The Clippers started off an eight game road trip in fine fashion Thursday night with a 10-5 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Hector Rondon gave up a quartet of home runs but made it through 6 innings to earn his 1st win of the 2010 season.
Brian Buscher tripled in a run and then scored in the 3rd inning to give the Clippers their 1st lead of the game. In the bottom of the inning, the 1st of Chris Duffy's 2 home runs tied the contest at 2-2 but Columbus scored a pair in the 4th to go ahead again on a Shelley Duncan double and Buscher sacrifice fly. The Clippers wouldn't look back.
Columbus scored again on back-to-back doubles by Wes Hodges and Jordan Brown for a 5-3 lead. That opened the gates for a five run frame and a 9-3 lead. Hodges tripled and scored in the 7th for the final Clippers run.
Frank Herrmann relieved Rondon, throwing a pair of scoreless innings and lowered his ERA to 0.64. Saul Rivera tossed a perfect 9th.
Game two of the series will be a 7:05 affair with a pitching match-up featuring Jeanmar Gomez for Columbus and Ryan Vogelsong for Lehigh Valley.
Aeros Split Series
The Aeros offense has shown life over the past few home games but it was their bullpen that struggled Thursday afternoon at Canal Park during the second Education Day of the season at Canal Park which hosted 7,740 screaming schoolchildren who were all ready for an Aeros win. The Aeros were going for the series win on Thursday at Canal Park but the Thunder seemed to have other plans.
Thursday’s game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Reid Gorecki drew a walk off the starting pitcher and then stole both second and third base put the Thunder in a very nice situation. Catcher Jose Gil came to the plate with two guys in scoring position. The Aeros offense continued to stay hot against the Thunder, plating a run in the fourth, fifth and six innings leaving the Aeros up by a score of 3-2. Cord Phelps, who was leading the Eastern League in batting average, went 0-5 on the day, leaving six people stranded on base.
Trenton answered back with three runs in the seventh inning off relievers Omar Aguilar and Steven Wright. Omar Aguilar is tied for fourth on the team in strikeouts with 18. David Adams’ RBI single would allow Thunder infielder Justin Snyder to score, followed by a Brandon Laird single off Steven Wright which scored two runs leaving the score at 5-3 hit a two-run single off Wright to give the Thunder a 5-3 lead. Edwar Gonzalez came around to score from third base on a sacrifice fly by Luis Nunez in the eighth inning giving the Thunder a 6-3 leading heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.
Scott Barnes had one of his best outings of the season in the finale at Canal Park. He tied his season high in innings pitched five strong innings of baseball, allowing two hits on two runs while walking three and striking out eight batters. The Aeros bullpen had another shaky performance, allowing four runs in three and a third innings of work. Matt McBride led the way offensively, finishing 2-4 on the afternoon. Cord Phelps still currently leads the Eastern League with an impressive .374 batting average through 24 games.
The Aeros are now going to play their next six games away from Canal Park. They will depart for a three-game series with the Reading Phillies, and then have plans to travel over to Erie for another three-game series before returning home on Thursday May 13. The Aeros will send out starting pitcher Paolo Espino in hopes of getting back into the win column on Friday night in Reading. Espino will be matched up against Reading starting pitcher Phillippe Aumont who is 1-1 on the season with a 4.63 ERA.
Webb's Two Homers Drive K-Tribe to 2-0 Win
Donnie Webb hit two solo home runs and Nick Hagadone and T.J. McFarland combined to shutout Lynchburg as the K-Tribe won 2-0 on Thursday night in Lynchburg. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Kinston.
Webb drilled his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw in the first inning, a blast to right field that gave the Indians a 1-0 lead. Then, leading off the fourth, Webb again took the first offering from starter Scott Carroll (0-2) and hammered it over the right field wall for the K-Tribe’s second and final run.
On the mound for the K-Tribe, starter Nick Hagadone and T.J. McFarland combined on a five-hit shutout, giving Kinston their league-leading third shutout of the season. McFarland (3-0) earned the win, pitching the final 5 innings and giving up four hits while striking out two. Hagadone allowed one hit and struck out six in four innings of work.
Kinston returns home for a quick three-game set on Friday night when the Potomac Nationals come to town. Greenville native and former UNC Tar Heel Alex White will be on the mound for the K-Tribe.
Captains Sweep Dragons
The Lake County Captains completed a three game series sweep of the Dayton Dragons by winning the completion of a game suspended on Wednesday 2-1 and winning the scheduled game 5-3.
In game one, which was the continuation of the game that was suspended on Wednesday night due to rain, the Captains gave up a run in the top of the eighth inning but responded with two in the bottom of the inning when Ben Carlson drove home Argenis Martinez with the go ahead run with two outs, and the Captains hung on in the ninth inning for a 2-1 win.
Captains starter Joe Gardner did not get a decision working three scoreless, hitless innings, striking out two prior to the rain on Wednesday. Chris Jones started the fourth inning when play resumed and pitched three scoreless innings allowing two hits while striking out one. Rob Bryson (4-0) relieved Jones to start the seventh inning and got the win allowing one unearned run on three hits while striking out three. Cory Burns pitched the ninth inning and loaded the bases with no outs, but then struck out the side to collect his ninth save of the year.
Dragons starter Pedro Villarreal worked the first the innings as well and gave up no hits and walked a batter. Chase Ware (3-1) started the fourth inning and went 4.1 innings and allowed the two runs on only two hits.
In game two, the Dragons lead off man Henry Rodriguez deposited the first pitch of the game from Captains starter Danny Salazar over the right field wall to give Dayton a 1-0 lead. The Captains answered with two homers of their own in the bottom of the first when Bo Greenwell stroked a two run home run to right field and Chun Chen followed with another two run home run. The Captains added another run on a RBI single from Kyle Smith and it was 5-1 after one inning. The Dragons got another run on a solo home run by Chris Richburg in the top of the third inning to make it 5-2. A home run by Josh Garton in the top of the sixth inning cut the lead to 5-3.
Salazar (1-1) pitched six innings and picked up his first win of the year giving up three runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six. Matt Packer pitched a scoreless seventh inning striking out one and registered his first save of the year.
Dayton starter J.C. Sulbaran (2-1) took the loss working four innings and allowing five runs on four hits, walking four and striking out five.
The Captains travel to Midland, MI to take on the Great Lakes Loons for a three game series beginning on Friday at 7:05PM. The Captains will send RHP-Marty Popham (1-0, 4.91) to the mound to face the Loons RHP Matt Magill (0-0, 2.70).
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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment