Game Recaps: Tuesday 8/18

Lake County and Mahoning Valley had scheduled off days on Tuesday night.

Hens beat Clippers 8-7

Toledo rallied to beat the Clippers 8-7, taking both games of the series in the Glass City.
Columbus started the scoring in the third with a long ball from Josh Barfield. Barfield drove a three-run bomb out to left field for a 3-0 lead, but it didn't last long. Hector Rondon, who had mowed down the Hens in the first two innings, allowed three doubles and a Mike Hessman two-run blast for a 4-3 Toledo advantage.

The Clippers turned the tables in the fourth inning, scoring twice on a Damaso Espino double and then twice more on Jesus Merchan's ground out and Niuman Romero's sacrifice fly.

Toledo answered in the bottom of the fifth when Hessman doubled off the wall to score Wilkin Ramirez, who had reached on an error.

Starter Scot Drucker lasted only three innings for Toledo and Rondon made it through five innings for Columbus. Neither starter would factor in the decision.

Frank Herrmann came on for the Clippers and had a rough entrance. After retiring the leadoff man, he allowed a hit, walked a batter and allowed a RBI single to Dusty Ryan to make it 7-6. One out later, Scott Sizemore singled to tie the game.

In the seventh, Toledo got to Herrmann again for one run on a sac fly by Brent Clevlen.

Matt Rusch pitched three innings of scoreless relief, Zach Simons tossed two clean frames and Casey Fien closed it out in the ninth.

The Clippers and Mud Hens meet again Wednesday at Huntington Park with Ryan Edell facing Detroit Tigers lefty Dontrelle Willis.

Aeros Outlast Rain, Pummel Baysox 12-3

AKRON, OH – It was a tale of two ballgames Tuesday evening at Canal Park, but after a 50-minute rain delay in the bottom of the sixth the Aeros went on to score the final eight runs of the contest and cruised to a 12-3 win over Bowie in front of 3,788 fans. Akron improved to 75-47 with the win and lowered its magic numbers to 11 to clinch the Southern Division title and 10 to clinch a playoff spot, while the Baysox slipped to 63-58.

Bowie struck first in the top of the first, as the first three hitters all reached against Aeros starter Scott Barnes to load the bases with no outs. Barnes recovered beautifully however, allowing only one run to come home on Steve Torrealba’s double play grounder to short. Akron then got the run back immediately in the bottom of the inning, as Jose Constanza drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and raced to third when the throw caromed into center field. Carlos Santana plated him with an RBI single to right to tie the game, and Santana later scored on Josh Bell’s fielding error at third base.

Both sides missed out on opportunities in the following innings, but none was more glaring than Torrealba’s base running gaffe for Bowie in the fourth. Stationed at third with one down, Torrealba left the base too early on Ambiorix Concepcion’s fly to right and was called out on the appeal when his run would have tied the game. The Aeros extended the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth on Carlos Rivero’s sac fly, but Bell drilled a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to tie the affair at 3-3.

Things turned in the bottom of the sixth however, as John Drennen singled off reliever James Hoey to start the inning and Jared Goedert drew a five-pitch walk. Constanza then beat out a sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases, and with the rain intensifying Hoey walked Cristo Arnal on four pitches to force in the go-ahead run.

The game was halted at that point while the tarp went on the field, but when the inning resumed Beau Mills drove a two-run double to right-center off Fredy Deza to make the margin 6-3. The Aeros then teed off on Baysox lefty Ryan Rodriguez in the eighth, sending 10 men to the plate as Goedert’s two-run double finished the scoring and capped a six-run outburst.

Zach Putnam (3-2) earned the win out of the bullpen, allowing one hit in two-thirds of an inning in relief of Barnes. Hoey (2-5) allowed four runs (three earned) in one inning for the loss. Barnes allowed three runs and six hits in 5.1 innings, while Carlton Smith and Neil Wagner combined to record the final nine outs in order. Every Aero finished with a hit with the exception of Josh Rodriguez, although he only played three innings in his return to the field following a hamstring injury that sidelined him for 101 games. Mills led the way with three hits and three RBI, while Lonnie Chisenhall picked up two knocks and Goedert collected two RBI. Constanza reached base three times and stole two bases and Santana went 1-4 with an RBI, and both remain on pace to break the club’s single-season records for steals and runs batted in, respectively.

Game two in this quick three-game series is set for 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night, as Akron sends southpaw Eric Berger (0-1, 5.40 ERA) to the hill opposite Bowie’s Tim Bascom (2-6, 4.24 ERA).

Kinston Splits Doubleheader

Kinston and Myrtle Beach split a double header Tuesday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. Kinston won game one 6-3 and the Pelicans triumphed in game two 4-2. The split leaves Kinston tied with Salem for the final playoff spot in the Carolina League Southern Division.

Kinston trailed in game one 3-2, until Ole Sheldon hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was Sheldon’s team leading ninth bomb of the season. The K-Tribe went on to score two more runs in the inning on a Lucas Montero RBI single and an Adam Davis run on a wild pitch. Roman Pena started the scoring for Kinston in the third inning, with a two-run homerun. It was the fourth homer of the season for Pena. Montero, Pena and Cord Phelps each had two hits for Kinston. Tim Fedroff went 0-for-4 as his 16 game hit streak and 35 game on-base streak came to an end. The consecutive on-base streak was the longest in the Carolina League this season and the longest by a K-Triber since Stephen Head went for 37 straight games in 2006. Russell Young (5-5) picked up the win in game one for Kinston, giving up five hits and three earned runs in six innings. Kyle Landis racked up his fifth save of the season, striking out three and giving up one hit in the seventh.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans used a pair of two-run home runs to take the second game of the double dip 4-2 over Kinston. Cody Johnson hit his Carolina League leading 29th home run in the fourth inning. Randy Gress hit his third home run of the season an inning later, to break a 2-2 tie and put Myrtle Beach up for good. The K-Tribe scored their two runs on a Tim Fedroff (0-for-3) RBI groundout and Davis rumbling home on a passed ball. Kinston managed five hits, all singles, in game number two. Chen-Chang Lee (4-5) picked up the loss for Kinston, giving up the two-run home run to Gress. Lee pitched 1 2/3 innings, giving up two hits, striking out four and walking one. Bryce Stowell was the starter for Kinston, giving up two earned runs on five hits in four innings. Dallas Cawiezell was solid from the pen, giving up just one hit in 1 1/3 innings.

The K-Tribe takes on Myrtle Beach in game two of the four game series Wednesday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. Game time 7pm as Chris Jones will make his Carolina League debut for Kinston. Wednesday is also four million fan night, where the 4,000,000th fan to see a Carolina League game at Historic Grainger Stadium will walk away with tons of prizes! Gates open at 6pm.

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