Game Recaps: Saturday 8/15

Indians quiet Clippers 7-0

Indianapolis blanked the Clippers 7-0 Saturday night at Huntington Park.

Indians starter Daniel McCutchen pitched six strong innings and Jeremy Powell pitched the final three to shut out the Clippers. The Clippers managed seven hits by seven different Clippers on the night.

The Indians began their scoring in the second. After a single by Neil Walker, Robinzon Diaz knocked a hit to left scoring Walker.

The Indians added two more runs in the 3rd. Chris Barnwell and Jose Tabata hit back-to-back singles. Jeff Clement grounded out scoring Barnwell and a double steal brought Tabata in to score.

The Indians extended their lead in the fifth. Tabata singled and Pedro Lopez doubled, scoring Tabata. After a strikeout, Tagg Bozied doubled to score Lopez and give Indianapolis a 5-0 lead.

Frank Hermann replaced Gosling in the sixth and the Indians continued to pad their lead. Two unearned runs were scored after an error by shortstop Jesus Merchan.

Zach Jackson pitched a scoreless ninth for Columbus.

The Clippers and Indians conclude the series Sunday at 5:05pm.

K-Tribe Wins Third Straight, Improves to 11-2 in August

The Kinston Indians upended Salem 5-1 Saturday night in Virginia; the K-Tribe’s sixth straight when over the Red Sox. Kinston is now 11-2 in the month of August and just a half game behind Salem for the final playoff spot in the Carolina League Southern Division.

Former K-Triber Scott Lewis was the starting pitcher for Kinston, making a Major League rehab appearance. After giving up a run on two singles and a walk in his first inning of work, Lewis rebounded to retire the last nine batters he faced. Lewis when 3 2/3 innings, giving up two hits and one run. He walked one and did not strike out a batter. David Roberts took control from there, picking up his first win in the Carolina League with 2 1/3 perfect innings. Roberts (1-4) struck out one. Dallas Cawiezell kept the good times rolling, giving up just one hit in two innings of work. Cawiezell walked one and struck out two. Lewis, Roberts and Cawiezell combined to retire 19 Salem hitters in a row, as the Red Sox did not get their third hit of the game until the eighth inning. Jonathan Holt finished up from the pen, throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

Kinston got on the board in the fifth inning, tying the score with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cord Phelps. Kinston would break the 1-1 tie in the top of the sixth inning. With one out in the frame Adam Davis singled, Rivas walked and Alex Castillo was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Roman Pena gave Kinston a 2-1 lead when he walked, driving in Davis. The Indians would strike again later in the inning with a two-out, two RBI single from Tim Fedroff. Fedroff went 2-for-4 with two RBI, increasing his consecutive on base streak to 34. Fedroff is now hitting .293, the third best batting average in the Carolina League. Davis would finish the scoring, knocking home Ole Sheldon with an RBI double in the seventh inning. Davis racked up three hits for the second straight night and third time this month, going 3-for-5 with two doubles. Pena also had two hits for Kinston.

The K-Tribe will go for the series sweep at Salem Sunday night at 6:05 pm. Paolo Espino will get the start for Kinston.

One Mistake Dooms Graham, Aeros

Luke Hughes hit a grand slam off Akron starter Connor Graham in the bottom of the first inning, and that one swing provided all the offense New Britain needed in a 4-1 victory over the Aeros before 8,217 fans at New Britain Stadium Saturday night. The Rock Cats improved to 60-59 with the win while Akron lost its third straight game and fell to 73-47.

New Britain caught a break in the bottom of the first, as with a 1-2 count leadoff man Brandon Roberts chopped an infield single off home plate and beat Graham’s throw to first. Graham struck out two of the next three hitters with Rene Tosoni’s hit-and-run single sandwiched in between, but Brian Dinkelman extended the inning with a five-pitch walk. That loaded the bases for Hughes, and he lofted Graham’s first offering over the left field fence for his fourth homer of the year and what turned out to be an insurmountable 4-0 advantage.

The Aeros threatened in the top of the second as Carlos Santana opened the inning with a double and Jared Goedert walked with one down, but Rock Cats starter Matt Fox struck out John Drennen and Carlos Rivero swinging to end the frame. Akron wouldn’t get another hit until two were gone in the top of the seventh, but mounted a serious rally in the top of the eighth.

Fox gave way to reliever Frank Mata to start the eighth, and Rivero greeted the right-hander with a two-strike single to center. Jerad Head followed with a base of his own (also on two strikes), knocking Mata from the game as New Britain opted for left-hander Spencer Steedley. Jose Constanza foiled the lefty-lefty match-up with the third straight two-strike single however, loading the bases for Lonnie Chisenhall. He got Akron on the board with a sacrifice fly to left to score Rivero and make it 4-1, and the Rock Cats went back to the bullpen to get right-hander Alex Burnett. He immediately fell behind Matt McBride but survived when McBride’s sharp liner to left was hit right at Dinkelman for the second out, and Santana then hit a towering fly ball to right that died at the warning track for the final out of the inning. The Aeros went in order in the ninth.

Fox (8-8) earned his second straight win at Akron’s expense with seven shutout innings, while Graham (0-2) suffered the loss. Burnett went 1.2 innings for his fourth save. The run in the seventh for the Aeros was the club’s first tally in 21 innings, while it marked the first run allowed by New Britain pitching in 32 innings.

Akron will try to avoid a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m., as Josh Tomlin (11-8, 4.19 ERA) will take the mound against Cole Devries (7-12, 4.26 ERA) of the Rock Cats.

Braves Blank Captains 3-0

J.J. Hoover threw seven scoreless innings as the Rome Braves shutout the Lake County Captains 3-0 on Saturday. This is the eighth time this year the Captains have been shut out this year.

The Braves got on the board right away when Adam Milligan hit his 10th home run of the year in the top of the first inning and the Braves led 1-0. It went to 2-0 in the top of the second inning when Stephen Shults doubled home Chais Fuller. The lead was 3-0 in the top of the sixth inning when Joel Campusano scored on a sacrifice fly from Fuller.

Captains starter Danny Salazar (5-5) took the loss going seven innings and allowing three runs on six hits, walking one and striking out one. Travis Turek threw two scoreless innings in relief of Salazar. Braves starter J.J. Hoover (6-5) got the win working seven scoreless innings allowing three hits, walking two and striking out eight. David Francis worked the ninth inning and picked up his third save of the year.

The Captains and Braves play game three of the series on Sunday at 1:00 PM with the Captains sending RHP Jason Knapp (2-7, 4.02) to the mound to face RHP David Francis (3-7, 3.58).

Scrappers Win 7-6

On Saturday night, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers defeated the Lowell Spinners 7-6. With the win, the Scrappers improve to 35-21 overall, 20-9 at home.

Scrappers starter Marty Popham worked the first five innings and allowed three runs while striking out 6. Popham gets the win and improves his record to 5-1 this season. Antwon Hubbard came in to relieve Popham in the 6th, he got in trouble early, giving up a walk to load the bases with just one out, but managing to escape the inning giving up only one run on two hits. Guido Fonseca pitched just one third of an inning in the 8th and then Nick Kirk took over for Mahoning Valley. A Lowell stolen base and a Scrappers throwing error allowed the 6th and final run for the Spinners in the top half of the 8th.

The Scrappers took an early 3-0 lead in the 1st with back to back to back RBI singles from Greg Folgia, Chun Chen and Jesus Brito. In the 2nd, Mahoning Valley tacked another run on the board with a stolen base by Jordan Henry and an RBI single from Jason Kipnis. The in the 5th , Mahoning Valley manufactured two runs with a Kyle Bellows steal, a walk, a Chun Chen sacrifice bunt, followed by a base clearing double by Brito, who was thrown out at 3rd trying to stretch his double to a triple. The inning was still alive for Ben Carlson’s book rule double flowed by a Lowell error, allowing him to score what would be the winning run.

Sunday, Mahoning Valley takes on Lowell for the final game of the series and of the homestand before the All Star break. Vidal Nuno is scheduled to make the start for the Scrappers; he is 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA. Sunday’s game starts at 5:05 PM and can be heard on 1390 WNIO or mvscrappers.com.

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