Greg Folgia fired a strike to Roberto Perez to gun down the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth and the Lake County Captains shut out the Dayton Dragon 1-0 on Tuesday. The Captains collected only two hits in the game.
The Captains manufactured the lone run of the game in the bottom of the first inning when Delvi Cid singled and went to second when the left fielder bobbled the ball. Bo Greenwell grounded out with Cid taking third and he would score on a ground out by Casey Frawley and the Captains led 1-0. The run was unearned.
Captains starter Trey Haley (4-0) got the win working six scoreless innings allowing three hits, walking one and striking out five. Francisco Jimenez came on in the seventh inning and threw 1.1 scoreless innings allowing a hit and walking a batter. Preston Guilmet finished the game pitching the final 1.2 innings allowing three hits and striking out one to register his third save of the year.
Silver Hawks starter Justin Walker (1-6) took the loss working six innings allowing one run on one hit, walking one and striking out six.
The Captains and Dragons play game two of the three game series on Wednesday at 6:30 PM with the Captains RHP Clayton Cook (1-3, 4.69) on the mound against the Dragons RHP Jacob Johnson (0-4, 5.79).
Clippers fall short in finale
The Clippers wrapped up their eight-game road trip with an afternoon contest against the Charlotte Knights and when the dust settled, the Knights came away on the high side of a 5-3 score to take three out of four in the series.
Both teams played like they had appointments, swinging early and pitching quickly throughout most of the ballgame. Charlotte scored a pair of runs in the 2nd inning against Clippers starter Justin Germano on a solo home run by Josh Kroeger and an RBI ground out from C.J. Retherford. Germano and Knights starter Carlos Torres battled scoreless frames outside of that hiccup into the bottom of the 5th inning when Donnie Lucy hit a solo bomb for a 3-0 Kinghts advantage.
Carlos Santana started off the top of the 6th inning with his 10th homer of the year, a solo shot to make it 3-1, but Charlotte would answer in the bottom half of the inning. The Knights scored 2 runs in the frame, chasing Germano and sporting a 5-1 lead.
Columbus scored an unearned run in the 7th to get a run closer and get into the Charlotte bullpen. Wes Hodges blasted his5th home run of the season in the top of the 8th to bring the Clippers to within a 5-3 score. They would get no closer. The Knights bullpen would shutout the Clippers in the final frame to preserve the win.
The Clippers head into an off day on Wednesday and will resume play Thursday at Huntington Park with a series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Aeros Fall to Curve Again, Lose 5-3
The first-place Altoona Curve won Tuesday for the seventh consecutive contest and defeated the Aeros 5-3 in front of 2,020 fans at Canal Park. The loss was yet another for Akron at home this season while the Curve continued their recent mastery of the defending Eastern League Champions. Despite the continuation of a pair of long hitting streak for Akron batters, the Aeros dropped to 18-27 on the season while Altoona improved to 29-16.
The Curve scored first against Akron starting pitcher Eric Berger with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. EL batting leader Alex Presley started the frame with an infield single and catcher Hector Gimenez followed promptly with a two-run homer to left field. Akron’s John Drennen tripled to lead off the next half inning, but was out at home on a rundown after a grounder by Cristo Arnal. On that same play however, Arnal advanced to second base on the throw and later moved to third on a passed ball. Tim Fedroff then plated the speedy second baseman on a fielder’s choice to cut the deficit to 2-1 after three innings.
Altoona’s offense quickly responded to the Aeros rally as a Miles Durham two-run single in the fourth widened the lead to three. Jared Goedert began the Aeros fourth with a double and a Matt McBride groundout pushed him over to third base. On an unusual ensuing play, Curve starter Rudy Owens then balked Goedert home as Akron remained within striking distance at 4-2.
Berger continued to struggle however, as an RBI single by Curve DH Matt Hague in the fifth brought the score to 5-2. Akron seemed to have a major comeback opportunity in the eighth as Curve reliever Ronald Uviedo loaded the bases with nobody out in the inning. Unfortunately, Uviedo then induced a pop out to Fedroff, forced the second out on a one-run-scoring fielder’s choice by Jerad Head and finished the inning on a Goedert fly out. No Aero reached base in the ninth as Altoona won for the fifth straight time at Canal Park in 2010.
Owens improved to 4-2 on the season with the win, allowing just two hits in seven efficient innings for the white-hot Curve. Berger (1-3) took the loss as he permitted five runs and nine hits in five innings with his ERA increasing to 8.51 for the year. Yet again, the Akron bullpen remained impressive as Connor Graham and Steven Wright shut out Altoona in the final four frames.
On his 25th birthday, Goedert managed to improve upon his career-best hitting streak with his fourth-inning double. The hit extended his hot streak, the longest active mark in Double-A, to 14 consecutive games. Drennen also aided his hitting streak with his triple although Akron only produced three hits total on the night. In the ten games between these two teams this season, Altoona is now out-scoring the Aeros 55-25.
Akron will look to recover Wednesday night in game three of this series at 7:05 p.m. at Canal Park. It’s the final night game of this seven-game home stand as Aeros lefty Kelvin De La Cruz (1-2, 5.40 ERA) matches up against hot-shot Curve prospect Bryan Morris (1-0, 1.69 ERA).
Potomac Drops Kinston 9-4
An early 3-0 K-Tribe lead was overcome by Potomac, who evened the three game series by beating Kinston 9-4 on Tuesday night in Woodbridge, Virginia. Kinston will go for their sixth consecutive series victory in the rubber match on Wednesdy night.
The K-Tribe got off to a quick start against Potomac starting pitcher Pat Lehman. Jordan Henry started the game with his Carolina League leading 25th walk, then was balked to second base. After Karexon Sanchez was hit by a pitch, Kyle Bellows singled to load the bases. Abner Abreu, in his first start of the road trip, then belted a double to center. The smash cleared the bases and gave Kinston a 3-0 lead.
Kinston's starting pitcher T.J. McFarland also ran into trouble in the first inning. After retiring Steve Lombardozzi to start the bottom of the first, Will Ortiz and Michael Burgess reached on back-to-back singles. Potomac's Tyler Moore then drove both home with a double. After Tim Pahuta grounded out, Robby Jacobsen hit a towering home run down the left field line to give the Nationals a 4-3 lead. It was Jacobsen's first home run of the season.
Kinston would tie the score at four, scoring an unearned run in the third inning. In the top of the third inning, Sanchez led off with a double. Kyle Bellows then stepped up and sent a bouncing ball towards the mound. The chopper went under the glove of Lehman, but was backed up by shortstop Jose Lozada who tried to throw Sanchez out at third base. The throw to third was wild and Sanchez scored to tie things at four. Errors were charged to both Lehman and Lozada on the play.
Potomac would take the lead back in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Lombardozzi reached on a walk, advanced to second on an Ortiz single, then to third on a Burgess grounder and finally scoring on an RBI single from Moore. McFarland ended up giving up a season high five earned runs on seven hits in five innings. McFarland walked one and struck out two. McFarlands ERA is now 1.91, still the lowest in the Carolina League.
The Nationals added two more in the bottom of the seventh inning off of K-Tribe reliever David Roberts. Lombardozzi doubled to start the inning and then Ortiz dropped down a bunt. Roberts attempted to throw to third to cut down the lead runner, but the throw was off line and Lombardozzi scored on the error. The next hitter, Burgess, knocked in Ortiz with an RBI single to make it 7-4.
A two-out rally in the eighth allowed the P-Nats to break the game open. Wilfri Pena blasted a solo home run with two out. Then, Lombardozzi hit a long fly ball to right center that resulted in a collision between K-Tribe outfielders Jordan Henry and Lucas Montero. Though shaken up, both stayed in the game after the collision, and Lombardozzi was on third with a triple. Ortiz sprayed a single to left to bring him home with the final run in the 9-4 win.
McFarland (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season, while Nationals reliever Adrian Alaniz (1-1) earned the win.
The K-Tribe takes on Potomac for the final game of the three game set Wednesday night in Woodbridge, VA. Game time 7:03 pm, Nick Hagadone will take the hill for Kinston.
Photo courtesy of Lianna Holub
Everything on this site is free, but for those interested in making any monetary contributions to help support the stability and growth of this site please click on the "Donate" button below.
1 comments:
Awesome year thus far from Haley. Good to see!
Post a Comment