Game Recaps 4/8: Pomeranz Impressive in K-Tribe win

Kinston Walks Off With 7-6 Win in Extra Innings

Ronald Rivas hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning, as Kinston beat Winston-Salem 7-6 on opening night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

In front of a sold out crowd of 4,102, Kinston starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz was brilliant in his professional debut. Pomeranz, Cleveland’s first round draft pick in 2010, was perfect through his first three innings of work, striking out five his first time through the lineup. Pomeranz went 5 1/3 innings, giving up two hits (both infield singles), while striking out nine. He did not walk a batter.

Kinston scored their first run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning when Casey Frawley singled and was driven home by Adam Abraham. Kinston would then break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning on back-to-back, two-out, RBI hits from Roberto Perez and Jeremie Tice. Kinston would add two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning after three straight singles from Tyler Holt, Bo Greenwell and Frawley. Every K-Triber in the starting lineup had a hit, as Kinston banged out fifteen hits on the night (the most hits in a game for Kinston since June of last season).

The K-Tribe led 5-1 going into the top of the eighth inning, when Winston-Salem exploded for four runs on four hits (two home runs) off of Kinston reliever Marty Popham. After a half hour rain delay in the top of the ninth inning, the Dash broke the tie with an RBI single from Jared Mitchell in the top of the tenth to take a 6-5 lead.

With one out in the bottom of the tenth inning, Adam Abraham reached with a double. After Justin Toole was inserted as a pinch runner for Abraham, Perez walked. Jeremie Tice then hit a chopper to Dash shortstop Kyle Davis. Davis threw high to first base, allowing Toole to score on the error. Rivas then drove home Perez with the RBI hit. Rivas went 3-for-5 on the night. Greenwell, Frawley, Abraham and Tice each had two hits for Kinston. Travis Turek (1-0) got the win in relief for Kinston. Brandon Kloess took the loss for Winston-Salem. Tyler Sturdevant pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief for Kinston giving up one run on two hits while striking out three.

Clippers survive again, beat Indy 3-2

The Clippers held on to win another nail biter in Indianapolis, downing the Indians 3-2 on Friday evening.
Jensen Lewis struck out Gorkys Hernandez and forced a Pedro Ciriaco grounder to squash a late Indianapolis rally. Lewis and the Clippers turned a ninth inning double play to win the season opener one night earlier.

Cleveland's top prospect Lonnie Chisenhall delivered his first Triple-A homer in the third inning and finished 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

Ezequiel Carrera produced a team-high three hits and drove in a run on a bunt single in the fourth that proved to be the difference in the game.

Jeanmar Gomez allowed two runs in 5.2 innings and earned a win in his season debut.

Four-run sixth leads Aeros past Mets, 5-3

The Akron Aeros batted around in the bottom of the sixth inning and scored four times to come from behind and beat the Binghamton Mets 5-3 tonight at Canal Park.

Left-handed pitcher Joe Gardner made his Double-A debut and, after giving up three runs in the first two innings, settled in to record his first win as an Aero lasting six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, walking four and striking out three.

Right-handed pitcher Dylan Owen gave up all four runs in the sixth inning and suffered the loss for the B-Mets.

Right-handed pitcher Cory Burns struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning to pick up the save for the Aeros.

The B-Mets (1-1) got on the board in the top of the first inning off Gardner. Lorenzo Scott led off with a walk and stole second with Jordany Valdespin at the plate. Valdespin walked to bring up Josh Satin and, with Satin up, Scott stole third. Later in the at-bat, the B-Mets pulled off a double steal as Valdespin stole second and, on the throw, Scott swiped home to make it 1-0.

The B-Mets added two runs in the top of the second inning to go up 3-0.

The Aeros (1-1) got a run back in the bottom of the third inning off of B-Mets starter Mark Cohoon. Juan Diaz and Chun Chen started the frame with back-to-back singles. Following a Matt McBride fly out, John Drennen singled to load the bases. Matt Lawson drove in a run to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Cohoon was replaced by Owen in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Aeros didn’t waste any time getting to the right-hander. Tim Fedroff started the frame with a leadoff double. Cristo Arnal followed with a walk. With one out and Jordan Henry at the plate, Owen threw a wild pitch, which allowed Arnal and Fedroff to move up to second and third. Henry later doubled to drive home two runs and tie the game. Diaz followed with a triple that scored Henry and gave the Aeros the lead. The Aeros tacked on another run to make it 5-3.

Akron added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Donnie Webb hit a solo home run.

The Aeros bullpen held off the B-Mets as Akron won 6-4.

Captains Pitching Anchors 2-1 Win Over Loons

The Captains cracked the score sheet in the sixth inning to take a 1-0 lead. Giovanny Urshela and Jesus Aguilar lead the frame off with back to back walks. Alex Lavisky laid down a sacrifice bunt to moving both runners into scoring position. Tyler Cannon with the infield playing in roped one up the middle scoring Urshela.

Lake County added an important insurance run in the top of the ninth inning. Jason Smit hit a one out triple and came into score on a throwing error on Loons’ catcher Steve Domecus to make 2-0.

Great Lakes put a rally together in the bottom of the ninth, Christian Lara lead things off with a double. Blake Dean doubled in Lara to cut the lead in half at 2-1 and putting the tying run on second with no outs. Captains’ closer Clayton Elhert buckled down and struck out Nick Akins and Jon Garica. With two outs, Elhert got former Captain Roman Pena to ground out to first to seal the victory.

Elhert picked up the save for Lake County pitching the final frame, giving up one run on two hits, and striking out two. Francisco Jimenez was dazzling in relief working three innings of scoreless baseball, giving up just one hit, walking and striking out one. Pete Budkevics (0-1) took the loss giving up a run on three hits, walking two and striking out three. Zach Lee the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect pitched well going four innings not allowing a run on two hits and added three walks and five strike outs.

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