Game Recaps: Saturday 7/4

Toledo drops Clippers 7-3

The Clippers fell 7-3 in Toledo on the fourth of July.

Tony Graffanino duplicated the feat of Michael Brantley from the previous day with a first inning homer for a 1-0 lead. Zack Jackson got through the first inning unscathed, but gave up a solo bomb to Jeff Larrish to tie the game in the second.

The Hens scored four times in the third inning to break the game open. Jeff Frazier doubled and went to third on a grounder. With the infield pulled in, Will Rhymes chopped a ball through for an RBI single. Three hits later it was a 5-1 Toledo advantage. Will Rhymes capped the Toledo scoring one inning later with a two-run single for a 7-1 lead.

The only remaining offense for Columbus was a two-run home run for Stephen Head, his first since returning from the disabled list. The Clippers loaded the bases in the ninth, but Trevor Crowe hit into a game-ending double play.

Wes Hodges returned from the DL as the designated hitter and went 0-for-4.

Jackson lasted six innings, allowing seven runs from nine hits. Frank Herrmann followed with two innings of shutout work.

Eddie Bonine started for Toledo and earned the win, allowing three runs in seven innings. Matt Rusch and Casey Fien combined for two scoreless relief innings.

The Clippers and Mud Hens conclude the series on Sunday at 6:30pm. Fausto Carmona will start for Columbus against Chris Lambert.

Aeros Slip By Senators 7-5

The Aeros defeated Harrisburg 7-5 Saturday night, in front of 7,165 at Metro Bank Park. The Aeros improved to 53-28, while Harrisburg dropped to 34-45,

The Senators took the early lead by hitting back-to-back home runs in the first inning to make the score 3-1. Ian Desmond hit a two-run home run followed by a home run off the bat of Leonard Davis.

The Sens went on to lead 5-2 in the game but missed on several opportunities to extend the lead. With Akron still in the game, they loaded the bases in the seventh inning with no outs, eventually scoring four runs to take a 6-5 lead. They tacked on a run in the ninth on the second home run of the game by Carlos Santana.

Trailing 7-5 into the bottom of the ninth, Ian Desmond doubled which was followed by an infield single off the bat of Leonard Davis, putting the tying runs on base. But Akron closer Vinnie Pestano induced a pop up and two strikeouts to end the ballgame.

Josh Wilkie took the loss while Josh Judy picked up the win in relief for Akron.

Akron's weeklong road trip continues Sunday afternoon, as the teams play a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. The Aeros have not announced a starter for either game, while Carlos Martinez (4-2, 3.38 ERA) takes the mound in game one for the Senators.

Blue Rocks Beat Kinston 4-3 on the 4th

The K-Tribe took an early 3-0 lead on a July 4th matinee from Wilmington, but the Blue Rocks scored four unanswered runs to take game three of the series 4-3. The loss was the 21st one-run loss of the season for the Kinston, the most in the Carolina League.

Kinston struck first with two outs in the second frame. Ronald Rivas doubled and was driven home on an RBI single from Ryan Blair. Richard Martinez then singled to keep the inning alive for Eric Perlozzo. Perlozzo singled to right field to knock in Blair and give the K-Tribe a two run advantage. Lucas Montero then bounced one over to the right side that was stopped on a diving attempt by first baseman Chase Fontaine. But Fontaine’s underhand toss to his pitcher Eduardo Paulino covering the bag was too hard to handle, and got away from Paulino to allow Martinez to come around from second and score the third run of the inning.

Wilmington responded with three straight one-out hits in the bottom of the second, with Jamar Walton hitting a single and Paulo Orlando dumping a double right over the right side of the infield. Fontaine then drove in Walton on an RBI single and Orlando scored on an Adrian Ortiz sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to just one.

The Blue Rocks would tie the game in the fourth inning on a Fontaine RBI double and the score would stay 3-3 until the seventh. K-Tribe reliever Santo Frias (0-1) was the victim of some Blue Rocks small ball, as Ortiz had a one-out single and stole second base in the seventh. He tagged up to reach third on a Derrick Robinson fly out and then scored on an infield single by Johnny Giavotella that deflected off Frias’ glove as he tried making a backhand snag.

The run would hold up as the game-winner as Wilmington relievers Chris Chavez (6-1) and Juan Abreu combined for four shutout innings to close the door on Kinston.

The Indians got a solid start out of Paolo Espino who went six innings, allowing three runs, two earned, one seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts.

Kinston will try to win the series tomorrow for a special 1:35 pm start from Delaware as the Indians send Ryan Morris ( 3-8, 5.59) to the mound.

Captains Start Road Trip with a 5-3 Win

The Lake County Captains got their eight game road trip off to a good start defeating the Greensboro Grasshoppers 5-3 on Saturday.

The Captains took the lead in the top of the second inning against Grasshoppers starter Graham Johnson when Mark Thompson hit his fifth home run of the season and it was 1-0. The Grasshoppers came right back in the bottom of the inning when Justin Jacobs singled and scored on a double by Torre Langley to tie it at 1-1. The Captains regained the lead in the top of fourth inning when Nate Recknagel singled and then jogged home when Donnie Webb hit his fifth home run of the year to make it 3-1. Johnson had not given up a home run this year prior to this game.

It went to 5-1 in the top of the sixth inning when with the bases loaded, Michael Valadez hit a ground ball to the shortstop who threw to the second baseman to get one out but the relay throw to first got away and that allowed two runs to score. The Hoppers scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Kevin Mattison scored from third base on a wild pitch and it was 5-2. The Hoppers tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Ben Lasater hit his fourteenth home run of the year to make it 5-3.

Captains starter T.J. McFarland (5-3) got the win going six innings allowing one run on one hit, walking two and striking out one. Matt Langwell followed McFarland and threw 2.1 innings and allowed one run. Steve Smith pitched a scoreless ninth inning to get his fourteenth save. Johnson (5-2) took the loss pitching 5.1 innings and allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits while striking out five.

The Captains and Grasshoppers play game two of the series on Sunday at 4:05 PM with the Captains sending RHP Alexander Perez to the mound to face the Hoppers RHP Johnny Dorn (7-5, 3.26).

Scrappers Bats Explode In 10-2 Win

After winning last night 3-0 on just two base hits, the Scrapper bats exploded for 10 runs on 15 base hits in a 10-2 pounding of the Jamestown Jammers on Saturday afternoon.

It did not take long for the Scrapper bats to get going, scoring three runs in the top of the first on a fielder’s choice, a ground out and a RBI single from Chun Chen. The Jammers who had only won five of their first fifteen games responded with two runs off of Scrappers starter Vidal Nuno to make the score 3-2 Scrappers after one full inning.

That would be the closest that the Jammers would get as the Scrappers added five more runs in the top of the fourth. Big hits came from Jason Smit with an RBI double, John Allman had a 2 RBI single and Kyle Smith had an RBI single. The Scrappers added on a solo run in the sixth and again a single run in the seventh when John Allman delivered his fourth RBI of the game with a single to left field.

Scrapper’s reliever Jose Urena worked four innings of scoreless relief in recording his first victory of the season. The Scrappers and Jammers will meet in game two of the three game series on Sunday evening at 6:05 PM in Jamestown.

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