Game Recaps: Friday 9/4

Clippers nip Mud Hens
Columbus scored last in see-saw 12-11 win over Toledo in the final road game of season.
The Clippers got on the board in the second, scoring five runs off Josh Rainwater to support

Ryan Edell's drive for his first Triple-A win. Edell coughed up three runs in the bottom of the inning and another in the third to make it a one-run game.

Columbus put three runs up in the fourth, led by a Mickey Hall two-run homer. In the bottom of the frame, Toledo scraped across one to make it 8-5. Rich Rundles relieved Edell in the sixth and struggled. After allowing a two-run homer and putting another on base, Frank Herrmann came in and gave up a two-run bomb and Toledo had the lead at 9-8. The Hens stretched the lead with a run in the seventh, but the Clippers rallied to tie it at 10-10 on a Jordan Brown's two-run blast.

Toledo took the lead again in the eighth when Max Leon's RBI single. Mike Hessman took the mound after playing the other eight positions throughout the night. The Clippers made two quick outs and the 10,700 fans in Toledo were creating an electric atmosphere, but Columbus would not go quietly. Mickey Hall singled and went all the way to third on a wild pitch. Niuman Romero drove him home to tie it and scored when Audy Ciriaco threw a ball away on a Josh Barfield's ground ball. That gave the Clippers the lead and Greg Aquino tossed a perfect ninth for his 16th save.

Tomlin, Constanza lead Aeros to victory
Josh Tomlin won his 14th game and Jose Constanza set a franchise single-game record with four stolen bases as Akron defeated Erie 5-1 in the opener of a four-game series at Canal Park Friday night. The Aeros improved to a season-high 33 games over .500 at 86-53, while the SeaWolves fell to 71-67 and remained one game behind Reading for the final playoff spot in the Southern
Division.

Tomlin made a statement by setting Erie down in order on just seven pitches in the top of the first, while Constanza set the tone offensively in the bottom of the inning. He drew a five-pitch walk from SeaWolves starter Jared Gayhart to open the frame, stole second and third, and scored on a double play ball from Carlos Santana to make it 1-0. Erie got the run back on a solo home run by Jeff Kunkel with two down in the third, but Akron took advantage of a second chance in the bottom of the fourth.

Gayhart recorded the first two outs of the fourth on just three pitches, but then lost the strike zone and walked Lonnie Chisenhall on five pitches. Chisenhall then aggressively moved to second on a wild pitch that Kunkel blocked in front of home plate, but it looked like the rally would end there when Carlos Rivero hit a pop-up to the right side. Erie first baseman Mike Bertram never saw the ball in the twilight sky however, and the ball bounced harmlessly in front of the SeaWolves dugout as Rivero stayed alive. He then took advantage of the opportunity, slicing an RBI double down the right field line to score Chisenhall and put Akron ahead to stay.
Tomlin continued to cruise through the seventh, and the Aeros plated three late insurance runs to put the game away. Constanza singled leading off the seventh and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by Beau Mills, and in the eighth Constanza chopped a two-run single back up the middle to account for the final margin.

Tomlin (14-9) earned the win with seven dominant innings, allowing just a run on two hits while setting a new season-high with nine strikeouts. His 14 wins lead the league, and also tied him with Paul Byrd in 1992 for second on Akron’s single-season list (Adam Miller holds the record with 15 wins in 2006). Gayhart (1-1) surrendered two runs and five hits in 5.2 innings in the defeat. Zach Putnam and Josh Judy each notched a scoreless inning of relief to close the game.

Constanza paced the offense with three hits, a walk, two runs scored and two RBI, while the four stolen bases gave him 48 for the year and tied him with Reading's Quintin Berry for the league lead. Rivero finished 2-3 and drove in a run for the sixth straight game.

Potomac beat K-Tribe
Potomac put up five runs in the bottom of the second inning, on their way to an 8-1 win over Kinston Friday night in Woodbridge, Virginia. With the loss, Kinston drops a game behind Salem for the final playoff sport in the Carolina League Southern Division with three games to play.

Kinston took an early 1-0 lead when Ole Sheldon grounded into a bases loaded double play, scoring Lucas Montero. Potomac took the lead for good when Devin Ivany hit a two-run home run off of Kinston starter Chris Jones in the bottom of the first inning. Potomac opened things up in the fifth inning, when Michael Martinez started the scoring by hitting a bases loaded RBI single. With the bases still loaded a grounder to Kinston third baseman was thrown wide of home plate, allowing two runs to score on the error. Ivany struck again, taking the very next pitch to the wall for a two RBI double. Potomac plated five runs on four hits, a walk and an error to blow the game open. Jones (1-1) took the loss, giving up seven hits and five earned runs in four innings. Luis Garcia (1-0) picked up the win in relief for Kinston.

Kinston relievers Dallas Cawiezell and Jonathan Holt pitched well in relief for Kinston, combining to give up just two hits and no earned runs in four innings of work. Ole Sheldon was 2-for-4 for Kinston.

In the playoff picture, Wilmington beat Frederick to wrap up the Blue Rocks second half Northern Division title and in turn eliminating Potomac from playoff contention. Salem beat Lynchburg 3-2 and the Red Sox now take a one game lead for the final playoff spot in the Carolina League Southern Division over Kinston.

Big inning costs Captains
A sixth run fifth inning by the Hagerstown Suns was more than Lake County Captains could overcome as they fell to the Suns 9-4 on Friday.

The Suns scored six times in the bottom of the fourth inning when Brett Newsome doubled home Tyler Moore and J.R. Higley and then scored on a wild pitch. Two more wild pitches plated runs and the Captains walked in a run and the Suns led 6-0. It was Newsome's first hit as a Sun. The Captains rallied with four runs in the top of the fifth inning when a run scored on an error that would have ended the inning and then Adam Abraham blasted a three run home run and the lead was cut to 6-4.

The Suns got a run off of Captains reliever Matt Langwell in the bottom of seventh inning when Higley doubled home a run and the Suns led 7-4. The Suns added pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off of Anillins Martinez to finish the scoring.

Captains starter Trey Haley (4-9) took the loss pitching 3.2 innings and allowing five runs on four hits, walking four and striking out five. Suns starter Juan Jaime did not get a decision working 4.2 innings allowing four unearned runs on four hits, walking three and striking out six. Chris Lugo (5-2) pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win.

Scrappers win 7-5
On Friday night, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers defeated the Jamestown Jammers 7-5. With the win, the Scrappers have tied the franchise record for wins in a single season with 48 (48-26).
Scrappers starter Vidal Nuno went the first 5 1/3 innings and surrendered five runs (4 earned), on six hits while walking one and striking out five. Austin Adams tossed the next 2 2/3 innings and gave up no runs on two base hits while striking out three. Guido Fonseca tossed the final inning and struck out two.

Mahoning Valley manufactured a run in the bottom of the 1st to take an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the 2nd Jamestown scored their first run on a sacrifice fly to left field tying the game at 1-1. Mahoning Valley added two runs in the top of the 4th when Jesus Brito delivered an RBI single and Moisis Montero grounded out driving home the second run. Mahoning Valley added a run in the 5th on a wild pitch and the lead increased to 4-1. In the top of the 6th the Jammers struck back scoring a the first run of the inning on a single, then took the lead on a three run home run from Carlos Paulino to take the lead for the first time 5-4. The Scrappers tied the game at 5-5, when Argenis Martinez delivered an RBI single. The Scrappers took the lead back for good in the bottom of the 7th when Brito delivered an RBI triple and then scored on a Ben Carlson sacrifice fly to right field. Mahoning Valley held off the Jammers bats and to the fifth game of the series 7-5.

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