Game Recaps 6/19: Lowery has a big night

Jake Lowery (Photo: Lianna Holub)

Lowery’s Big Night Lifts Scrappers

Jake Lowery hit two doubles and drove in four runs to lead the Scrappers to a 5-2 victory over the Jammers. The catcher went 3-for-4 on the night, driving in the first run of the ballgame in the bottom of the first inning. His double in the third made it 2-0, and his two-run single in the seventh broke the game open.

Kirk Wetmore started for the Scrappers and went five innings, holding the Jammers scoreless. He allowed just two hits and two walks and struck out one batter. Drew Rucinski followed and threw two scoreless innings of relief, striking out four batters.

Ensoil Tejada came on for the eighth inning, his second straight night on the mound. He threw a scoreless eighth inning before allowing two runs in the ninth.

Wetmore picked up the win, improving to 1-0 on the season. Jamestown’s starter, Helpi Reyes, took the loss, falling to 0-1.

The Scrappers will play the Batavia Muckdogs on Monday night at 7:05 pm, the first game of a three-game series.

Huff, homers push Columbus to 2-0 win

David Huff pitched a gem for the Clippers, allowing the Clippers to get a 2-0 victory that secured a series win against Scranton Wilkes-Barre and a 7-1 roadtrip. Huff went seven shutout innings and allowed four hits, no walks, and had four strikeouts.

Columbus was going for the series win in a four game road series with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The Clippers were coming off of one of their worst offensive nights in recent memory when they were shutout by the Yankees 4-0 on Saturday night. Today, they got on the board early. In the top of the second, Chad Huffman came to the plate and he let his bat do the talking as he gave the Clippers an early 1-0 lead with his 10th long ball of the season.

The Clippers would get another run to cross the plate in the top of the fifth. This time it was Luke Carlin who went yard for the 5th time this season.Carlin's solo shot would make it 2-0 in favor of Columbus.

The seventh inning proved to be a bit challenging for Huff. After getting a Jesus Montero flyout and a Jorge Vazquez to begin the inning, the Yankees attempted some two out magic. Brandon Laird singled up the middle and that was followed by Jordan Parraz double to put runners in scoring position. Fortunately for Columbus, Huff got PJ Pillitere to fly out to center to get out of the inning.

After a scoreless inning pitched by Justin Germano, Josh Judy came on in the ninth for Columbus. Judy was dominant as he shut the door for Columbus for his 10th save of the season and sealed the series win against Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

The Clippers will come back to Columbus to begin a two game series with the Toledo Mud Hens. Scott Barnes will get the start for Columbus as he faces Brayan Villareal who toes the rubber for Toledo. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Two-Out Rally Comes Back To Bite Aeros

The Akron Aeros allowed six runs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning and lost the rubber match of a three-game series against the Portland Sea Dogs 7-2 Sunday at Canal Park.

Left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz allowed five of the six runs in the seventh inning and suffered the loss for Akron pitching 6.2 innings, allowing eight hits and striking out four while walking one.

Right-handed pitcher Stephen Fife recorded the win for the Sea Dogs tossing 6.2 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits, walking two and striking out three.

The Aeros (33-37) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Beau Mills grounded into a double play.

The game remained 1-0 until the Sea Dogs (23-43) half of the seventh inning. With two outs, Matt Spring hit a solo home run to left-center field to tie the game 1-1. Oscar Tejeda and Jorge Padron rapped back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Mitch Dening followed with a two-RBI double to give the Sea Dogs a 3-1 advantage. Portland scored three more runs in the inning to take a 6-1 lead.

The Sea Dogs added a run in the top of the eighth inning to make it 7-1.

Akron scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, but drew no closer as the Sea Dogs went on to the win.

The Aeros will have an off day Monday before heading to Binghamton to begin a three-game series with the Mets Tuesday. Akron will give the ball to right-handed pitcher Joe Gardner, who is 4-5 with a 3.81 ERA in 2011. He will face fellow right-hander Brandon Moore, who is 5-5 with a 4.04 ERA this season. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

Kinston Finishes Best Half Since 2007 With 7-6 Win

Kinston finished up the first half of the season with a 7-6 win over Lynchburg Sunday afternoon in Virginia. With the win Kinston finishes the half with the third best record in the Carolina League at 38-31. It is the best record in a single half for Kinston since the second half of 2007. Kinston finished the first half strong, going 24-9 and not losing back-to-back games since May 15th and 16th.

Kinston manufactured a run off of Lynchburg starter Dimaster Delgado in the first inning. Delvi Cid was hit by the first pitch of the game, then stole second base. Casey Frawley advanced Cid to third base with a ground out. Anthony Gallas blasted a shot to center field that was caught on a dive by Hillcats center fielder L.V. Ware. Gallas was robbed of a hit, but Cid scored on the sacrifice fly. In the top of the second inning, Tyler Cannon continued his hot play with a two run home run. The blast to left field was his third home run as a K-Triber, giving Kinston a 3-0 lead. Kinston would add a run in the top of the third inning, thanks to three straight Delgado walks. The last free pass gave Cannon an RBI, as Gallas scored after a hit earlier in the inning. Delgado was lifted after three innings, giving up two hits and four runs on five walks.

Lynchburg would cut into the 4-1 Kinston lead thanks to solo home runs from Ware and Joey Terdoslavich to lead off both the third and fourth innings. Kinston starter Clayton Cook went four innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.

Kinston went to the bullpen and pulled out Steve Wright, making his first Kinston appearance since 2008. Wright is now primarily a knuckleball pitcher and working his way back through the system. In his first appearance, a lead-off double followed by a single were cashed in when both runs would score on wild pitches.

Trailing 5-4, Kinston would score a run in the top of the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from Jeremie Tice. In the seventh inning, Kinston would take the lead when Doug Pickens delivered an run scoring single, plating Abraham to give Kinston a 6-5 lead. The see-saw battle would continue when Lynchburg scored a run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a two out RBI single from Simmons.

In the top of the ninth inning Abraham led off with a double. Abreu bunted him to third base and Cannon delivered the sacrifice fly to score Abraham for the eventual winning run. Abraham went 1-for-1 with three runs scored and four walks. Cannon was 1-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. Toole went 2-for-3 for Kinston. Wright (1-0) picked up the win, giving up six hits and three runs in five innings. He walked one and struck out two. Ryan Buchter was victimized for his second relief loss in the series.

After taking off Monday through Wednesday for the All-Star Break, Kinston returns to action Thursday at Salem. Marty Popham will get the start for Kinston, 7:05pm first pitch. Kinston next returns home to Historic Grainger Stadium for a short three game series Sunday, June 26th through Tuesday, June 28th.

Captains Snap Skid, Explode for 10-5 Win in 13 Innings

Nick Bartolone had a career afternoon on Sunday at Fifth Third Ballpark. With two runners on, and no outs, he singled to leftfield, his fourth on the day, scoring Jordan Casas who reach on his fifth hit of the game, giving the Captains a 6-5 lead. Lake County went on to score four more runs in the 13th inning snapping a ten game losing streak with a 10-5 win over West Michigan.

West Michigan took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Hernan Perez reached on a Jesus Aguilar error. Nick Castellanos drove in the runner Perez with a single to right field.

Lake County tied the game up in the third inning with Alex Monsalve’s RBI single to center that scored Nick Bartolone.

In the bottom of third, WhiteCap Ryan Hamme doubled to right to start things off. Rob Brantly was hit by a pitch putting a pair of runners on. Castellanos delivered a big two-out double to right field scoring two and giving West Michigan a 3-1 lead.

The Captains got right back to it in the fourth inning. A leadoff walk to Giovanny Urshela got things started. Jordan Casas laid down a great bunt passed the right side of the mound for an infield single. Dwight Childs executed the sacrifice bunt to push the runners over. Bartolone singled up the middle driving in a pair of runs, tying the game up at 3-3.

West Michigan took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning. The WhiteCaps recorded three straight one out singles from Rob Brantly, Castellanos and James Robbins who drove in the run.

In the eighth inning, Alex Monsalve doubled with one out to get into scoring position for the Captains. Jesus Aguilar singled to leftfield to put runners on first and third. Giovanny Urshela hit a sacrifice fly to right scoring Monsalve to tie the game at 4-4.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Rob Brantly tripled to leadoff. With the infield playing in, Robbins grounded to short, the ball went under the glove of Ronny Rodriguez allowing the unearned run to score giving West Michigan a 5-4 lead.

Lake County’s Nick Bartolone walked to lead off the top of the ninth, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Rodriguez bunted Bartolone over to third. LeVon Washington was hit by a pitch to runners on first and third. Carlos Moncrief singled to leftfield scoring Bartolone and tying the game up at 5-5.

Nick Sarianides (4-3) picked up the win working two innings in relief, no runs on one hit and one walk. Pat Cooper (3-4) took the loss, throwing 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two strike outs. Clayton Ehlert with a no-decision pitched three scoreless innings working the ninth, tenth and eleventh innings, allowing just one hit.

Lake County will head into the All-Star break finishing with a first half record of 27-41. The Captains will resume action in Fort Wayne on Friday night at Parkview Field at 7:00PM.

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).

Posted in: