Game Recap 5/28: Brown Leads Clippers Charge

Brown leads Clippers to 11-7 win

The Clippers brought their bats out to begin the Memorial Day weekend and found their stride, defeating the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, 11-7. The Clippers used timely two-out hitting and Jordan Brown's leadership to take game two of the four game series.

The Ironpigs got out to an early lead when John Mayberry hit his eighth home run of the season off starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco. The Clippers responded with four runs in the bottom of the third inning as Brown came up with three men on and two outs, and cleared the bases with a double to left.

The Clippers continued to pour on the runs in the fifth inning when Brown drove in his fourth run of the night on a sacrifice fly and then Brian Bixler followed by hitting his fourth home run of the season, a two run shot to right field.

Andy Tracy did his part to keep Lehigh Valley in the contest against Carrasco. In the top half of the sixth inning, Tracy hit a two-run home run to right, his fourth of the year, then bettered that plate appearance by hitting a grand slam deep to right off Carrasco in the seventh.

The Clippers' scoring outburst turned out to be the fourth time this season Columbus had scored 10 or more runs. The Clippers were able to score runs due to balanced offensive production from top to bottom in the lineup. Brown drove in five for Columbus to lead the way followed by Buscher, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley each driving in two. Santana had two hits, a single and a triple, Brantley tallied two singles and Bixler had three singles. Seven of the nine batters for Columbus recorded a base hit on the night, as the team compiled 14 hits on the evening.

Carrasco earned his third win of the season as he defeated Brandon Duckworth, who fell to 1-1 on the year. Carrasco went seven innings, giving up 11 hits, seven runs, six earned and striking out seven. Six of the seven runs against Carrasco came in the last 2 innings of work, all off the bat of Tracy.

The Clippers meet up with the Ironpigs in game three of the series tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. at Huntington Park. Jeanmar Gomez takes the hill for Columbus (2-5, 6.02) as Nate Bump gets the start for Lehigh Valley (4-2, 2.41).

B-Mets Oust Aeros 2-1 in Pitcher’s Duel

The host Binghamton Mets shut down the Akron offense and held on late for the 2-1 victory at NYSEG Stadium Friday night. A crowd of 5,132 fans in Binghamton witnessed a classic back-and-forth pitcher’s duel between a pair of first-round pick starters and dominant relievers. In the end however, the Aeros could not muster enough firepower offensively and fell for the fourth time in five contests. The Mets improved to 23-24 while Akron fell to 19-29 on the year.

Neither team scored early until the B-Mets broke through against Aeros starting pitcher Alex White in the third inning. Reese Havens began the frame with a double past second baseman Cord Phelps and eventually scored on a sac fly. Binghamton again capitalized with a small-ball attack in the fourth as a single, groundout, passed ball and wild pitch led to an unearned run and a two-run lead.

The Aeros had trouble doing anything at all against Mets right-handed Brad Holt. He permitted just one hit and three walks in five shutout innings before handing off to his bullpen. Akron did not have a runner past first base in the fourth through eighth but rallied with a furious comeback in the ninth.

Third baseman Jared Goedert started things with a walk and after two straight outs, moved to second base on a catcher’s indifference. In a stroke of good luck, right fielder John Drennen continued his long hitting streak with the RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1. Jerad Head drew a walk to put the go-ahead runner on base, but Damaso Espino struck out to end the ball game.

Holt (1-4) earned the win in his most impressive start of the season as the New York’s first-round pick in the 2008 draft entered the game with a 13.40 ERA. White (1-1) took the unfortunate loss in his second Double-A start despite earning the quality start in permitting just two runs on four hits in six efficient innings. Reliever Bryan Price extended his scoreless streak to six straight appearances for the Aeros bullpen while Clint Everts earned his second save for the Mets.

Akron only collected four hits on the night but still managed to strand eight runners on base. Goedert finished with a pair of walks and hit safely in his 17th straight game with a single while Drennen’s late hit brought his streak to 11 consecutive games.

This four-game Memorial Day weekend series continues Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. The Aeros will look to even up the set as righty Steven Wright (0-0, 5.40 ERA) makes his first start of the season against Binghamton’s Michael Antonini (3-4, 4.62 ERA).

Kinston Downs Dash 8-5

The K-Tribe overcame a 5-0 defecit, coming back to beat firrst place Winston-Salem 8-5 Friday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. The comeback was the biggest of the year for Kinston.

Winston-Salem got to work early off of K-Tribe starter T.J. House. Eduardo Escobar doubled in the first inning, moved to third on a single and then scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Seth Loman. The Dash's Brandon Short led off the second inning with a long home run to left field to make it 2-0. The Dash piled on three more runs in the fourth. Jordan Cheatham hit a two-run double and Eduardo Escobar tacked on an RBI single to extend their lead to 5-1.

Kinston answered big in the bottom of the inning. Kyle Bellows hit an RBI single and then Chris Kersten hit a two-run double, his first RBI with the K-Tribe. Ronald Rivas followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-4.

The K-Tribe would jump on top in the bottom of the seventh. Jordan Henry drew a lead-off walk, and Jason Kipnis doubled to left field to score Henry and tie the game. Bellows then hammered a triple to left to give the Indians a 6-5 lead. The Indians added insurance in the eighth. With one out, Rivas singled and Montero tripled down the right field line to bring him home. Henry then hit an RBI single through a drawn-in infield to make it 8-5. Bellows and Rivas each went 3-for-4 on the night. Henry went 2-for-3, reaching base four times.

Kinston's bullpen was fantastic, shutting down the Dash through the final five innings of play. Joey Mahalic gave up one hit in one inning of work. Rob Bryson (2-0) picked up the win, pitching a perfect two innings while striking out four. Matt Langwell pitched a scoreless eighth inning, picking up his Carolina League leading eighth hold of the season. Cory Burns got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth inning, picking up his third save of the season.

The K-Tribe (26-22) has now gone 17-6 since May 5th, pulling to within six games of first place Winston-Salem. The Dash (32-16) came into Friday night's contest with the best record in all of baseball. Kinston takes on the Dash for game two of the series Saturday night, 7pm at Historic Grainger Stadium. Marty Popham will take the hill for the K-Tribe.

Loons beat Captains, 2-1

The Loons took the first game of a four game series last night with a 2-1 win over the Captains to pull within two games. Gorman Erickson scored the winning run when Casey Frawley miss played a ground ball off the bat of Rafael Ynoa in the sixth.

Great Lakes kicked off the sixth inning with back to back singles by Angelo Songco and Erickson. Lenell McGee reached on a fielder’s choice loading the bases. Bryant Hernandez hit into a 4-6-3 double play allowing the first run to score and moving Erickson to third with two outs.

Lake County had a number of chances throughout the game but finally cashed in, in the eighth. Frawley reached second base on an error. A Bo Greenwell ground out moved Frawley to third base. Jason Smit singled to left driving in the Captains loan run making it 2-1.

Matt Packer (2-3) pitched great in the loss, allowing both runs, only one of which was earned off three hits and struck out four. Captains’ reliever Francisco Jimenez pitched three scoreless inning of one hit ball and struck out three. Elisaul Pimentel (4-3) picked up the win for the Loons as he tossed seven scoreless innings allowing just two hits and striking out seven. Justin Miller pitched the final two innings allowing an unearned run to pick up his fourth save.

Lake County and Great Lakes will continue the series Saturday night from Dow Diamond at 7:05PM. The Captains will send RHP Austin Adams (1-2) to the bump. The Loons will counter with RHP Josh Wall (0-2).

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