Game Recaps: Saturday 7/25

Clippers rally falls short
The Red Sox out-slugged Columbus 13-11 Saturday night at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

The first two games of the series could not have been more different. One night after a 3-1 Clippers win that saw ten combined hits, the teams totaled 24 runs on 34 hits. Friday night there were eight total runners left on base, Saturday, the teams combined to strand 19 runners. The starters in the series opener went 13 innings, allowing three runs on six hits; Saturday's starters gave up 14 runs on 21 knocks.

Kenny Ray allowed ten runs in the first three innings, putting the Clippers in a huge hole. He went two more scoreless frames and Frank Herrmann threw two shutout innings, while the offense chipped away at the 10-1 deficit.

Trevor Crowe drove in a run and Jordan Brown added two more in the fourth to make it 10-4. Things stayed quiet until the seventh when Tony Graffanino doubled home a run and Josh Barfield earned his second RBI of the game. The Clippers got to within a run in the eighth when, following a Matt LaPorta sac fly, Wes Hodges drilled a two-run homer for a 10-9 score.

The Sox broke a string of four scoreless innings in the eighth. After Rich Rundles loaded the bases, Jensen Lewis gave up a three-run double to Travis Denker for a 13-9 Pawtucket lead. The Clippers scored a pair in the ninth on a Brown double and a wild pitch and the tying run was at the plate, but LaPorta struck out to end the game.

Altoona beats Aeros
The visiting Altoona Curve defeated Akron Saturday night by the final score of 9-3 in front of a crowd of 4,889 fans at Canal Park. Cleveland Cavaliers legend Austin Carr attended the contest, but witnessed the Curve best the Aeros by collecting 11 hits and scoring nine unanswered runs in just their sixth win in 20 games against Akron on the season. The loss dropped the first-place Aeros to 62-39 while Altoona improved to an inversely proportionate 39-62.

Akron struck first with a monster first inning against Altoona lefty Kyle Bloom. Jose Constanza began the frame with a walk, and Nick Weglarz followed two batters later with an infield single. With two men on base and one out, Carlos Santana smacked his second home run in as many nights on a towering shot to left field, giving the Aeros a quick 3-0 lead. It was his team-leading 17th home run of the season for the switch-hitting catcher, whose solo home run in the sixth inning last night provided the winning margin.

The Curve would control the game from there however, as Bloom settled down and the red-hot Altoona offense collected a pair of two-run innings to take the lead. Jim Negrych got the visitors on the board with an RBI groundout in the top of the third and Jose Tabata followed with an RBI single to make it 3-2, his fifth hit in six at-bats in the series. Brian Friday then led off the fifth with a single to left, and clean-up hitter Pedro Alvarez belted a two-run homer in the Altoona half of the bullpen to put the Curve up 4-3.

The Aeros threatened in the seventh with one-out walks to Cristo Arnal and Constanza, but Curve relievers Sean Smith and Corey Hamman combined for the final two outs. Altoona then broke the game open in the top of the eighth against a pair of Akron relievers as Carlton Smith began the frame by allowing a double to Tabata and a pair of walks. Left-hander Matt Meyer came into the game and got an out with a fielder’s choice at the plate, but a walk, a sacrifice fly, another walk and a three-run double to right field by Friday provided the final margin of the night.

Bloom (4-5) earned the victory for the Curve as he retired the final eight batters he faced in his five innings, while Akron starter Josh Tomlin (9-8) took the loss in his third attempt to become the second Eastern League pitcher with 10 wins on the season. Santana was the star for a second night in a row, as he finished 3-4 with the three-run home run, marking his first multi-hit contest since July 4th at Harrisburg. Constanza drew three walks and had an infield single in the ninth while Weglarz also collected a pair of hits, ending a recent slump that saw him bat .125 (7-56) over his previous 18 games.

Berger shines, K-Tribe fall late
Berger was masterful from the mound, giving up just three hits and walking two in six innings. Berger (7-7) struck out two batters in each of his first five innings of work. The lefty's ERA is now 2.29, the second lowest mark in the Carolina League.K-Tribe starter Eric Berger struck out a career high eleven batters in just six innings, but the Blue Rocks got going late, beating Kinston 4-3 Saturday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. Berger’s eleven strikeouts were the most by a K-Tribe pitcher this season. Kinston’s record in one run games in now 10-24.

The Blue Rocks got to Kinston’s bullpen, however, scoring four, two-out runs in the top of the seventh inning. With K-Tribe reliever Jonathan Holt on the mound, Paolo Orlando started the two-out rally with a single. After a Ryan Eigsti infield single, Anthony Seratelli drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single. Johnny Giavotella followed with another RBI single and Mike Moustakas kept it going with a two RBI double; the end of a streak of five straight hits.

The K-Tribe would mount a rally immediately, scoring three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Cord Phelps hit an RBI single scoring Ronald Rivas. Lonnie Chisenhall (1-for-5) then hit a bases loaded double, driving in Richard Martinez and Lucas Montero, to cut the Blue Rock lead to one. That would end the scoring, however, as Kinston would not get a hit the rest of the way. Wilmington starter Mario Santiago (5-11) got the win for Wilmington. Holt (1-5) picked up the loss.

Captains win third straight
Chris Nash had three hits and Adam Abraham drove in two runs as the Lake County Captains defeated the Lexington Legends on 7-2 on Saturday. The Captains took the final three games of the series.

The Captains scored a run in the first inning when with the bases loaded and no outs, Nate Recknagel bounced into a double play that scored Mark Thompson and the Captains led 1-0. The Captain added four runs in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Adam Abraham, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly from Mark Thompson and a RBI single from Donnie Webb and it was 5-0. The Legends got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jeff Hulett single home Albert Cartwright to make it 5-1.

The Captains got the run right back in the top of the fifth inning when Adam Abraham tripled home John Allman and the lead was 6-1. The Legends added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning off of Captains reliever Anillins Martinez when Chris Jackson grounded out and Hulett scored on the play to make it 6-2. The Captains lead was 7-2 when in the top of the seventh inning with Allman at third base, Chris Nash stole second but when no one covered the base, the catchers throw went into center field and Allman scored.

Captains' starter Trey Haley (3-6) got the win going five innings allowing one run on three hits, walking seven and striking out one. Legends starter Jordan Lyles (5-9) took the loss pitching five innings allowing six runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out four.

Popham stellar as Scrappers shutout Crosscutters
After five games on the road, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers returned to Eastwood Field on Saturday night for a quick two game homestand against the Williamsport Crosscutters.

Scrappers' starter Marty Popham continued to pitch well at home working the first five innings limiting the Crosscutters to no runs on just three base hits and nine strikeouts.

The Scrappers started the scoring in the third, plating two runs on a RBI single from Kyle Smith and a RBI double from Jason Smit. Mahoning Valley added two more runs in the fifth when Chun Chen led off the inning with a double and then scored on Kyle Bellows RBI double. One out later, Ben Carlson followed with an RBI single making it 4-0 Scrappers.

Austin Adams and Cory Burns worked the final four inning and the Scrappers took game one of the series 4-0. The Scrappers and Crosscutters wrap up the series tomorrow at 5:05 PM at Eastwood Field.

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