Game Recap 4/19: De La Cruz Pitches Six No Hit Innings

De La Cruz Deals, But Kinston Loses Late

Kinston starter Kelvin De La Cruz threw six innings of no hit ball, but it wasn’t enough, as the K-Tribe fell to the Blue Rocks 4-1 Monday night in Wilmington, Delaware.

De La Cruz had his best outing of the season, striking out four in six frames while allowing just one base runner. The base runner was Wilmington’s Eric Hosmer, who fouled off one full count offering, before taking the other high and inside for ball four in the fourth inning. Because of early season pitch counts, De La Cruz did not start the seventh inning, leaving the game with a 1-0 lead.

The K-Tribe took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning when Jason Kipnis advanced to both first and second base on two separate Blue Rock errors, then took third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Karexon Sanchez.

Kinston’s bullpen could not hold, however, as Hosmer would again spoil the fun for Kinston in the bottom of the seventh inning. Hosmer put a Santo Frias pitch over the right field wall for a home run, breaking up the no hitter and tying the game at one. Things got messy in the bottom of the eighth inning when Frias walked Salvador Perez with two outs. Juan Rivera followed with a single and Patrick Norris would walk to load the bases. J.D. Alfaro would then hit a grounder to shortstop Ronald Rivas, who bobbled and then threw wide of first base allowing Perez and Rivera to score. Rivas was charged with his eighth error of the season and Wilmington took a 3-1 lead. Norris would score later in the inning on a wild pitch. Frias (0-1) was saddled with the loss, giving up four runs (only one earned) in 1 2/3 innings of work. He walked three and struck out one.

Wilmington pitched well on their end, as starter Michael Montgomery gave up one unearned runs on two hits while striking out eight and walking three. Buddy Baumann (1-0) picked up the win, giving up just one hit while striking out six in three innings. Kinston will take on Wilmington in game two of the four games set Tuesday at 6:35 pm. Nick Hagadone will get the start for Kinston.

Clippers Lose Game, But Win Series

Five in a row was a great run for the Columbus Clippers over the Louisville Bats, but six straight was not to be. Louisville avoided a sweep at the hands of the Clippers with an 8-2 win on Monday night.

Through four innings, the teams were locked in a fantastic pitcher's duel with Carlos Carrasco and Sam LeCure allowing just one hit each and no runs. It the bottom of the 5th, things unraveled for Carrasco and the Clippers.

After striking out the lead-off man, Carrasco allowed a single to the number nine hitter Corky Miller. One batter later, Carrasco induced a ground ball back to the mound and tried to start what would have been an inning-ending double play, but threw low to 2nd base for an error. With two on and one out, the next hitter Chris Heisey smacked a 3-run homer to start the scoring. After finishing the inning, Carrasco's night was over.

Steven Wright entered in the 6th and struggled, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits over 1.1 innings of relief. Sam LeCure did not struggle. The Bats righty did not allow another base runner until a misplayed ball fell into center field in the 8th. LeCure allowed only two men to reach base, struck out nine and faced one over the minimum in his eight dominant innings.

Columbus got on the board in the 9th when Chris Gimenez doubled and scored on Jose Constanza's following triple. Constanza crossed the plate on a Trevor Crowe single to finish the scoring.

The Clippers travel to Indianapolis for a pair of games against the Indians beginning Tuesday night at 7:00. Hector Rondon pitches for Columbus against the Tribe's Donnie Veal.

Curve Walk Their Way To Victory Over Aeros 10-3

The Akron Aeros fell to the Altoona Curve in the opening game of the three-game series 10-3 Monday night. The Aeros allowed an astonishing 10 walks during the game, while striking six Altoona batters. The Aeros fall to a record of 6-6 on the season after Monday’s loss.

The Aeros fell behind in the third inning when Altoona took a 3-0 lead in the top of the inning. The very next half inning the Aeros got on the board, when Cord Phelps singled followed by John Drennen’s first triple of the season. The Curve would then score three more runs in the top of the fourth inning extending their lead to 5-1. The Aeros answered back to keep the game within striking distance when they scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning off of Weglarz’ double followed by a groundout by Jared Goedert which advanced Weglarz to third-base. Weglarz crossed the plate on a Beau Mills’ double to right-field. The Aeros bullpen would give up another four runs in the top of the fifth inning when Aeros reliever Omar Aguilar struggled to find the plate, walking three batters in only one inning of work. Brian Grening then came into the game for the Aeros, where he would also struggle to find the strike zone walking four batters and striking out none. Grening would load the bases and then walk in a run before getting Adam Pressley to pop out to shortstop Carlos Rivero to end the inning. Bryan Price would finish out the game pitching two scoreless innings, while striking out one and not allowing a walk with the final score of 10-3.

Scott Barnes made it through only four innings on Monday night against the Altoona Curve. Barnes gave up seven hits and seven runs while walking three and striking out four batters before the bullpen took over. Barnes is now 0-2 on the year with a 6.57 ERA through three starts for Akron, giving up 12 runs in 12.1 innings of work. The Aeros bullpen had a rough outing giving up three runs while walking a total of seven batters. Brian Grening came into the game and struggled to get through his two innings of work, totaling zero strikeouts and walking four batters. Aeros Reliever Bryan Price came into the game and pitched the final two innings striking out one and walking none. The Aeros walked a combined 10 batters during the contest at Canal Park before losing to Altoona 10-3.

The Aeros continue their three-game set with the Altoona Curve tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. at Canal Park.

Greenwell Leads Captains to Another Win

Bo Greenwell blasted a three run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie and lead the Lake County Captains to a 12-6 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Monday. Greenwell drove in five runs in the game and ended up a double short of hitting for the cycle. The Captains took two of the three games of the series and are now 11-1 on the season.

The Captains scored twice in the first inning when with the bases loaded, Casey Frawley walked to drive in Roberto Perez and then Jeremie Tice scored on a throwing error and the Captains led 2-0. The TinCaps answered with four runs in the top of the second inning when Griffin Benedict hit a grand slam home run off f Captains starter Joe Gardner and the TinCaps led 4-2.

The Captains made it 4-3 on the bottom of the fourth inning when Chris Kersten hit a solo home run, his first of the year. The game was tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Chun Chen singled home Greenwell. After scoring the runs in the sixth inning, the Captains added two runs when Frawley drove home two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to up the lead to 9-4. Frawley ended up with three RBI’s. The Captains tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when Greenwell tripled home two runs and Roberto Perez drove in a run and it was 12-4. The TinCaps scored twice in the ninth inning.

Gardner did not get a decision pitching five innings allowing four runs on two hits, walking three and striking out eight. Nick Sarianides (2-0) got the win working 2.1 scoreless innings allowing two hits, walking two and striking out two. Cory Burns pitched the final 1.2 innings and allowed two runs in the top of the ninth inning and struck out two. TinCaps starter Jerry Sullivan did not get a decision either working 3.2 innings and allowing three runs, one earned on two hits, walking four and striking out three. Pedro Hernandez (0-1) gave up six runs, five earned in three innings and took the loss.

The Captains welcome the Great lakes Loons, the class A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to Classic Park for a three game series beginning on Tuesday at 6:30. The Captains will have LHP Chris Jones (1-0) on the mound against the Loons RHP Allen Webster (2-0, 2.16).

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