Game Recaps 6/5: McFarland leads Akron to victory

T.J. McFarland (Photo: Tony Lastoria)

Aeros win series finale behind solid outing from McFarland

The Akron Aeros salvaged the finale of a three-game series with the Binghamton Mets winning 6-3 Sunday at Canal Park.

Left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland earned the win for the Aeros tossing six innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits, walking two and striking out four. Righty Cory Burns recorded his 14th save of 2011 pitching a scoreless top of the ninth inning.

Right-handed pitcher Collin McHugh suffered the loss for Binghamton lasting 4.1 innings, giving up four earned runs on nine hits, walking three and striking out one.

The Aeros (27-31) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Cristo Arnal grounded into a force out allowing Karexon Sanchez to score.

Akron added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tim Fedroff led off with a single. With one out, Beau Mills singled and Chun Chen walked to load the bases. Nick Weglarz followed with a two-RBI single that gave the Aeros a 3-0 lead. Sanchez capped the frame with an RBI single that made it 4-0.

The B-Mets (18-36) rallied for three in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Aeros lead to 4-3.

The Aeros answered in the bottom of the frame. Sanchez led off with a walk and stole second. With one out, Arnal singled home Sanchez to give Akron a 5-3 lead. Arnal later stole second and third and came across to score on a wild pitch as the Aeros went on to the win.

The Aeros will begin a six-game road trip Tuesday when they take on the New Britain Rock Cats. Akron will give the ball to left-hander Matt Packer, who is 2-5 with a 4.85 ERA in 2011. The Rock Cats have yet to announce a starter for Tuesday’s game. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

Bats beat Clippers 11-5

It was a rough day at Huntington Park for the Clippers as the Louisville used a potent 18 hit attack to post an 11-5 Bats win over the Clippers.

After a scoreless first for the Bats, the Clippers tried their hand on offense. Louisville starter Scott Carroll had trouble hitting the strike zone early as he walked the first two batters in Ezequiel Carrera and Cord Phelps to begin his outing. After a Lonnie Chisenhall pop out, the Clippers tried a double steal that resulted in Carrera being thrown out at third for the second out. Needing a clutch two-out hit, Chad Huffman could not deliver as he grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

Clippers Zach McAlister ran into some trouble in the third inning. A double by Juan Francisco and a single by Todd Frazier put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Clippetrs second basemen Cord Phelps made a leaping catch to rob a hit from Jeremy Hermida of a hit for the second out. The next batter, Devin Mesoraco, delivered for his ball club as he drove in two with a double to help Louisville grab a 2-0 lead. McAlister eventually got out of the inning with a Danny Dorn fly-out to centerfield.

The Bats would add more runs in the top of the fourth inning. After Zach Cozart walked with two outs in the inning, Yonder Alonso cracked a two-run home to deep center field to make it 4-0 in favor of Louisville. Another run would cross the plate for the Bats in the 5th when Mesoraco came in to score on an RBI single by Danny Dorn to make it 5-0 Louisville. Zach Cozart would then increase the Bat's lead further with a two-out two-run double to make it 7-0.

From there the rout was on for Louisville. Danny Dorn crushed a 1-out grand slam to deep right field that augmented Louisville's lead 11-0 over Columbus. The only runs for Columbus crossed the plate when Jerad Head drilled a two-run home run to right center field to make it 11-2, a Luis Valbuena RBI single that plated Jason Kipnis in the ninth to make it 11-3 and a Jerad Head two-run RBI single to make it 11-5.

Zach McAlister (7-2) had his worst inning of the season giving up seven runs, all earned, on twelve hits while striking out five and walking two in five innings of work. Scott Carroll (4-2) had a very solid outing for Louisville, going eight innings, allowing two runs, both earned on three hits while walking five and striking out two.

Columbus will look to bounce back against Louisville when Corey Kluber (3-3) gets the start in game one of a double header against Bats lefthander Dontrelle Willis (3-1).Game 2 will have Justin Germano (0-1) for Columbus facing off against Darryl Thompson (0-0) who will ride the bump for Louisville. First pitch for game 1 is scheduled for 5:05 pm.

Kinston's series streak ends with 6-4 Loss

Kinston fell victim to a tough fifth inning and lost 6-4 to the Dash Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem. Kinston led after the second inning but a resilient Dash found success in chipping away at the K-Tribe and starter Giovanni Soto to come from behind to keep Kinston (28-27) from winning the series.

Down 2-0 going into the top of the second inning, Kinston took the lead with four runs on four hits. The inning started with a double from Abner Abreu. Justin Toole followed with a single. The third straight hit of the inning came off the bat of Chase Burnette. Burnette's RBI single to right field was bobbled by Winston-Salem's Jose Martinez. With Abreu scoring easily, the error allowed Toole to score from first and gave Kinston a 2-1 lead. With one-out in the inning, Kinston's Tyler Cannon hit a home run off of Dash starter Cameron Bayne. The homer was just fair down the left field line to give Kinston a 4-2 lead. The suddenly red hot Cannon now has home runs in back-to-back games.

Kinston's starter Giovanni Soto (4-4) had trouble with the Dash earlier, giving up two runs on two hits and a walk in the first inning. Soto then settled down, but an unearned run brought Winston-Salem closer in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs in the inning and Ian Gac on second base a wild pitch was blocked in front of the plate by Kinston catcher Roberto Perez. Gac took off for third base and an errant throw by Perez allowed Gac to score, making the score 4-3 Kinston.

The Dash would take the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, thanks to four straight hits to begin the frame. After back-to-back hits from Jared Mitchell and Martinez, the advanced A ball veteran Gac unleashed another double. The hit drove in Mitchell and tied the score at four. The Dash would take the lead when Andy Wilkins delivered a two-run single, scoring Martinez and Gac, giving Winston-Salem a 6-4 lead. Soto would leave the game after the fifth inning, giving up six runs on nine hits and being charged with the loss. Soto (4-4) took the loss, walking three and striking out four.

Dash starter Cameron Bayne (5-3) allowed four runs on eight hits and picked up his fifth win of the year. Bayne struggled through the fourth but finished three strikeouts and two walks through seven innings. Kinston’s bullpen was solid as Tyler Sturdevant and Kyle Landis combined for three perfect innings. Sturdevant struck out three in two innings, Landis struck out two in one frame of work. Justin Toole and Roberto Perez each had two hits for Kinston.

The road trip continues as the K-Tribe heads to Wilmington, Delaware for a four game series. Drew Pomeranz will get the start for Kinston on Monday, game time 7:05 pm.

Captains Lose Second Straight, 6-1 to Clinton

Clinton returned to Classic Park for the first time since losing the Midwest League Championship and sent Lake County to their second straight loss by the score of 6-1.

The L’Kings took a 1-0 lead in the top of first inning as Kalien Sams doubled in Mickey Wiswall.

The Captains Carlos Moncrief answered in the bottom half of the first, connecting on his eighth homerun of the season, a solo shot to tie the game at 1-1.

Steven Baron started off Clinton’s second inning with a leadoff double to left. Robbie Anston tripled in Baron. A sacrifice fly by Jorge Agudelo made it 3-1.

The Lumberkings added some insurance in the seventh inning, scoring three unearned runs. With runners on second and third, an error on Ronny Rodriguez allowed both runs to score. Anston drove in his second run of the game with a single to leftfield as Clinton went up 6-1.

Forrest Snow (2-7) worked eight innings for his second win, allowing a run on five hits, walking two and striking out three. Cole Cook (2-6) suffered the loss allowing three runs on six hits, walking four and striking out five. Rob Bryson’s return to the Captains was a success, he worked a perfect eighth inning, striking out a pair.

Lake County hits the road for a six game road trip that starts in Appleton, WI., against Wisconsin at 8:05PM. RHP Mike Goodnight (4-3) gets the start for the Captains against RHP Jimmy Nelson (1-5) for the TimberRattlers.

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