Game Recap 7/10: White Dazzles For Aeros

White Blanks Wolves, Aeros Win 4-0

Aeros starter Alex White continued his mastery of the Eastern League Saturday night with six scoreless innings to lead Akron to a 4-0 win over the host Erie SeaWolves. White and a pair of Aeros relievers combined to hold Erie to just five hits and two walks overall in front of the 4,546 fans at Jerry Uht Park, marking the seventh shutout for the team. Designated hitter and first baseman Matt McBride hit another home run in the contest as well as an odd lineup switch occurred in the fourth straight victory for Akron (45-43) while the loss dropped the reeling Wolves to 36-53.

White stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning and an odd lineup mistake hurt the Aeros offense in the second. The lineup mistake caused McBride to move from designated hitter to first base in the bottom half of the frame and brought White to the plate for the first time ever as the number five hitter in place of Beau Mills.

Despite the unfortunate lineup, Akron struck first in the third inning against Erie lefty starter Duane Below. Catcher Miguel Perez reached base on a throwing error and after two outs, second baseman Jason Kipnis doubled to right for the first run. Left fielder John Drennen then capped the frame and gave the Aeros a 2-0 lead with an RBI single to left.

The SeaWolves failed to have more than one runner reach base in any inning between the first and the ninth, leaving room for the Akron attack. McBride led the sixth against Below with a solo homer to left before White drew his second walk. Third baseman Cristo Arnal later notched the final run of the contest with a run-scoring single to center field.

White (4-4) earned the win with his fourth straight quality start, his eighth feat in just 10 appearances in Double-A. He struck out seven against just four hits and a walk, lowering his ERA to 1.53 with the Aeros this year. Below (3-8) took the loss while Akron relievers Omar Aguilar and Zach Putnam finished the shutout with three more scoreless frames.

McBride’s solo home run was his team-leading 12th of the season, placing him third among minor leaguers in the Indians organization and his 48 RBI now ranks fourth. Kipnis improved his batting average to .298 with a pair of doubles on the night and right fielder Jerad Head finished 2-for-4 with a two-bagger as well.

Akron hopes to win a fifth straight contest at 1:05 p.m. Sunday at Jerry Uht Park in Erie. The Aeros have won nine of their last 12 contests with two games left before the Eastern League All-Star Break and Akron lefty Scott Barnes (4-8, 5.42 ERA) makes the start against southpaw Charles Furbush (1-0, 2.57 ERA) of the SeaWolves.

Bats defeat Clippers, 4-2

The Louisville Bats topped the Columbus Clippers on Saturday night at Slugger Field, 4-2 as Louisville used timely hitting and good pitching to upend Columbus.

The Bats struck quickly in the first inning when Juan Francisco drove home Zack Cozart on an RBI-single to center field off of Carlos Carrasco.

Columbus would tie the game up in the fourth as Nick Weglarz singled home Luis Valbuena. Valbuena reached base in all five plate appearances, as he recorded three hits and was also walked twice.

Todd Frazier scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Wladimir Balentien in the bottom half of the fourth inning to give Louisville a 2-1 lead. Louisville would add some cushion in the fifth when Frazier singled home Cozart.

Wes Hodges would bring the Clippers within one with his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot to straightaway center field. Columbus had a chance against Aroldis Chapman in the seventh inning as Valbuena and Jared Goedert both walked, but failed to score, as the Clippers left 13 men on base. Balentien would conclude the scoring with a solo home run in the eighth.

The Clippers conclude the first half of the season before the all-star break tomorrow night against the Bats at Slugger Field. Jeanmar Gomez will take the mound for Columbus, looking for his seventh win of the year.

Frederick walks off with a 5-4 extra inning win

Frederick hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie and a walk-off shot in the bottom of the eleventh to come back and beat Kinston 5-4 Saturday night in Maryland.

The Indians started quickly as Lucas Montero began the game with a triple. One pitch later Karexon Sanchez put Kinston up 1-0 with an RBI ground-out. Frederick would get to Kinston starter T.J. McFarland in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring two runs on three hits and two walks. Frederick took a 2-1 lead in the inning when Brian Ward walked with the bases loaded.

Kinston would get the run back for McFarland in the top of the sixth inning, when Juan Diaz would single in Kyle Bellows. McFarland pitche 6 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out three. His ERA now stands at 1.99, still the lowest mark in the Carolina League.

With the score tied at two, Kinston took advantage of Frederick mistakes in the top of the eighth innning. With two-outs in the frame, Nate Recknagel reached base on an error by Fredericks first baseman Jacob Julius. Recknagel would then score when Jeremie Tice hit a double to the gap that was mishandled by Keys right fielder Ronnie Welty. The Welty error would be the fifth in the game for the Keys, giving Kinston a 3-2 lead. Kinston would add another run in the top of the ninth when Bo Greenwell led off with a double and scored on an RBI triple from Montero. Montero would finish the game 3-for-5 with two triples, Greenwell captured his fifth multi-hit game for Kinston with a 2-for-5 mark. Kinston would not fully capitalize on all of the Frederick fielding mistakes however, hitting just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

Kinston closer Cory Burns would blow his first save in 28 attempts this season in the bottom of the ninth inning. Billy Rowell led off with a single. After Pedro Florimon struck out, Buck Britton was called upon to pinch hit. Britton took the first pitch he saw from Burns over the right field wall for a home run, tying the score at four. In the bottom of the eleventh inning Rowell would strike again, taking a Brian Grening pitch down the right field line and over the wall for the win. Grening (3-3) was stuck with the loss.

The K-Tribe takes on the Keys for game two of the three game road series Sunday night at 6pm. Joey Mahalic will get the start for Kinston.

Captains loss third straight 3-2 to WhiteCaps

Avisail Garcia’s RBI single in the fifth inning scored Wade Gaynor lifting the WhiteCaps to a 3-2 win over Lake County. It was the third straight loss for the Captains matching a season high.

Lake County scored first with a leadoff single by Delvi Cid in the first inning. After a stolen base by Cid and a wild pitch by Luis Angel Sanz the Captains had a runner on third. Casey Frawley grounded out to the shortstop to drive in a run.

In the bottom of the first inning, the WhiteCaps answered starting with a leadoff walk to Jamie Johnson. Wade Gaynor’s RBI single tied the game up at one as Johnson scored. Tony Plagman doubled down the right field line to score Gaynor and West Michigan led 2-1.

The Captains scored a run in the fourth to tie things up 2-2. Roberto Perez collected his second hit of the game with a one out single. Ben Carlson with two outs hit a shot down the right field line for an RBI double.

Sanz (1-3) picks up his first win of the year throwing five innings allowing two runs on five hits while striking out a season high six. Kenny Faulk picked up his fifth save of the year pitching a perfect ninth inning. Clayton Cook (4-5) suffered the loss giving up all three runs on six hits over five innings.

Lake County and West Michigan will continue their three game series on Sunday afternoon at 1:00PM from Fifth Third Ballpark. The Captains will start LHP Matt Packer (6-4) against RHP Trevor Feeney (7-8) for the WhiteCaps.

Monsters get to Scrappers pen, win game three

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers lost Saturday night to the Vermont Lake Monsters 10-4 at Eastwood Field. The Scrappers dropped to 10-12 on the season while the Lake Monsters improved to 17-5 on the season.

Clayton Elhert came in from the bullpen and got the loss pitching 1.2 innings, giving up six runs on six hits and striking out two. Mark Herrera got the win for the Lake Monsters pitching three scoreless innings of relief and striking out five.

Despite getting a no decision, Alex Kaminsky had another good start lasting 4.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits, striking out three and walking four. The Scrappers will begin a series with the Hudson Renegades at Eastwood Field tomorrow. First pitch is at 5:05 p.m.

Posted in: