Barnes Named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week

Aeros pitcher Scott Barnes was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week today for the week ending May 23rd. The left-handed Barnes is the first Akron player this season to win a weekly award from the EL. He will be starting again tonight against the first-place Altoona Curve.

Barnes made just one start last week but it was one of the finest in his brief Double-A career. The 22-year-old delivered five no-hit innings last Tuesday and earned his first win in the Aeros 2-0 victory over the Curve. He struck out five batters and only walked four, inducing five groundball outs and six fly outs. The Akron bullpen continued his no-hit performance until an eighth inning single by Gorkys Hernandez, but that would be the only hit registered by the Curve that evening. The shutout was the third by the Aeros this season.

As remarkable as his outing in Altoona was, it was actually Barnes’ second five-inning no-hitter of the year. He had another similar start on April 14th at Trenton where he held the Thunder hitless going into the sixth. On that night, he recorded three strikeouts and allowed one walk but did not earn a win a as the Thunder came from behind to defeat the Aeros 4-3.

With his outing against the Curve, Barnes improved his record to 1-4 on the season with a 6.11 ERA. Overall, he leads Akron and is tied for 12th in the Eastern League with 36 strikeouts. Batters are hitting just .245 against him in his eight starts.

The Indians acquired Barnes from the San Francisco Giants organization on July 27, 2009 in a trade that included former Aero Ryan Garko. Barnes initially was an 8th-round selection by the Giants out of St. John’s University in the June 2008 Draft. He proceeded to post a 3-3 record and 2.06 ERA in 11 games (seven starts) between three teams in the San Francisco organization that season. In 2009, he began the year with San Jose of the Class A California League before the mid-season trade to the Indians. In six starts late last year with the Aeros, he went 2-2 with a 5.68 ERA and even made a five-inning shutout start in Akron’s Eastern League Championship playoff run.

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