Game Recaps: Monday 9/7

Mahoning Valley was off on Monday as they were getting ready for the start of the NY-Penn League playoffs which start for them tonight at 7:05 p.m. in Brooklyn.

Barnes, Drennen lead Aeros in Finale

The Aeros closed the regular-season on a high note, clobbering Erie 9-3 to polish off a four-game sweep of the SeaWolves before 8,815 fans at Canal Park Monday afternoon. Akron (89-53) now heads to playoffs with a season-high eight-game winning streak and at a season-high 36 games over .500, while the 89 wins are the second most in franchise history (the 2002 club won 93 games). Erie finished the year 71-70.

Aeros starter Scott Barnes worked around a pair of singles in a scoreless top half of the first, and the offense went right to work in the bottom half against SeaWolves starter Ramon Garcia. Jose Constanza bunted his way on and took second on an error, Josh Rodriguez followed with an RBI single and also moved to second on an error, and Matt McBride delivered a two-out RBI single to put Akron in front 2-0. The teams traded solo home runs in the second with Shawn Roof going deep for the first time in his career for Erie and John Drennen answering for the Aeros, and after the Wolves made it a one-run ballgame in the third Akron put the game out of reach in the fourth.

Carlos Rivero led off with a double, went to third on Drennen’s base hit, and scored on Goedert’s RBI double. Constanza made it 5-2 with an RBI single, Goedert scored on a fielding error by Roof at second base, and Carlos Santana capped the inning with a two-run homer down the left field line to make it 8-2. Santana drove in runs 96 and 97 with the blast, tying Akron’s single-season RBI record set just last year by Wes Hodges.

Barnes worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by striking out Mike Bertram to end the inning, and the clubs traded solo shots again in the eighth. Chris White went deep in the top of the inning, and Drennen homered for the fourth time in three games in the bottom of the frame.

Barnes (2-2) earned the win with his best start as an Aero, allowing just two runs (one earned) on five hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out a season-high nine. Garcia (4-4) didn’t make it out of the fourth, getting rocked for eight runs (six earned) and 11 hits in 3.1 innings. Akron pounded out 15 hits offensively, with Constanza, McBride, and Drennen all collecting three each. Rivero finished with two hits, and Beau Mills extended his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games with a single in the third.

The playoffs are next for the Aeros, as game one of the Southern Division Championship Series against the Reading Phillies is set for 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Canal Park. Josh Tomlin (14-9, 4.16 ERA), who led the league in wins this year, will start for Akron against Reading’s Mike Stutes (8-8, 4.26 ERA).

K-Tribe Season Comes To An End With a 9-4 Loss at Potomac

The Kinston Indians season came to an end as Potomac erased an early deficit, coming back to beat the K-Tribe 9-4 Monday afternoon in Virginia.

Things looked good early as Kinston scored three runs in the top of the first inning. Lucas Montero led off the first with a triple. Tim Fedroff hit him home with an RBI double. Fedroff then scored on an RBI double from Cord Phelps. Ronald Rivas gave Kinston a 3-0 lead with an RBI single later in the inning. Leading 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Kinston would score another run on an RBI single with Adam Davis scoring Ole Sheldon.

Kinston carried a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning when Potomac started their comeback. With Bryce Stowell on the mound for Kinston, Potomac’s Greg Veloz walked with one out. After a stolen base, Boomer Whiting drove Veloz home with an RBI single. The K-Tribe went into the pen again and pulled out David Roberts. Roberts could not record an out, giving up an RBI single to Michael Martinez and an RBI triple to Danny Espinosa, tying the score at four. Kinston again went to the pen, bringing in Kyle Landis. Landis gave up a double to Michael Burgess, scoring Espinosa and giving Potomac a 5-4 lead. Potomac batted around in the seventh inning, racking up four hits, one walk and two hit batters, scoring four runs. Potomac would ice the game with four more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, highlighted by a three RBI double from Jesus Valdez.

David Roberts (2-5) picked up the loss for Kinston. Nick Hagadone started the game for Kinston, giving up one run on three hits in three innings. Bryce Stowell had a season high eight strikeouts, giving up two runs in 3 1/3 innings. Steve Smith got the final out in the bottom of the eighth inning for Kinston.

The K-Tribe ends the second half with a 33-37 record. Salem scored five unanswered runs to come back and beat Lynchburg 6-5, so Kinston finishes two games behind the Red Sox for the final playoff spot in the Carolina League Southern Division. Salem will take on Winston-Salem and Wilmington will square off against Lynchburg in the Carolina League Playoffs starting Wednesday. The K-Tribe finishes the season with a 60-78 overall record and will begin the 2010 season at Historic Grainger Stadium against Winston-Salem on Thursday, April 8th.

Captains End SAL Play with a Win

The Lake County Captains ended their stay in the South Atlantic League with a 4-2 win over the Hagerstown Suns on Monday. The Captains ended their season with a second half record of 40- 30, which was good for 3rd place. Their 2009 overall record was 71-66 which marks the second straight season the Captains have had an overall winning record having gone 75-65 in 2008.

The Suns put up a run in the first inning when Tyler Moore grounded out scoring Steve Lombardozzi from third base and Hagerstown led 1-0. The Captains got the lead in the top of the fourth inning when Delvi Cid scored on a throwing error by the center fielder. John Allman singled home Karexon Sanchez and Roberto Perez singled home Allman and the Captains led 3-1. The Captains added a run in the top of the eighth inning Allman drove in another run on a fileder’s choice and the lead was 4-1. The Suns cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning when J.R. Higley doubled home Lombardozzi.

Captains starter Alexander Morales (1-0) got the win pitching six innings and allowing one run on five hits, walking two and striking out three. Nick Sarianides came on in the seventh inning and went .1.1 innings allowing one run on two hits. Matt Langwell pitched the final 1.1 innings and got his fourth save of the year. Suns starter A.J. Morris (0-4) took the loss working five innings allowing three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out four.

The Captains will make their Midwest League debut in Eastlake on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 6:30 PM versus the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

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