Back-to-back home runs broke a tie game, as Kinston pounded out 15 hits on the way to a 6-4 win over Potomac Sunday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. Kinston reliever Cory Burns struck out the side (all looking) to seal the victory in the ninth inning. Burns is now 12-for-12 in save opportunities with Kinston and 24-for-24 overall this season. Burns now has the second most saves in all of Minor League baseball this season.
Potomac jumped out to an early lead against Indian’s starter Austin Adams, who was making his Carolina League debut after being called up from Lake County on Friday. Steve Lombardozzi walked with one out, and then Derek Norris crushed a two-run shot to left field to give the Nationals a 2-0 advantage.
The K-Tribe picked up their new starter with a big bottom of the first inning against Potomac starter Jesse Estrada. Lucas Montero led off with an infield single and Bo Greenwell scorched an RBI double to left to score him. It was the beginning of a big night for Greenwell, who went 4-for-5 with two runs scored. In just his third game for the K-Tribe, Greenwell tied a K-Tribe season high with four base knocks. Two batters later, Kyle Bellows lined a single to left field to tie the game at two. After Karexon Sanchez walked, Doug Pickens yanked a double to left to bring home Bellows and put Kinston on top 3-2. The first would set the tone, as Kinston racked up 15 hits, their third highest hit total of the season. The top six in the K-Tribe’s order all had multiple hits.
The P-Nats tied it in the third inning after Josh Johnson hit a leadoff double and scored on Norris' sacrifice fly. Adams pitched four innings for a no-decision in his K-Tribe debut and allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits, walked two and fanned seven.
Kinston broke the tie with back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning. Bellows ripped a homer to left on the first pitch of the inning and Sanchez followed with a solo blast to right field for a 5-3 lead. It was the second time Kinston went back-to-back this season; the first was back on April 25 against Myrtle Beach when Adam Davis and Sanchez hit consecutive homers to start the seventh inning. The K-Tribe threatened to bust the game open with two more hits in the inning, but Potomac reliever Zach Dials came on and got Justin Toole to hit into a double play to retire the side. Estrada (3-2) took the loss, conceding five runs on ten hits in four plus innings, walking one and striking out six.
The Indians added a run in the sixth after base hits from Greenwell and Abner Abreu with one out. Sanchez stroked a single to left to score Greenwell and push the lead to 6-3. Montero, Abreu, Bellows, Sanchez, and Pickens each had two hits for Kinston.
K-Tribe reliever Travis Turek got into a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning after surrendering a walk and two hits. However, Matt Langwell came on and escaped the jam with just one run scoring on a Tyler Moore fielder's choice to cut the lead to 6-4. Langwell pitched two scoreless innings on two hits and struck out one. Langwell picked up his Carolina League leading tenth hold of the season, his ERA is now 1.59. Cory Burns struck out the middle of Potomac’s order in the top of the ninth inning to seal the victory. Burns has a 1.84 ERA with Kinston this season, all three earned runs given up in non-save opportunities.
The K-Tribe will take on Potomac in game two of the three game series Monday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. Game time 7pm as T.J. McFarland (7-2, 1.98), who leads the CL in ERA and wins, will get the start for Kinston. Also don’t miss a special appearance by WWF’s Ivan “The Russian Bear” Koloff.
Gwinnett's offense too much for Columbus
If offense is your liking, the Columbus Clippers and Gwinnett Braves provided plenty of it, and very early, as the Braves won the slugfest, 11-7 on Sunday. The Braves scored six times in the second and three more in the third to put Columbus away early. The two teams combined for 18 runs and 24 hits.
The Clippers struck early again in Sunday's game like they did Saturday night as the first four batters recorded hits. Luis Valbuena drove in his first run in a Clippers uniform in the bottom of the first with a single to left field, scoring Michael Brantley. Jared Goedert would single and Jordan Brown drove home Valbuena on an RBI double to right. Goedert would later score in the inning on an RBI groundout by Wes Hodges.
Things were looking great for Columbus until Gwinnett came up to bat in the second. The Braves answered the Clippers first inning with six runs as they sent 10 batters to the plate and smacked seven hits off of Yohan Pino. Two-run hits by Wes Timmons and Barbaro Canizares paced the Braves and Matt Young and Freddie Freeman each delivered an RBI as well in the inning.
The Clippers loaded the bases in the second and scored three more runs to tie the game at six when Brown drew a bases loaded walk. Then Hodges had a sacrifice fly to right and Gimenez placed an infield single perfectly, driving home Goedert.
After the Clippers rally, Matt Diaz answered quickly, clearing the bases in the top of the third inning with a double to right center field, giving the Braves a 9-6 advantage. Yohan Pino was pulled after two-and-two-third innings, giving up 9 runs on 11 hits in a sub-par outing for one of Columbus' most consistent pitchers all season.
Goedert brought the Clippers closer in the fourth with his eighth homer of the season, a shot that just reached the first row of the left field bleachers. The Clippers had another chance in the sixth inning to inch closer when Brantley tallied his third hit of the game, but he was stranded at second base. Brantley had his second consecutive three hit game in the series as well as two stolen bases and Valbuena and Goedert each had multi-hit games.
The Clippers and Braves are set to complete their four game series tomorrow night at Huntington Park, first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Clippers send Josh Tomlin (7-2, 2.70) to the mound to face Braves' starter, Todd Redmond (7-7, 4.41).
B-Mets Sweep Aeros with 8-5 Victory
Binghamton completed their second straight three-game road sweep of the Aeros at Canal Park Sunday, winning 8-5 in a marathon shootout. The Mets struck early and often against Akron starter Kelvin De La Cruz to take a six-run lead, but the Aeros retaliated late to make things interesting. The injury bug struck two more Binghamton players in the 3-hour and 21-minute contest, the fifth game of at least 3:10 between these two teams this season. Akron (36-39) now sits 3.5 games behind Bowie for second place in the Western Division while the red-hot B-Mets are 39-36.
It was a rough start for De La Cruz against the hot-hitting Mets in the top of the first inning. The 6’5” lefty struck out the first two batters of the game but allowed a full-count single to Nick Evans before a tough walk to Josh Satin. Designated hitter D.J. Wabick followed with a bouncing base hit over first baseman Matt McBride into right field for a two-run triple.
A two-base pickoff error by De La Cruz was the story in the second and shortstop Luis Hernandez gave the visitors a 3-0 lead with a two-out RBI single. Mets starting pitcher Jenrry Mejia left the game in the second with precautionary right shoulder stiffness while his teammates promptly smacked solo homers to give his team a 5-0 advantage.
Binghamton left fielder Brahiam Maldonado left with another injury in the sixth right before the visitors scored their sixth run thanks to a John Drennen error in left field. The Aeros finally initiated their offense in the bottom of that sixth as Drennen and Jerad Head each collected two-out RBI singles to cut the deficit to only four runs.
The Mets extended the lead back to six because of four straight hits to lead off the eighth inning against Akron reliever Omar Aguilar. The hosts attacked again with two outs in the eighth on a run-scoring double by third baseman Josh Rodriguez and a two-run homer by Jerad Head. Jordan Henry and Jason Kipnis each singled to start the bottom of the ninth inning, but reliever Manuel Alvarez retired the next three batters to end the game.
Schwinden (3-5) earned the victory and was solid through five innings pitched in relief of Mejia, only allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. De La Cruz struggled again as he the loss to fall to 1-5 on the year with Akron, permitting five runs (four earned), five hits and three walks in 3.2 innings. New Binghamton closer Alvarez then recorded his fourth save of the season despite the rocky bottom of the ninth.
Kipnis and Drennen each finished 3-for-5 with three singles on the afternoon to continue their impressive hitting ways. Rodriguez collected another two hits as well while the right fielder Head stayed hot with his fifth Double-A home run of the season.
The Aeros look to re-capture their winning ways from earlier this month as they hit the road for the start of a seven-game road trip. The fun starts at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia Monday at 7:05 p.m. where Akron visits the Richmond Flying Squirrels for the first and only time this season. Paolo Espino (7-2, 3.79 ERA) makes his second start since re-joining the Aeros rotation last week against Richmond’s Felix Romero (0-1, 4.75 ERA).
Captains Sweep Whitecaps
The Lake County Captains completed a three game sweep of the West Michigan Whitecaps on Sunday shutting out the Caps for the second game in a row, this time 8-0. Every game in the series saw a Captains starter go at least five scoreless innings. The Captains pitching staff allowed only one run in the series.
The Captains scored four times in the top of the second inning when Trent Baker singled home Roberto Perez. Adam Abraham then followed with a three run home run and the Captains led 4-0. The Captains made it 5-0 in the top of the third inning when Casey Frawley scored from third when the left fielder juggled a single hit by Perez. Abraham doubled home Perez in the top of the seventh inning to up the lead to 6-0. Abraham collected four RBI’s and had three hits for the second straight game. The Captains added two more runs in the ninth inning when Chu Chen and Dwight Childs both walked with the bases loaded and it was 8-0.
Captains starter Brett Brach (1-3) got the win pitching six scoreless innings allowing five hits while striking out five. Tyler Sturdevant came on in the seventh inning and threw three scoreless innings, striking out five to pick up his first save of the year.
Whitecaps starter Ramon LeBron (4-5) took the loss working only 1.2 innings allowing four runs on three hits, walking three and striking out two.
The Captains return to Classic Park on Monday for a six game home stand beginning with three games with the Great Lakes Loons. The Captains will have RHP Vidal Nuno (2-1, 5.87) opposing the Loons RHP Matt Magill (2-1, 3.40).
Scrappers Win Third In A Row
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers got just the right combination of pitching, hitting and defense on Sunday to scrape out a 5-4 win over Auburn.
Right-handed pitcher Jordan Cooper battled through five innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits, two walks, and had four strikeouts. Right-handed reliever Taka Nakamura got the win in relief going three shutout innings allowing two hits, one walk, and had three strikeouts. Left-handed reliever Nick Kirk closed out the game and earned a save with a scoreless-hitless ninth inning where he struck out the side.
The Scrappers were led offensively by Chase Burnette (1-for-4, 2B, walk, RBI), infielder Tyler Cannon (2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 walks), and third baseman Giovanny Ursehela (1-for-5, RBI).
Left-handed pitcher Mike Rayl is scheduled to get the next start for the Scrappers.
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