Game Recaps: Friday 8/14

Indians crush Clippers 14-5

The Indianapolis Indians routed the Clippers 14-5 Friday night at Huntington Park.
The Indians put together a seven-run first inning and a six-run fifth in the victory. The Clippers tied a season-high with four errors.

Kenny Ray started for Columbus. After a double and walk, Jeff Clement launched a three-run homer in the first inning. Two errors, three hits, a walk and a wild pitch left the Clippers down seven runs after half an inning. The Indians would add another run in the second when Neil Walker produced a RBI double.

The Clippers produced some offense in the fourth. Matt LaPorta and Stephen Head each hit solo home runs. LaPorta added another solo shot in the eighth. He finished with four hits, two homers, two RBI and three runs scored. Lou Marson drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth and Head hit into a double play, but scored another.

Indianapolis lit up the scoreboard again with a six-run fifth inning. Erik Kratz lifted a three run blast and the first five batters reached and scored. Bobby Livingston, making his Clippers debut, allowed all six runs on five hits. Livingston pitched three innings, allowing all the runs in the fifth.

Michael Tejera pitched the final three innings for the Clippers, scattering three hits.

Columbus and Indianapolis will continue the series Saturday at 7:05pm. Mike Gosling (7-2, 3.64) gets the starting nod for Columbus and will oppose Daniel McCutchen (11-6, 3.57).

Aeros Drop Unsightly Opener, 7-0

Akron mustered a season-low one hit and committed a season-high five errors, a combination that doomed the club in a 7-0 defeat in the opener of a three-game series against New Britain. The Aeros (73-45) lost for the second straight night but remained nine games in front of Reading in the Southern Division, while the Rock Cats climbed back to .500 at 59-59 in front of 8,380 fans, the largest crowd in the history of New Britain Stadium.

Things looked promising for Akron at the beginning, as Jose Constanza drew a leadoff walk to start the first and then swiped his 33rd bag of the year only to be left stranded at second base. Aeros starter Jeanmar Gomez struggled with his command from the outset, but thanks to some outstanding defensive plays and plenty of guile was able to keep New Britain off the board in his four-inning stint. John Drennen started the good defense with a fine sliding catch in shallow right field in the bottom of the first, and Cristo Arnal capped the inning by racing in from second and bare-handing a roller for the final out. Then in the third, first baseman Beau Mills made back-to-back diving stabs at first base to rob Whit Robbins and Toby Gardenhire in the span of three pitches.

Gomez worked out of a major jam in the fourth, walking the first two hitters of the inning and uncorking a pair of wild pitches in the process as the Rock Cats put runners on the corners with no outs. Gomez got a pop-up and a strikeout however, and after walking Luke Hughes to load the bases retired Steve Singleton on a tapper up the first base line to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.

The hard work pushed up Gomez’s pitch count however, and when Carlton Smith relieved him in the fifth the Rock Cats took command. Gardenhire singled with one away and Brandon Roberts drew a walk, but Smith looked like he might escape when Rene Tosoni hit a grounder to third. Lonnie Chisenhall fired to second for the second out of the inning, but Arnal’s relay to first was in the dirt and skipped past Mills as Gardenhire scored the first run of the game. Wilson Ramos then kept the inning alive with a base hit to center, and Erik Lis delivered the backbreaking swing with an RBI double to left-center. The double scored Tosoni easily, and the Rock Cats gambled by sending Ramos around third as well. Carlos Rivero’s relay throw to the plate then bounced past catcher Carlos Santana as Ramos slid in safely, and when Lis saw the throw go through he went for third. Smith was backing up the play and corralled Rivero’s wild throw and tried to get Lis at third, but threw the ball back into left-center as Lis popped to his feet and trotted home to make it 4-0. New Britain then added three more runs in the seventh, as RBI doubles from Tosoni and Brian Dinkelman and a sacrifice fly by Hughes accounted for the final margin.

At that point, the only drama remaining was whether Akron would get a hit. It took the Aeros until the top of the eighth, but with one away Arnal smoked a clean single back up the middle to prevent history.

Deolis Guerra (5-2) was dominant in the victory, recording nine strikeouts in six no-hit innings. Smith (4-2) suffered the loss. Dutchman Loek Van Mil, who at 7’1” is the tallest player in professional baseball, made his Double-A debut and allowed Arnal’s hit.

Game two in this three-game series is set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday, with Akron’s Connor Graham (0-1, 4.38 ERA) taking on Matt Fox (7-8, 3.89 ERA).

K-Tribe beats Salem 6-4

The K-Tribe’s late inning heroics continued as Kinston broke a late tie to beat Salem 6-4 Friday night in Virginia. With the win Kinston moved to within 1 ½ games of Salem for the final playoff spot in the Carolina League Southern Division.

With the score tied at three in the top of the eighth inning, Ole Sheldon singled. Adam White was put into the game to pinch run for Sheldon and promptly stole second base. White then advanced to third with a ground out from Doug Pickens. White then came home on a wild pitch, making the score 4-3.

The K-Tribe would get two big runs in the top of the ninth inning, when Roman Pena reached on an error and was driven home on an RBI double by Tim Fedroff. Fedroff would then score on an RBI single by Phelps. Phelps had a big night for Kinston, hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Phelps went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Fedroff went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. Fedroff extended his consecutive on base streak to 33 games, the most in the Carolina League this season. Adam Davis had a great night, going 3-for-3 with a walk as Kinston banged out eleven hits.

Kinston starter Bryan Price was strong, giving up just one run in six innings. Chen-Chang Lee (4-4) got the win, giving up three hits and two earned runs in two innings of work. Kyle Landis picked up his fourth save of the season.

Former K-Triber Scott Lewis will make a Major League rehab start for Kinston on Saturday at 7:05 pm in Salem. Lewis, who made his Major League debut for Cleveland last season, made one start for Cleveland this season before being shutdown do to injury. Lewis helped the K-Tribe win a Carolina League Championship in 2006, setting the franchise record for ERA with a 1.48 mark.

Captains Win 5-3

T.J. House picked up his second straight win and the Lake County Captains won their second straight game defeating the Rome Braves on Friday. With the win, the Captains climb to 2.5 games out of first place.

The Captains took a lead in the bottom of the first inning when Bo Greenwell reached on a fielder’s choice and then scored on a double by Nate Recknagel to make it 1-0. The Braves tied it up in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Joe Campusano. The Captains came right back with three runs in the bottom of the third when Mark Thompson scored on a wild pitch, Bo Greenwell singled home a run and then scored on a fielding error and the Captains led 4-1.

The Braves added a run in the top of the fifth inning on a RBI single by Luis Sumoza that scored Ryan Barba and it was 4-2. The Captains added to the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Roberto Perez knocked in Karexon Sanchez to make it 5-2. The Braves made it 5-3 in the top of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by Stephen Shults.

House (5-8) got the win going 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on eleven hits while striking out four. Brian Grening relieved House and went two innings allowing one run. Steve Smith pitched the final 1.2 innings and registered his 21st save of the year. Braves starter Dimaster Delgado (3-6,) took the loss working six innings and allowing five runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out two.

The Captains and Braves play game two of the four game series on Saturday at 7:00 PM with the Captains sending RHP Danny Salazar (5-4, 4.41) to the mound to face RHP J.J. Hoover (5-5, 3.42).

Scrappers lose 6-5 to Spinners

On Friday night, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers dropped their second straight game, falling to the Lowell Spinners 6-5. The Scrappers have lost three of the last four games, and are now 34-21 on the season. They remain two games up on the Williamsport Crosscutters in the division.

Scrappers starter Preston Guilmet worked the first three innings and allowed five runs on four hits. Guilmet, who had won five straight decisions, suffered the loss and dropped his record to 5-3. The Mahoning Valley bullpen allowed only one run over the next six innings as Matt Packer and Tyler Studrevant combined to close out the game.

The Scrappers took an early lead of 2-0 in the 1st on an RBI single from Kyle Bellows and a Lowell throwing error, only to see the Spinners respond with one in the 2nd and four in the 3rd to take the lead back 5-2. In the sixth, Greg Folgia hit his third home run of the season, cutting the Spinners lead to 2 runs. Lowell added another run in the 8th and the Scrappers trailed 6-3. In the 9th the Scrappers scored two runs with the help of doubles from Jesus Brito and Rafael Vera, but were unable to bring home the tying run from third base and fell to the Spinners 6-5.

Mahoning Valley takes on Lowell for game two of the three game series on Saturday night. Marty Popham is scheduled to make the start for the Scrappers; he is 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA. Saturday’s game starts at 7:05 PM and can be heard on 1390 WNIO or mvscrappers.com.

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