Matt Packer threw eight scoreless innings and Roberto Perez had four hits to lead the Lake County Captains to a 5-0 shutout over the West Michigan Whitecaps on Saturday. The Captains have thrown four shutouts this season and are off to a 2-0 start in the second half of the season.
Jeremie Tice led off the top of the fourth inning with a double and three batters later Adam Abraham doubled him home to give the Captains a 1-0 lead. Abraham ended the night with three hits. The Captains added a run in the top of the seventh inning when Jason Smit hit a solo home run, his fifth homer of the year, and the Captains led 2-0. The Captains added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning when Roberto Perez scored on a throwing error and Greg Folgia scored on a sacrifice fly by Delvi Cid and the lead was 4-0. Perez collected his fourth hit in the top of the ninth inning when he doubled home Tice to end the scoring at 5-0.
Captains starter Matt Packer (6-3) got the win pitching a career high eight scoreless innings allowing five hits, walking one, hitting two and striking out a career high nine batters. Jose Flores pitched a scoreless ninth inning allowing a hit. The Captains defense turned three double plays.
Whitecaps starter Trevor Feeney (6-7) took the loss working six innings allowing one run on eight hits, walking one and striking out five.
The Captains and Whitecaps will wrap up the three game series on Sunday at 1:00 PM with the Captains sending RHP Brett Brach (0-3, 4.03) to the hill to oppose RHP Ramon LeBron (4-4, 6.31).
Huge first inning propels Clippers
One inning was all Columbus really needed to extend their winning streak to five games, taking game two of a four-game set against the Gwinnett Braves, 8-2, Saturday night in front of more than 10,000 at Huntington Park.
After falling behind 1-0, the Clippers responded with a seven-run opening frame. The big inning featured two-run singles from both Jordan Brown and Wes Hodges, an RBI double from Cord Phelps and a two-run double from Michael Brantley (his second hit of the inning).
Columbus added another run in the third, when Lou Marson went deep, hitting his second home run as a Clipper in 2010 on his 24th birthday.
In all, it was plenty of run support for Jeanmar Gomez, who allowed two runs on seven hits, with four strikeouts over six innings of work, improving to 5-7 on the year.
After a rough first inning, Tim Gustafson faced just one batter in the second inning before departing, and fell to 7-5 with the loss.
Carlton Smith and Jess Todd pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the Clippers. The game was delayed briefly in the bottom of the eighth because of lightning in the area.
The Clippers are now a season-best 16 games over the .500 mark and are back at it Sunday afternoon, with Columbus' Yohan Pino (7-3, 4.65 ERA) getting the ball for a 5:05 first pitch.
Binghamton Bats Explode in 11-6 Win
The Binghamton Mets offense hammered the Aeros pitching staff again Saturday night, winning by the final score of 11-6 at Canal Park. Each team collected 14 hits in front of the 4,324 fans in attendance, but the B-Mets capitalized on monster nights from first baseman Nick Evans and right fielder Raul Reyes. Akron (36-38) has now lost eight of their past 12 contests to fall 2.5 games behind the Bowie Baysox for second place in the Western Division while the streaking Mets (38-36) have won eight of 10.
The night started off well for the Aeros as the team had a monster bottom of the first inning against Binghamton starter Mark Cohoon. It was the Double-A debut for the young lefty and he made a crucial mistake in allowing a two-out Matt McBride RBI double to left-center. Right fielder John Drennen followed with a run-scoring single and shortly after, designated hitter Jerad Head gave the hosts the quick 3-0 lead with a liner to left.
Akron starter Scott Barnes could not maintain the advantage as the Mets attacked in the top of the third. Reyes smacked a one-out two-run homer to right while a Jason Kipnis error at second prolonged the frame. Binghamton collected six hits quickly and after the rally was finally over, the three-run edge turned into a 6-3 deficit for the Aeros.
Reyes began the fourth inning with his second home run of the night and the team then added two more runs against Barnes in the fifth. The Mets extended the lead to 10-3 in the next inning on a solo shot by Evans, his team-leading 13th homer of the season.
Cohoon cruised until the sixth where he faced trouble with one out in the frame as Drennen, shortstop Josh Rodriguez and Head loaded the bases with three consecutive singles. Tim Fedroff then struck out looking for Cohoon’s first strikeout of the game, but catcher Damaso Espino followed with a huge two-run single to right field.
The comeback would fall short as Binghamton added a run in the eighth on an RBI single by Marshall Hubbard against reliever Zach Putnam. The Aeros then provided the final margin thanks to another clutch two-out run-scoring hit by Espino later that inning.
Cohoon (1-0) earned the win despite conceding five runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings pitched while the lefty Barnes (3-7) took the loss. He permitted eight hits, four walks and two home runs in just four innings total as the nine runs (five earned) he allowed were the most by an Akron pitcher this season. Relievers Connor Graham and Putnam each allowed a run in two frames and Steven Wright delivered a shutout ninth.
Five different Aeros finished with multi-hit performances led by the impressive outings from Head and Espino. Head was a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI while Espino was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Meanwhile, Binghamton is now averaging 7.2 runs and 10.9 hits in the 13 meetings between these teams on the year.
The Mets look for the three-game weekend sweep of the Aeros Sunday afternoon with a 1:35 p.m. first pitch. Akron lefty Kelvin De La Cruz (1-4, 5.61 ERA) makes the start in the home stand finale against Binghamton’s Jenrry Mejia (0-0, 3.86 ERA).
Hillcats Edge Indians 5-3
A fourth inning grand slam was the difference, as Kinston fell to Lynchburg 5-3 Saturday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.
The offense showed up early for the K-Tribe, as Abner Abreu blasted a solo homer to left center field in the first inning for his second homer of the season. Lynchburg responded in the top of the second, as Neftali Soto led off with a base hit that caromed off of K-Tribe starting pitcher Joe Gardner and into right field. After Gardner's wild pitch moved Soto to second, Kevin Coddington flared a single to right to score Soto and tie the game at one.
Kinston used a two-out rally to take the lead back in the bottom of the second inning. Richard Martinez started the threat with a line drive single to center against Hillcats starter Mark Serrano. Ronald Rivas then clubbed an RBI double to the wall in center to score Martinez. Justin Toole knocked a single down the left field line for his first RBI with the K-Tribe and a 3-1 lead.
Kinston had a bases loaded, no-out opportunity in the bottom of the third inning, but failed to score on a Karexon Sanchez strikeout and a great double play turned by Lynchburg third baseman Shane Carlson. Carlson snagged a ripped line drive off of the bat of Chris Kersten, doubling Abner Abreu off second and ending the threat. The Hillcats turned the tables on Gardner in the top of the fourth inning with a bases loaded surprise of their own. Felix Perez led off with a single to left, Soto was hit by a pitch and Coddington walked. The next batter, Kyle Day hammered a grand slam to right center field to give Lynchburg a 5-3 lead. It was the Hillcats first grand slam of the season and also the first slam allowed by K-Tribe pitching in 2010. Gardner (6-2) took the loss, leaving the game after six innings. Gardner allowed a season-high five runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six. Serrano (3-5) took the win, giving up three runs on eight hits in five innings, walking none and striking out six.
Kinston fought back late, getting runners on in the final three innings. With one on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, a diving catch made by Lynchburg outfielder Efrain Contreras robbed Ronald Rivas of an RBI hit and a possibly a Kinston rally. The K-Tribe stayed close thanks to reliever Chris Jones, who gave up just two hits and no runs in three innings of work. Jones struck out two and did not walk a batter. Jones has an ERA of 0.91 through 13 appearances this season.
The K-Tribe welcomes Potomac to Historic Grainger Stadium Sunday with a special 5pm start. Marty Popham will take the hill for Kinston.
Scrappers Pound Out 12-1 Win
For the second straight night the Mahoning Valley Scrappers offense exploded for 12 runs enroute to an easy 12-1 win over Auburn.
Right-handed pitcher Owen Dew got the start and in his professional debut went four shutout innings four hits and no walks with two strikeouts.
The offensive attack was led by the bats of third baseman Giovanny Urshela (2-for-3, 2B, 4 RBI), outfielder Kevin Rucker (3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI), and catcher Moises Montero (2-for-5, 3 RBI). In all the Scrappers pounded out 16 hits and three walks.
Right-hander Jordan Cooper is expected to get the start on Sunday.
Photo courtesy of Lianna Holub
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3 comments:
Tony, I would appreciate it if you would elaborate on the specifics of Gomez' performance while it is fresh in your mind.
On a side note, I don't know if you have seen him pitch recently but would you characterize his prospect as greatly improved? Even though the numbers suggest it, I am always reluctant to fall in love with an older prospect at low A.
Dumbass post! I was referring to Packer in the 2nd paragraph, not Gomez.
In regard to Gomez, he just looks more confident out there. When I last saw him pitch in April when he made his season and AAA debut, he looked very timid out there and was not finishing his pitches. This time though he looked like he belonged out there, and even though he was hit hard that first inning (every hit and out was loud), he battled and settled in and was very good the rest of the way where his only mistake was the solo HR he served up. Maybe the 7-run first helped relax him, who knows, but he went right at hitters. I still am not sure he is going to be an effective ML pitcher, but we will see.
Packer, he has done very well and is turning out to be a very good late signing last year. He's starting now, but as a starter you can see there is a priority for him because he ultimately will be a reliever. I think he is someone to watch and consider as a left-handed relief prospect who could fly through the system next year if moved into the role to start the season.
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