. Jeremy Sowers returns to Triple-A to face Chefs' right-hander J.D. Martin.

Aeros Walk Away With 5-3 Victory

It was a walking theme Saturday night at Canal Park, as the Aeros tied multiple season-records in a 5-3 win over the Bowie Baysox with 4,809 fans in attendance. Akron won its second game in a row following a six-game losing streak and improved to 58-36 while the Baysox fell to 52-42. The Aeros tied a season-high with 10 walks and also collected 10 hits, marking the first time all season the club reached double digits in both categories in the same game. Nick Weglarz drew four of the walks, tying the franchise record for the second time this year.

Jose Constanza started the night’s theme with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, stole second, advanced to third on a grounder by Weglarz, and scored on Carlos Santana’s RBI double. The Baysox threatened in the second but fell short when Dave Krynzel forgot to touch second base for the final out. Bowie did break through in the third however, as newcomer Jason White singled to left to start the inning. Jonathan Tucker then laid down a sac bunt to advance him to second, and Daniel Figueroa followed with an RBI single to right that skipped past Mickey Hall for a two-base error to tie the game at 1-1. Eric Crozier then delivered a sacrifice fly to center field, giving the Baysox the one-run advantage.

Bowie could not hold on for long as Beau Mills began the fourth with a single while Kyle Haines and Carlos Rivero followed with consecutive base knocks to tie the game back up at 2-2. Three batters later, Constanza added to his magnificent night with a clutch two-out single to score Haines and put the Aeros back in front. White would again start a rally for Bowie in the fifth on a single and Tucker repeated the action with another base hit before the red-hot Figueroa followed with a first pitch single to left to score White. Aeros starter Jeanmar Gomez got out of the jam with a pair of line outs and the score tied however, beginning a fine streak for the Akron pitchers.

The Aeros took the lead for good in the sixth and added an insurance run in the eighth, with walks playing a huge role in both innings. Cristo Arnal walked with one out in the sixth and Constanza collected his third hit of the night on a single to left. Matt McBride struck out for the second out, but Baysox All-Star reliever Chad Thall entered and walked Weglarz in a lefty-lefty match-up to load the bases. Thall then pulled ahead in the count 0-2 on Santana but missed on some borderline pitches and issued another walk, forcing in Arnal and putting Akron in front 4-3. The Aeros finished the scoring in the eighth, as Constanza walked on five pitches to start the inning and came home on an RBI single by Beau Mills.

Gomez (7-3) earned the win with his seventh quality start of the season (second on the team), permitting three runs (two earned) and seven hits over six innings while Bowie reliever James Hoey (2-3) took the loss in allowing the run in the sixth. Carlton Smith retired all six hitters he faced in the seventh and eighth frames for his fourth hold, and Josh Judy turned in a perfect ninth for his third save. Constanza finished 3-3 with a pair of walks to lead the offense, and is now batting .450 (9-20) with 13 walks in his past seven games. Weglarz drew his four walks in his final four plate appearances, while Haines was 2-4 and had his first multi-hit outing as a member of the Aeros.

Akron and Bowie conclude this four-game series at 1:35 p.m. Sunday, and the Akron/Canton Airport will be giving away two free airline tickets during the contest. Akron left-hander Michael Tejera (0-2, 9.31 ERA) will take the hill for the Aeros while Bowie has yet to announce their starter.

Potomac Wins Pitchers' Duel 2-1

Kinston’s Russell Young delivered another quality start for the Indians, but Potomac’s Terrence Engles was just a little bit better to give Potomac its second straight win over Kinston 2-1.

Young (2-5) worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, a walk and four strikeouts. Engles (4-3) tossed 6 1/3, allowing just one run on three hits, two walks and struck out six.

Young retired the first 13 batters he faced, but Chris Marrero broke up the perfect game bid in the fifth inning with a single. He would be moved to third on a Francisco Plasencia single, and then scored the first run of the game on an RBI sacrifice fly by Michael Martinez.

The game would stay 1-0 until the sixth when Young would make really his only mistake of the night. Potomac’s Devin Ivany took him deep for a solo home run to left-center field to give the P-Nats the 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Engles would be dealing. He would set down 17 straight batters from the end of the first inning to the first batter in the seventh inning. But Kinston would finally strike in the seventh, when Ole Sheldon knocked a single into right and Roman Pena followed with a walk. Ronald Rivas would single to load the bases and force Engles out of the game. In came Atahualpa Severino from the bullpen, and the first batter he faced was Adam Davis. Davis lined a shot past a diving Stephen King at third for an RBI single to get Kinston on the board. Severino would shut the door tough after that, striking out Richard Martinez and Ryan Blair to end the threat.

Severino would earn his 13th save of the season, going three up, three down in the eighth and ninth innings while striking out five total.

The K-Tribe will try to salvage the final game of the series tomorrow as they send all-star Eric Berger (7-6, 2.35) to the hill for a 1:05 pm start.

Captains Fall in 10 Innings

Michael Valadez and Nate Recknagel each hit three run home runs in the same inning but it was not enough as the Greenville Drive defeated the Lake County Captains 9-7 in ten innings on Saturday. The Captains are 6-8 in extra inning games.

The Drive scored a run in the top of the second inning when Ty Weeden got a two out single that scored Kade Keowen and it was 1-0. It went to 2-0 in the top of the fourth when Keowen homered, his eighth home run of the year. The Drive upped the lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth inning on a two run home run from Ryan Lavarnway and a fielder’s choice from Oscar Tejada.

The Captains got the lead in the bottom of the fifth scoring six runs on the two three run home runs and it was 7-6. The Drive came right back to take the lead in the top of the sixth inning scoring two runs off of Captains reliever Anillins Martinez to make it 7-6. The Captains tied it up at 7-7 when Dan DeGeorge tripled and then scored when the throw from the outfield went into the stands. The Drive scored twice in the top of the tenth inning when Zach Gentile smacked his first professional home run, a two run shot off of Travis Turek and it was 9-7.

Captains’ starter Danny Salazar took a no decision going 4.1 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out four. Martinez followed Salazar and pitched three innings allowing two unearned runs on four hits while striking out one. Travis Turek (1-1) took the loss pitching the 2.2 innings and allowing the two runs on two hits and striking out three. Drive starter Caleb Clay did not factor in the decision either, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing three runs on three hits, walking two and striking out three. Mitch Herold (4-1) got the win pitching 3.1 scoreless innings in relief.

The Captains and Drive play game three of the four game series on Sunday at 7:00 PM with the Captains sending RHP Trey Haley (2-5, 5.66) to the mound to face Drive LHP Nick Hagadone (0-2, 3.94).

Scrappers Win Nailbiter 3-2

Saturday night the Scrappers defeated the Oneonta Tigers 3-2, scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to extend there winning streak to two games.

It took until the fifth inning before either team was able to scratch out a run against either starting pitcher. The Tigers tallied a solo home run from Eric
Roof off of Scrappers starter Preston Guilmet. The Scrappers responded with a single run when Rafael Vera tripled to right-center and then scored on Lurvin Basabe’s single to right.

Pitchers from both teams again started putting up zeros and the game remained tied at one going to the late innings. In the bottom of the eighth, the Scrappers loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter, before Kyle Bellows delivered a two RBI
single giving the Scrappers a 3-1 lead heading to the ninth inning.

In the ninth, the Tigers loaded the bases off of Scrappers reliever Vidal Nuno, before pinch hitter delivered an RBI single to cut the lead to one at 3-2. Nuno then retired the next three hitters, two on strikeouts and the Scrappers were able to hold on for the 3-2 victory.

The Scrappers wrap up the three game series tomorrow night a 5:05 PM against the Oneonta Tigers.

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