Game Recaps 5/27: Another quality outing for Packer

Matt Packer (Photo: Tony Lastoria)

Packer leads Aeros to win over Squirrels

The Akron Aeros banged out six hits, brought 10 men to the plate and scored six times in the bottom of the fourth inning as they went on to win game one of a four-game series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels 9-2 Friday at Canal Park.

Left-handed pitcher Matt Packer allowed just one earned run on four hits over seven innings to earn the win for the Aeros walking three and striking out four.

Lefty Clayton Tanner suffered the loss for Richmond lasting 3.1 innings, giving up eight earned runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out three.

Tim Fedroff went 2-for-4 with two RBI to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, which is tied for the third longest in Aeros history.

The Aeros (23-26) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Fedroff led off with a single. With one out, Jared Goedert and Beau Mills worked back-to-back walks. Matt McBride followed with a two-RBI single to give the Aeros a 2-0 lead.

The Flying Squirrels (23-24) answered back with a run in the top of the second inning.

The Aeros opened things up in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Chun Chen and Kyle Bellows had back-to-back singles. Karexon Sanchez followed with a walk. Donnie Webb and Fedroff had back-to-back two-RBI singles to make it 6-1. Juan Diaz followed with a triple scoring Fedroff and giving the Aeros a 7-1 lead. Goedert capped the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Diaz.

The Aeros added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning and went on to the win.

The Aeros and Squirrels will play game two of this four-game series Saturday. Left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz will get the start for Akron. De La Cruz is 3-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 2011. He will face fellow southpaw Ryan Verdugo, who is 2-1 with a 3.07 ERA this season. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.

Big 7th Inning leads Clippers to win

The Columbus Clippers scored four runs in the 7th inning Friday night and won for the second-straight night over the Norfolk Tides 5-2 in front of 7,525 fans at Harbor Park.

Cord Phelps delivered the big knock, a two-out, two-run double that broke the game open for the visitors. Jason Kipnis led off the 7th inning with a triple and scored one out later on an RBI single by Luis Valbuena that broke a 1-1 tie between the two clubs. Luke Carlin followed with a walk and both runners moved up a bag on a wild pitch before Ezequiel Carrera gave the visitors a two-run cushion with an RBI single ahead of Phelps’s at-bat.

Phelps finished 3-for-5 with three RBI. Corey Kluber (3-3, 6.36) earned the win by tossing 6.0 innings and allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits. Carlton Smith picked up his second save of the season with a perfect 9th inning.

The two clubs will play at a special 8:00 start time Saturday. RH Mitch Atkins (1-0, 7.20) will take the ball for the Tides opposite RH Jeanmar Gomez (4-1, 3.16).

Kinston's win streak stopped at five

Winston-Salem snapped Kinston’s five game winning streak with a 6-1 win Friday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

Winston-Salem got to K-Tribe starting pitcher T.J. House in the top of the first inning. Jared Mitchell and Jose Martinez hit back-to-back singles. Carolina League home run leader Ian Gac followed with a three-run home run. The homer was the 14th of the season for Gac. Winston-Salem would make the score 6-0 when Andy Wilkins hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning. House (2-5) left the game after five innings, giving up six runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked two.

Winston-Salem’s starting pitcher Terry Doyle was very good, giving up just five hits through seven innings. Kinston finally got to Doyle in sixth inning. Jeremie Tice led off with a double. Chase Burnette hit a two-out single to drive him home. Doyle (1-5) picked up the win, walking one and striking out eight. Winston-Salem’s reliever Addison Reed finished things up, giving up one hit over the final two innings.

Kinston got good innings out of reliever Jose Flores, who gave up just two hits in three scoreless innings. Kyle Landis pitched a perfect top of the ninth for Kinston.

The K-Tribe (23-24) continues the homestand with a Fireworks Saturday Night at Historic Grainger Stadium! Game time 6:30 pm, Toru Murata on the mound for Kinston.

Captains fall to WhiteCaps

West Michigan took game on of the weekend series against Lake County 6-3 on Friday night. A season high, 5,916 fans saw the WhiteCaps tally three runs in the sixth inning to pull away from the Captains.

The WhiteCaps jumped in front in the top of the first inning. An RBI single by Nick Castellanos with the bases loaded made it 1-0.

Anthony Gallas hit monster shot into the leftfield bleachers for a solo homerun; it was his fifth of the season. The homerun extended Gallas hit streak to 13 straight games and his on-base to 27.

In the seventh, James Robbins crushed his eighth homerun of the season a two run blast that pushed West Michigan out to a 6-1 lead.

Captains cut the lead in half in the bottom of the eighth inning, Carlos Moncrief drove in his 23rd run of the season with a triple. LeVon Washington reached on an error driving his second run of season making it 6-3.

Kyle Ryan (3-4) picked up the win for West Michigan tossing seven innings allowing three runs; two earned, walking one and striking out a season high eight. Bruce Rondon picked up the save pitching ninth hitting a batter and walking two. Nate Striz (0-2) took the loss allowing three runs on three hits in just one inning of work.

Lake County and West Michigan will continue their weekend series on Saturday at 6:00PM at Classic Park. Game one tomorrow will be a completion of the suspended game on May 14th with the Captains leading it 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Captains starter is still TBA and RHP Brennan Smith (1-1) will pitch for the WhiteCaps.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

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