Game Recaps: Tuesday 6/30

Durham finishes sweep of Clippers

Durham finished a sweep of the Clippers 9-6 Tuesday night at Huntington Park.
The Durham Bulls hammered four homers against Columbus pitching. The Clippers have lost six straight and 16 of the last 20 games.

Matt Joyce was the catalyst for the Bulls, collecting four hits in five at bats. In the fifth inning, Joyce hit, unofficially, the longest home run at Huntington Park. The ball cleared the safety net between the scoreboard and the balcony in right field and bounced across Nationwide Boulevard.

Kirk Saarloos gave up a leadoff blast to Jon Weber to start the game.

With the game tied at 1-1, the first two batters of the fourth reached and Rhyne Hughes smashed a three-run home run. Four batters later, Chris Novak had a two run shot to make it 6-1. Durham added two more runs in the fifth, and another run off Rich Rundles in the seventh inning.

Stephen Head singled home Michael Brantley in the first inning, but the Clippers offense remained quiet until a late rally. Tony Graffanino singled to start the sixth inning. He scored on a Jordan Brown single.

Columbus tried to rally again in the eighth inning. Andy Marte doubled in Brown with two outs and Wyatt Toregas singled to score both Marte and Head.

Brantley led off the ninth with a walk and stole second. He scored on another Brown single, but a LaPorta double play ended the game.

Clippers starter Kirk Saarloos lost his sixth straight decision, allowing eight runs (six earned) from ten hits in five innings.

Columbus begins a two-game series versus the Toledo Mud Hens on Wednesday. Lefty Chuck Lofgren (2-4, 4.71) will take the mound for Columbus at 7:05pm.

Aeros Take Rain-Shortened Contest, 5-1

Fausto Carmona tossed seven excellent innings and a four-run rally in the top of the second propelled Akron to a 5-1 win before 1,966 fans at Prince George’s Stadium Tuesday. The contest was delayed by heavy rain for 32 minutes with Akron batting in the top of the eighth inning before the umpires opted to call the game early. The Aeros improved to 51-25 with the win while the Baysox slipped to 42-35.

Akron went in order in the top of the first against Bowie starter Radhames Liz, but broke loose in the top of the second. Carlos Santana started the rally with a single to right on an 0-2 pitch, and moved to second on a groundout by Beau Mills. Matt McBride then beat out an infield tapper to third to put runners on the corners, starting a run of five straight hits against Liz. Carlos Rivero got the Aeros on the board with an RBI knock to right, John Drennen and Jared Goedert extended the lead to 3-0 with consecutive hits to center, and Jose Constanza reached on another infield single to cap the scoring.

The Aeros stretched the lead to 5-0 on an RBI groundout by Mills in the fifth before Bowie avoided the shutout in the sixth when Guillermo Rodriguez poked a solo home run down the left field line.

Carmona (1-0) said he felt “very good” as he continues to progress back to Cleveland, and also praised the efforts of his battery mate Santana. The right-hander went the distance, needing just 80 pitches (59 strikes) to shut down the Bowie offense for seven innings. He allowed only a run on four hits, walked none, and struck out five. Liz (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing all five runs and all 11 Akron hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out four. All 11 Akron hits were singles, with Rivero, Drennen and Goedert all collecting two hits each and driving in a run. Nick Weglarz finished 0-3 however, snapping his 24-game on-base streak.

Akron and Bowie will play a doubleheader Wednesday night starting at 6:05, with Aeros left-hander Ryan Edell (2-0, 2.55 ERA) taking the mound in game one opposite John Mariotti (2-5, 2.78 ERA).

Kinston Wins 7-2

The K-Tribe used great pitching and costly Myrtle Beach mistakes to notch a 7-2 victory Tuesday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

Kinston starter Ryan Morris pitched well for Kinston giving up just three hits and one run in five innings. Morris walked three and struck out a season high seven. Chen-Chang Lee (3-3) picked up the win, striking out a season high five in just two innings. Lee struck out five of the six batters he faced and struck out the side in the seventh inning. Kyle Landis also pitched a scoreless inning from the K-Tribe bullpen. Dallas Cawiezell gave up a run in the top of the ninth inning for Kinston.

After an RBI double by Lonnie Chisenhall (1-for-4) gave Kinston a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, Myrtle Beach would tie it with a solo home run by Jesus Sucre in the top of the second. The score would stay tied until the sixth inning when Kinston newcomer Doug Pickens would drive in Roman Pena with an RBI single. Lucas Montero would score later in the inning on an errant throw by the Pelicans catcher when he attempted to steal third. Kinston would add another run in the seventh inning then rip the game open, scoring three runs in the eighth inning on one hit, four walks and a hit batter. Pickens was the only K-Triber with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 on the night. Myrtle Beach starter Richard Sullivan (2-5) takes the loss for the Pelicans.

The K-Tribe will return to Historic Grainger Stadium at 11 AM on Wednesday four the final game of the four game series.

Captains Blanked By Power 3-0

In a battle between the top two teams in the Northern Division, the West Virginia Power took game one of the four game series shutting out the Lake County Captains 2-0 on Tuesday. With the win, the Power go into first place by a half of game over the Captains and Delmarva.

The Power took the lead in the top of the sixth inning when Erick Huber doubled and then scored when Tony Sanchez singled and it was 1-0. It went to 2-0 in the top of the seventh inning Eric Huber got a two out single that score Adenson Chourio. The Power got an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning when Huber singled home Chourio to make it 3-0.

Captains’ starter Alexander Perez (5-3) took the loss working 6.1 innings and allowing two runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out two. Power starter Rudy Owens (9-1) got the win pitching six scoreless innings allowing seven hits and striking out three. Ryan Kelly pitched the final three innings and recorded his fifth save.

The Captains and Power play game two of the four game series on Wednesday with a special 11:00 AM start time. The Captains will have LHP T.J. House (2-7, 2.64) on the mound against Power RHP Quinton Miller (0-0, 0.00).

Scrappers Finish Off Roadtrip With Win

On Tuesday night the Scrappers trailed 4-0 going into the top of the seventh inning. Mahoning Valley scored one run in the seventh when John Allman delivered an RBI double, came back with three in the eighth keyed by Jason Smit’s two RBI single and the game was tied going to the ninth.

In the top of the ninth the Scrappers took the lead for the first time when Jordan Henry delivered a two RBI double and it was 6-4 Scrappers. Brian Grening worked his second inning of relief in the bottom of the ninth shutting the Spikes bats down again to record his second win on the season.

The Scrappers return to Eastwood Field on Wednesday July 1st for a three game series against the Williamsport Crosscutters, game time is 7:05 PM.

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