The red-hot Aeros continued their recent dominance Saturday with a 9-7 victory over the host Harrisburg Senators in front of 5,073 fans. A monster seven-run fourth inning brought 11 batters to the plate and powered the Aeros attack while the bullpen held on late for the victory. It was the sixth in a row for Akron (26-30) and the second straight at Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg (28-28).
Michael Martinez of the Senators started his big game with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning. Harrisburg continued to pound lefty starter Kelvin De La Cruz early in the game as two doubles and two singles continued the rally. An error by Akron center fielder Tim Fedroff also did not help in leading to a 4-0 Sens edge after one frame.
Harrisburg starter Aaron Thompson also shut down the Aeros offense until the massive retaliation in the fourth. Lonnie Chisenhall tripled to begin the attack before Matt McBride recorded his first of two RBI singles in the inning to make it 4-1. Two straight outs followed but Akron again responded with a hit bit pitch, a two-run double and two more singles.
Thompson then hit Jerad Head with a hit by pitch and Chisenhall drew a bases loaded walk to knock Thompson out of the game and give the Aeros a 5-4 advantage. McBride plated two more runners with another base knock to center but Chisenhall was out on the throw home in finally ending the inning.
Akron never relinquished the lead again and even added to the margin in the top of the sixth. Another pitching change brought Yunior Novoa to the mound with two runners on, but he promptly walked the next two batters and brought the lead to 8-4.
The Senators mounted a brief comeback after that, led by the second baseman Martinez. He tripled to begin the bottom half of the sixth and scored on a groundout to bring the score to 8-5. In the next frame, he delivered a two-run homer to right in cutting the deficit to just a single run. Carlos Rivero then helped the Aeros add a final insurance run in the ninth as the visitors held on for the sixth straight victory.
Reliever Bryan Price (1-2) earned the win for Akron while Thompson permitted seven runs in dropping to 2-8 with the loss. Bryce Stowell was the only pitcher of the game for the Aeros not to allow a run, delivering two shutout innings for his second save. Harrisburg registered 16 hits total after Akron allowed just 19 combined in the previous four wins.
Offense was the story all game for both teams as the seven runs in the fourth was a new season-high for any inning this season for Akron. Meanwhile, McBride and catcher Damaso Espino were the only two batters with two hits and the most impressive hitter played for the losing team. The 27-year-old Martinez had a career night with two home runs along with a triple, three RBI and three runs scored.
The Aeros will look for the series and weeklong sweep Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg. Highly regarded prospect and Aeros left-hander Nick Hagadone (0-0, 6.75 ERA) gets the starting nod against Senators lefty starter Tom Milone (5-1, 3.41 ERA).
Clippers drop second straight, 7-2
A day after being shutout for just the second time all season, Columbus again fell behind early at Indianapolis and couldn't generate much offense against Indians pitching in a 7-2 loss at Victory Field on Saturday.
Brandon Jones hit a three-run home run in the second inning for Indy and doubled home another run in the Indians three-run third inning - all off of Clippers starter Jeanmar Gomez (3-6).
The Clippers got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning, when Carlos Santana drove in his 46th run of the season, a single that scored Brian Bixler. Anderson Hernandez drove home Chris Gimenez with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, but that was all the offense Clippers bats would generate.
Jared Goedert made his debut for Columbus, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Daniel McCutchen earned the win for Indy, to even his 2010 record at 3-3.
The Clippers and Indians are back at it with day baseball on Sunday, game three of their four-game set. First pitch is at 2 p.m., with Yohan Pino scheduled to throw for Columbus.
Winston-Salem Walks off with a 6-5 win
Justin Greene hit a walk-off home run, as Winston-Salem came all the way back to beat Kinston 6-5 Saturday night in the Triad. The Indians saw a five run lead disappear as Winston-Salem chipped away with three solo home runs over the final three innings. Kinston is now a Carolina League worst 4-13 in one-run games. This season, half of the Indians (29-26) losses have been by one run.
In the top of the first inning Jordan Henry greeted Winston-Salem starter Nevin Griffith with a single. Griffith started the game second in the Carolina League with a 2.34 ERA, but he would struggle in the first. After the Henry hit, Karexon Sanchez walked. Jason Kipnis then hit a ground ball to first baseman Seth Loman, who threw wide of second base. Loman was tagged with the error, loading the bases for Abner Abreu. Abreu came through with an RBI single scoring Henry. Kyle Bellows followed with a two RBI double, scoring Sanchez and Kipnis to give Kinston a 3-0 advantage. Doug Pickens and Chris Kersten would follow later in the innings with RBI singles of their own. Kinston sent ten men to the plate in the opening frame, scoring five runs on five hits.
The Indians would then send their Carolina League leader in ERA, T.J. McFarland, to the mound to try and preserve the lead. Kinston's starter was greeted in the bottom of the first inning by two singles, the last an RBI base knock by Seth Loman. The Dash would cut the lead to three with doubles from both Jason Bour and Greene in the bottom of the second inning. Winston-Salem would shrink the lead again when Escobar led the fifth inning off with a double and came home on a Jon Gilmore single. Both ERA leaders were beat up a bit, as McFarland gave up three earned on seven hits through five innings. He walked one and struck out three batters. McFarland's ERA still is tops in the CL at 2.08. Griffith gave up four earned through four innings, as his ERA rose to 2.77.
The Dash bullpen would hold from there as Santos Rodriguez, Dan Remenowsky and Charlis Burdie would combine for five innings of one hit, scoreless work from the pen. Kinston would manage just two hits and no runs after the first inning. Winston-Salem wacked their way back into the game when Gilmore hit a solo home run off of Rob Bryson in the bottom of the seventh. It was the only hit Bryson gave up in two innings. Matt Langwell (3-2) would take the loss, giving up a solo homer to Jason Bour in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Langwell's first pitch to Justin Greene was taken over the center field wall for the walk-off win. Langwell entered the contest having not given up a run in his last nine appearances (11 innings).
The K-Tribe wraps up the four game set with Winston-Salem on Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Joey Mahalic will start on the mound for Kinston.
Captains and Timber Rattlers Game Suspended
The Lake County Captains game against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Saturday night has been suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning due to inclement weather. The Captains are leading 4-2. The game will be completed prior to the scheduled game on Sunday beginning at 1:00 PM.
Fans with tickets can exchange them for any other regular season game based on availability. Tickets must be exchanged in person at the Ticket Office or the PNC Ticket Information Center prior to entering the gates for another game.
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