Game Recap 8/24: Scrappers Ride Rayl, Bullpen To Victory

Scrappers stifle Spikes, win game one, 1-0

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers won game one of a three-game series against the State College Spikes Tuesday night 1-0 at Eastwood Field.

Rayl exited after four innings and turned it over to Gregorio Rosario who picked up his first win of the season pitching two scoreless innings of relief. Clayton Ehlert pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning to record his eighth save of the season.

Zackry Dodson gave up the lone run in the first and got the loss for the Spikes.

Nick Bartolone opened the bottom of the first off Dodson with a double into left field. He later advanced to third base with one out on a passed ball by State College catcher Matt Skirving. With Bartolone at third and Jesus Aguilar at first base, after being issued a walk, Martinez grounded out to first baseman Matt Curry to drive in the only Scrappers run.

Rayl and three members of the Scrappers bullpen did the rest as Mahoning Valley won their second straight game against the Spikes and game one of this series.

The Scrappers will look for their third straight win against State College in game two tomorrow night. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.

Big Toledo second inning dooms Clippers

A big second inning and solid pitching performance was all Toledo needed to take the scene-shifting game of their series with Columbus Tuesday night at Fifth Third Field, 7-3.

The Clippers got on the scoreboard first when Jared Goedert reached on an error in the second inning and then scored on a Wes Hodges double.

But Toledo plated five in the bottom of that same inning against new Clipper Zach McAllister (8-11). The capper on the frame was a two-run blast from Cale Iorg, his first long ball of the season.

After that, McAllister settled down, throwing four perfect frames. But Andy Oliver (2-3) was equally effective on the other side, striking out 10 Clippers while throwing six-and-two-thirds innings on the night.

Columbus did get a run closer in the seventh, when Damaso Espino's brought home Jordan Brown with an RBI-groundout. The Mud Hens got that run back in the eighth, however, on a sacrifice fly, and added another for good measure, on a Ben Guez RBI-single.

The Clippers threatened in the ninth, getting four straight singles, all with two outs, to score a run and bring the tying run to the plate. Casey Fein came on to close the door for Toledo, getting a deep fly ball out from Ezequiel Carrera to earn his sixth save.

The Clippers and Mud Hens will close out their five-game, two-city series Wednesday with RHP L.J. Gagnier (5-7, 3.75) going for Toledo against Columbus RHP Yohan Pino (9-8, 5.60). First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

Aeros Split with Sox

The Aeros remained competitive in the western division wild card race with a doubleheader split against the Baysox Tuesday night. Bowie won game one 1-0, which was originally started Monday. Akron bounced back with a 6-3 triumph in game two. The Aeros are now 65-64 while the Baysox are 68-61.

The first game ended up being a two-day pitchers’ duel as the only run of the ballgame came in Bowie’s sixth inning when Ryan Adams hit a home run over the left field fence.

As a result, Chen-Chang Lee took the loss and fell to 5-4 despite giving up only two hits and striking out five batters against one walk in 3.1 innings of work. Brandon Cooney, now 3-2, earned the win after he pitched the sixth inning in relief with just one hit. Pedro Beato recorded his 16th save of the season. Both teams combined for eight hits.

The Aeros finally broke out of their offensive slump in the fourth inning of game two. Shortstop Cristo Arnal and centerfielder Tim Fedroff both reached safely on separate fielding errors to start the rally. Second baseman Jason Kipnis followed with a single to right field scoring Arnal and sending Fedroff to third. Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall capped the inning with a home run to left-center field to put Akron up 4-0.

Bowie scored in the bottom of the third when Jonathan Tucker scored during Xavier Avery’s swipe of second base. Akron would get the run back in the top of the fourth Arnal hit a solo home run to left field. Errors plagued the Baysox once again in the fifth as right fielder Jerad Head scored on a throwing error by Greg Miclat and made the score 6-1.

The Baysox made a comeback attempt in the sixth as two-straight bases loaded walks allowed Joseph Mahoney and Brandon Waring to score and cut the score to 6-3. Right-handed reliever Omar Aguilar then came in to get the final out of the sixth and retired the side in the seventh to record his sixth save.

Left-handed starter Kelvin De La Cruz earned the win to improve to 5-6. The southpaw gave up one run on four hits with six strikeouts against two walks over five innings of work. Bowie starter Ryohei Tanaka took the loss to fall to 6-12 after five runs scored (one earned) on seven hits over four innings.

The Aeros are now 3.5 games behind Harrisburg for the Western Division wild card, but still have to catch up with Bowie, who is a half game behind the Senators. Akron has 13 games remaining in the season, but Wednesday’s 7:05 p.m. game against the Baysox is their last against the two teams in front of them. Aeros staff ace Alex White (7-7, 2.44 ERA) hopes to continue Akron’s winning streak against Bowie’s Eddie Gamboa (6-4, 3.67 ERA).

K-Tribe Rained Out

Tuesday’s game between Frederick and Kinston was postponed because of rain. The two teams will play a double header starting at 6pm on Wednesday at Historic Grainger Stadium in Kinston.

Dragons Beat Captains to Complete Sweep

The Dragons completed a four game sweep of the Captains on Tuesday night winning the series finale 11-5. Dayton’s record was just 1-24 at home before the weekend series with Lake County.

The Captains took an early lead scoring in first inning. Delvi Cid reached to start the game on a wild pitch and throwing error by catcher Chase Weems after striking out. Tyler Holt doubled to right center to drive in Cid. Casey Frawley reached on throwing error by third baseman Frank Pfister that allowed Holt to come and score and make it 2-0 Lake County.

In the second inning Captains’ starter Brett Brach hit Pfister with a pitch to start the inning. A walk to Josh Garton put two runners on base. Brach’s wild pitch to Dominic D’Anna allowed both runners to move into scoring position. D’Anna singled to right field driving in two runs and tying the game at two.

The bottom half of the third was a nightmare for Brach and Lake County. Dayton sent eleven men to the plate and scored eight times to take a 10-2 lead. Mark Fleury had an RBI single to score Didi Gregorius. A two run double by Garton brought in Cameron Satterwhite and Fleury. D’Anna drove in two more runs with another base hit to right, finishing with a career high four RBI. Kevyn Feiner singled to left center to put two runners on and force Brach out of the game. Ramon Cesepedes enter in relief and the first man he faced Alex Oliveras hit a three run shot to right to cap off the scoring.

Jason Smit led the fifth inning off with a double for Lake County. Delvi Cid singled to put runners on the corners, one of three hits for Cid. Frawley singled with two out to score Smit. Adam Abraham doubled into the corner in right to drive in a pair and make it 10-5.

The Dragons got a run right back in the bottom of the fifth inning to kill any momentum the Captains had. With two outs, Cameron Satterwhite tripled to right field. Fleury drove in his second run of the game with base hit putting Dayton up 11-5.

Tim Crabbe (6-3) picked up the win for the Dragons going five innings giving up five runs, three earned on seven hits, striking out five. Brett Brach (4-8) suffered the loss giving up a season high nine runs on seven hits in just 2.1 innings.

Lake County will continue their road trip with a three game series against the Hot Rods in Bowling Green, KY. The Captains will start RHP Jason Knapp (0-0) and will be matched up against RHP Wilking Rodriguez (4-9) for the Hot Rods.

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