Game Recaps 7/1: Urshela's homer sparks Captains to a win

Giovanny Urshela (Photo: Lianna Holub)

Urshela Leads Way in Captains 7-4 Win

Giovanny Urshela belted a his seventh homerun of the season, a three run shot, in the third inning on Friday night leading Lake County to a 7-4 win over South Bend.

In the third the Captains loaded the bases, with singles from Argenis Martinez and LeVon Washington, followed by a walk to Alex Monsalve. Jesus Aguilar flew out to shallow right; a throwing error on Roberto Rodriguez allowed Martinez to score from third. Urshela then connected on seventh homerun of the season for Lake County 4-0 lead.

Ender Inciarte lead the fourth inning off with a double for the Silver Hawks. Inciarte went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Jhoan Pimentel ground out making it 4-1.

In the fifth inning, Alex Monsalve hit fourth homerun of the season to lead things off. Aguilar singled to left, Urshela doubled to left and Casas walked to load the bases. Ronny Rodriguez hit a ball up against the wall in left center for a sacrifice fly for an RBI. Captains added one more on a wild pitch to take a 7-1 lead.

Yazy Arbelo drove in his league high 59th RBI of the year in sixth for South Bend with a double to center cutting the lead to 7-2.

The Silver Hawks added two more in the seventh inning; Roberto Rodriguez hit a solo homerun to right. Chris Jarret reached on a walk and scored on an error by Nick Sarianides and it was 7-4.

JD Reichenbach (4-1) picked up the win in a spot start for Lake County, throwing 5.1 innings allowing two runs on seven hits, no walks and four strikeouts. JR Bradley (2-11) took the loss for the Silver Hawks allowing seven runs on nine hits in just four plus innings, walking two and striking out five.

Lake County and South Bend will wrap up their three game series at Classic Park, Saturday night at 7:00PM. The Captains will start RHP Mike Goodnight (5-6) against RHP Tyler Green (2-2) for the Silver Hawks.

Mud Hens avoid sweep, beat Clippers 3-1

Clippers starter Zach McAllister had a very solid outing, going eight innings and only giving up three runs, but Columbus couldn't get him enough run support as they fell to the Toledo Mud Hens 3-1.

Once again, the Clippers were doing battle with a familiar divisional foe, the Toledo Mud Hens. Tonight was the 8th time in the last 12 days that these two ball clubs faced off against one another.

It was a pitcher's duel early on as Clippers starter Zach McAllister and Mud Hens Starter Duane Below traded scoreless frames for through the first five innings. The game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Will Rhymes singled to center to start the inning. Two batters later, Carlos Guillen singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Scott Thorman would then deliver with an RBI single, making it 1-0 Mud Hens. The lead for Toledo would become 2-0 when Jeff Salazar hit an RBI single of his own. Fortunately for Columbus, McAllister struck out Danny Worth and got Clete Thomas to pop out to shallow right field to end the inning.

The Mud Hens would add another run in the bottom of the when Scott Thorman once again came up clutch for Toledo with another RBI single to make it 3-0.

The Clippers tried to mount a comeback in the ninth. With two outs, Paul Phillips got the Clippers on the board with a two out RBI double that made it 3-1. But it was too little, too late as Ezequiel Carrera became the last out of the game.

The Clippers will return to Columbus to begin a short two game series with the Louisville Bats. Corey Kluber (4-5) will get the start for Columbus while Darryl Thompson (1-0) will get the ball for the Bats. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm.

Erie Defeats Akron, 11-9

The Akron Aeros allowed 6 runs in the 3rd inning and came back with their own 8-run inning in the 5th, yet eventually fell to the SeaWolves 11-9 on Friday night, in the second game of a four-game series at Jerry Uht Park.

Joe Gardner lasted just two and one-third innings, giving up six runs on three hits, and striking out three. Paolo Espino followed with two and two-third innings of shutout relief. Tyler Sturdevant suffered the loss for the Aeros (40-41) allowing five runs on seven hits, in two innings of work..

Reliever Austin Wood earned the win for the SeaWolves (41-39) tossing two scoreless innings in relief, including a perfect ninth.
Erie exploded for six runs in the 3rd inning off starter Joe Gardner. The big hits were a Rawley Bishop 3-RBI double and RBI singles by Justin Henry and Jeff Kunkel.

Akron responded with their own offensive outburst in the 5th inning. Ben Copeland led off with his first home run as an Aero. Newly acquired catcher Michel Hernandez then walked, followed by a Donnie Webb double. A SeaWolves fielding error by second baseman Brandon Douglas allowed Cristo Arnal on base and scored Hernandez and a Juan Diaz fielders choice scored Donnie Webb. Beau Mills followed with a 2-run double, scoring Arnal and Diaz. After a Nick Weglarz walk and a Copeland single, Hernandez delivered an RBI single, followed by a 2-run double by Webb. The Aeros ended up sending thirteen to the plate and plating eight runs in the inning, making the score 8-6.

The SeaWolves scored another three runs in the sixth inning to retake the lead 9-8 before Copeland hit his second home run of the game in the top of the seventh inning to tie the score at 9-9.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth, when Douglas brought home the go-ahead runs with a two-run double giving the SeaWolves an 11-9 lead.

The Aeros continue their series with the SeaWolves on Saturday. Akron will give the ball to left-handed pitcher Matt Packer, who is 2-8 with a 5.80 ERA in 2011. He will face fellow left hander Casey Crosby, who is 5-2 with an 3.06 ERA this season. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.

Kinston Comes Back to Beat Myrtle Beach 5-3

Kinston scored five unanswered runs, coming from behind for a 5-3 victory Friday night at Myrtle Beach. The rubber match win gave the K-Tribe (7-2, 45-33) another series win. Kinston has now won 12 of their last 13 series, going 31-11 since May 16th. Kinston will return home to Historic Grainger Stadium for a Holiday Weekend homestand with Fireworks on Saturday and Monday night!

Kinston starter Drew Pomeranz entered the game with the lowest ERA in the entire league at 1.81. The first round draft pick ran into trouble in the second inning when Vinny DiFazio started with a walk. Travis Adair then doubled to move DiFazio to third base. With the infield drawn in, David Paisano snuck a seeing eye grounder through the middle to give the Pelicans a 1-0 lead. With two outs in the inning, Andres James legged out an infield single to drive home Adair. The Pelicans flew out of the second frame with a 2-0 lead. The Pelicans would add a run in the fifth inning when Jared Prince hit a home run to left field. It was the fourth homer of the season for Prince.

Myrtle Beach starting pitcher Robbie Ross came into the game with a Carolina League leading eight wins (8-2). He backed up his dominance keeping the K-Tribe scoreless through six innings on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Despite the dominance of Ross, Kinston made it a game, waiting for the Myrtle Beach bullpen to take over.

Adam Abraham started the seventh by doubling off of reliever Ryan Kelly. Abraham scored on a wild pitch and RBI single from Tyler Cannon. Myrtle Beach short stop Leury Garcia allowed Kinston back in to the game with a fielding error. Justin Toole's grounder could not be handled and both Cannon and Toole advanced an extra base with heads up base running, taking advantage when the ball wound up in left field. Both runners scored thanks to Tyler Holt's two out double down the left field line. The clutch hit tied the score at three.

Anthony Gallas broke the tie with a solo home run to start the eighth inning. The monster shot was Gallas' first homer in the Carolina League, he was called up from Low-A Lake County on June 13th. Adam Abraham helped add to the Kinston advantage by blasting his second double of the game with one out in the inning. He stood at third base after a passed ball charged to Myrtle Beach catcher Vinny DiFazio. Chase Burnette, pinch hitting for Justin Toole, laced a picture perfect RBI single to left field to bring Abraham home.

The advantage was enough for closer Preston Guilmet who picked up his 19th save of the season with some drama thrown in thanks to Burnette. With one out Andres James popped it towards the Pelicans dugout. Burnette was upended by the protective railing as he made the catch. He tumbled over the railing on to the cement dugout floor. After a tense pause, Burnette got up to a cheer of approval and was pushed back on to the field with the help of some Pelicans players. Francisco Jimenez nearly spanned the gap between Pomeranz and Guilmet, departing after yielding a two out single in the eighth inning to David Paisano. Jimenez fired 2 1/3 shutout innings of relief with two strikeouts for the win and Chris Jones retired the only man he saw to end the inning. Pomeranz gave up three runs on six hits through 5 1/3 innings. Pomeranz walked three and struck out four.

Kinston will return home for a Fireworks filled weekend home stand against the Baltimore Orioles affiliate Frederick! Fireworks after the 6:30 pm games on both Saturday and Monday night! 1:30 pm afternoon game on Sunday! T.J. House takes the mound for Kinston on Saturday night.

Scrappers lose in extras, 4-3

Mahoning Valley lost in extra innings to State College 4-3 on Friday night in a game that went 12 innings. After Mahoning Valley rallied for a run in the ninth inning to tie the game by a Bryson Myles walk and then Tony Wolters double, they eventually faltered in the bottom of the 12th inning when second baseman Todd Hankins committed a fielding error with a runner on second and one out.

In his second pro start right-hander Mason Radeke went 5.2 innings and allowed three runs on 7 hits, no walks, and had five strikeouts. The bullpen was great all night throwing six innings and allowing just the one unearned run. Right-hander Cody Allen led the way going 2.1 innings and allowing no runs, one hit, one walk, and had five strikeous.

Offensively shortstop Tony Wolters led the Scrapper attack going 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI, and a walk. Designated hitter Jordan Smith went 3-for-6 with an RBI.

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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