Game Recaps: Thursday 7/9

Clippers shut out Indianapolis
Trevor Crowe and Wes Hodges each drove in three runs for the Clippers. Chuck Lofgren pitched seven innings, allowing two hits. Frank Herrmann and Masa Kobayashi completed the second shutout of the season for the Clippers.

The Clippers sent at least six batters to the plate in each of the first four innings. Hodges collected his first RBI in the opening inning when he singled home Crowe. In the second, Crowe plated Josh Barfield and Damaso Espino. The scoring continued in the third inning when Hodges launched his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to the concourse area in left field. Marte collected two RBIs in the fourth when he doubled and plated Jordan Brown and Matt LaPorta. A Barfield sac fly scored Hodges to give the Clippers an eight run cushion after four innings.

Lofgren provided the second quality start in a row for the Clippers. He retired the side in order in five of his seven innings. Lofgren finished with one walk and six strikeouts. Herrmann pitched the eighth inning. He allowed a leadoff single, but ended the inning with a strikeout and double play. Kobayashi allowed a two-out single in the ninth before completing the shutout.

The Clippers only other shutout this season came on June 6, a game that Lofgren also started.

Crowe brought home the final run of the game in the eighth inning. His single plated Niuman Romero, who had led off with a double.

Aeros drop series
Reading pounded out double-digit hits the second time in three nights and drew nine walks for good measure, defeating the Aeros 7-4 in front of 3,231 fans at Canal Park Thursday night. The Phillies (50-36) won the season series with their seventh win in 10 contests against Akron (56-31), and also pulled within six games of the Aeros in the Southern Division with four games to play until the All-Star break.

Reading’s first run came across in the top of the fourth off Akron starter Jeanmar Gomez, although the right-hander was able to escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam surrendering only a sacrifice fly to Brad Harman. The Phillies then broke through with four runs in the top of the sixth, as Aeros reliever Steven Wright was one strike away from keeping Reading off the board. With runners at second and third and no one out, Wright snared Gus Milner’s liner on the pitcher’s mound before striking out Harman for the second out. Wright then pulled ahead of Ozzie Chavez 1-2 but couldn’t put him away, as the Phillies shortstop looped a soft single over the second base bag to score both runners and make it 3-0. Quintin Berry then reached on a two-strike infield single to extend the inning, and Tuffy Gosewisch pounded a two-run double to right-center on another 1-2 offering to make it a five-run advantage.

The Aeros finally got to Reading starter Joe Savery in the sixth and seventh innings to inch within a run. Akron’s three All-Star position players teamed up in the sixth, as a walk to Nick Weglarz and a single by Carlos Santana preceded a two-run double from Beau Mills to get the Aeros on the board. The Aeros continued the comeback by making it 5-4 in the seventh, as McBride hit a tree in left field with a monster two-run blast against the lefty Savery. The comeback would stop there however, as the Phillies collected two more runs on just one hit in the top of the ninth, as two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with no one out before Chavez delivered RBIs three and four on the night with another two-run single to center.

Savery (12-1) earned the win by pitching 6.2 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks, becoming the first pitcher in professional baseball to reach the 12-win plateau. After losing his second start of the season, Savery has now earned his dozen wins in his last 15 outings (14 starts). Gomez (6-3) took the loss in his first appearance since being named a participant in the Eastern League All-Star Game, permitting just one run on three hits while walking four and striking out four as well in five innings. Jared Goedert paced the offense by reaching base all four times courtesy of two hits and two walks, while Mills finished 2-4 for his 25th multi-hit game of the year. Reading also stranded 15 runners as a team, a season-high for an Aeros opponent.

K-Tribe swept
Frederick struck in the top of the first inning, scoring a run on an RBI single by Robbie Widlansky. The K-Tribe would come right back in the bottom of the frame, when Cord Phelps led off with a single and advanced to third base on a double by Lonnie Chisenhall. Phelps would score on an RBI ground out from Ole Sheldon.

The Keys would break the tie when both Brandon Waring and Caleb Joseph hit solo home runs off of Kinston starter Eric Berger in the top of the fourth inning. Berger entered the game with a 2.13 ERA, the second lowest in the Carolina League. Berger had given up only one home run in 16 previous starts before the inning. Berger (7-6) took the loss, giving up five hits while striking out six and walking none in five innings.

Kinston would manage just one hit after the first inning, scoring their only other run when Lucas Montero reached base in the seventh inning on a fielding error and scoring on an RBI ground out from Adam Davis. Keys starter Sean Gleason (1-3) picked up the win, striking out six and walking one in seven innings.

David Roberts would give Kinston a good outing from the bullpen, giving up just one hit in two innings of relief. Dallas Cawiezell would give up a run on two hits in two innings of work from the K-Tribe pen.

Captains blanked
The Lake County Captains saw their three game winning streak come to an end as the Hickory Crawdads shutout the Captains 6-0 on Thursday. The Captains have been shut out five times this year and have thrown seven shutouts.

The Crawdads scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when Doug Hogan hit his ninth home run of the year to make it 1-0. It went to 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Erik Morrison double home Davis Paisano and Mat West followed with a RBI single that scored Jared Bolden.

The Dads scored three more runs in the bottom of the seventh when Cristian Santana hit a two run home run off of Captains reliever Ryan Miller and a double play ball plated another run to make it 6-0.

Captains' starter T.J. McFarland (5-4) took the loss going six innings and allowing three runs on five hits, walking three and striking out four. Miller went two innings and allowed three runs but struck out the final four batters he faced.

Crawdads starter Wilmer Font (5-1) got the win pitching five scoreless innings allowing only one hit, walking one and striking out four. Tyler Tufts came on in the sixth inning and threw three scoreless innings allowing one hit and striking out five. Matt Nevarez pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

Scrappers win in extras
Thursday night it was a packed house at Eastwood Field that saw the Scrappers play there longest game since 2005, a 3-2 thirteen inning win over the Staten Island at Eastwood Field.

The Doubledays were the first to score on Thursday night at Eastwood Field in front of 6,006 fans. Auburn scored one in the first and another in the sixth to take an early 2-0 lead.

It took until the sixth inning for the Scrappers to respond, when they plated two runs. Jason Smit delivered an RBI single and Chun Chen was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home the tying run and after six innings the game was even at 2-2.After an action packed sixth, both teams would threaten in the next three innings but could not score and we would head to extra innings for the third time on the season.

In the top of the tenth the Doubledays were able to break the tie when Welinton Ramirez singled home Brad Glenn and Auburn retook the read 3-2 going to the bottom of the tenth. In the bottom of the tenth Ben Carlson led off with a single and was then pinch ran for by Kyle Bellows, who promptly stole second base. Chun Chen then delivered an RBI double to right field, scoring Bellows from second. Greg Folgia delivered a sacrifice bunt moving Chen to third. Rafael Vera grounded out and Tim Palincsar struck out and we moved to the eleventh tied again at 3-3.

In the bottom of the fourteenth, Rafael Vera delivered a two out, two strike RBI single to right field scoring Chen and the Scrappers won their fourth in a row in fourteen innings 4-3.

Posted in: