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| Jordan Smith (photo: St. Cloud State) |
Jordan Smith and Todd Hankins hit two-run doubles in the seventh inning and the Scrappers scored seven straight runs in a 7-4 victory over the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Mahoning Valley trailed 2-0 after three innings as the Renegades scored one in the first and one in the third off starter Joseph Colon. But Colon settled in and the Scrappers bats backed him, scoring the next seven runs.
Alex Lavisky doubled in a run in the fourth to make it 2-1, and Jake Lowery and Smith drove in runs in the fifth to give the Scrappers a 3-2 lead. Mahoning Valley scored four in the seventh to increase the lead.
The Renegades scored one in the seventh and one in the eighth off the Scrappers bullpen, but Enosil Tejeda pitched a scoreless ninth to end the game.
Colon picked up the win to improve to 3-2. Renegades starter Andrew Bellatti picked up the loss to fall to 0-4. Tejeda earned his fourth save of the year.
The Scrappers and Renegades will continue their three-game series on Sunday night at 5:05 pm.
Lehigh Valley beats Clippers in extra innings
Saturday's game went to extras and the Clippers could not pull out the win as they dropped a 4-3 decision in 10 innings to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
Zach McAlister got the start for Columbus on the hill. He did not get off to the swiftest of starts. In the bottom half of the first, Rich Thompson, the first batter that faced McAlister, took Zach Mac deep to right field to give Lehigh Valley an early 1-0 lead. Pete Orr then walked. After Orr stole second, Delwyn Young doubled to right field, knocking in Orr and increasing the IronPigs advantage to 2-0. All of this happened with nobody out, but McAlister was able to get out of the inning without allowing any more IronPigs to cross home plate by retiring three of the next four batters he faced.
The bottom of the fourth was an interesting inning for McAlister. Erik Kratz doubled to begin the inning. That was followed by a Cody Overbeck single that put runners on 1st and third with nobody out. After a Brian Bocock pop out, Rich Thompson lined a hit to right field. Chad Huffman was not able to make the catch but was able to get a force out at second for the second out of the inning. It allowed Kratz to score and make it 3-0 in favor of the IronPigs. Again, McAlister was able to get out of trouble as he got Pete Orr to fly out to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth, the Clippers would finally get on the board via a Chad Huffman solo shot to right center field. Huffman's 11th long ball of the season drew Columbus closer 3-1.
The Clippers continued to rally in the sixth. Jason Donald led the inning off with a walk. Cord Phelps followed that up with a single. After a Shelley Duncan fly out, Luis Valbuena walked to load the bases with one out. After a pitching change was made by Lehigh Valley, Jerad Head rudely greeted Aaron Heilman and helped his team tie the score with a clutch two-run single to tie it at 3-3. Nick Johnson struck out swinging for the second out of the frame, but Chad Huffman walked to load the bases for the second straight time in the inning. Michel Hernandez was presented with the opportunity of giving his team the lead, but was called out on strikes to end the inning.
Nobody scored after that in regulation innings so the contest went to extra innings. The tenth inning proved to be a painful inning for Clippers reliever Carlton Smith. Delwyn Young singled to right field to start the inning. Smith then hit Brandon Moss, allowing Young to get into scoring position. Kevin Frandsen then bunted to get the runners over. Smith came off the mound and tried to field the ball, but bobbled it twice before he could get off a throw. It allowed Frandsen to reach first and load the bases with nobody out. Josh Barfield, a former Clipper, then came to bat and hit a grounder to Cord Phelps. Phelps made the throw to home to cut down Young for the first out of the inning. Erick Kratz than came to the plate. He hit a grounder to the shortstop Luis Valbuena that could have been a groundball double play, but Valbuena bobbled the ball and threw it into right field as the IronPigs walked off with the victory, 4-3 in 10 innings.
The Clippers will finish up their three game set with the IronPigs tomorrow on a late Sunday afternoon affair. Joe Martinez (6-3) will start on the bump for Columbus and will face Iron Pigs starter Brian Bass (4-8). First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 pm.
Aeros score early, often in win over Seawolves
The Akron Aeros scored all seven of their runs in the second, third and fourth innings and won game three of a four-game series against the Erie SeaWolves 7-1 Saturday at Jerry Uht Park.
Right-handed pitcher Austin Adams was the beneficiary of the Aeros early offense as he recorded the win tossing six innings, allowing one earned run on five hits, walking four and striking out two.
Left-handed pitcher Casey Crosby suffered the loss for Erie lasting 3.2 innings, giving up seven runs (four earned) on nine hits, walking three and striking out five.
The SeaWolves (46-54) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Gustavo Nunez led off with a single and stole second. Justin Henry doubled him home to give Erie a 1-0 lead.
The lead was short lived as the Aeros (54-47) answered in the top of the second inning. Ben Copeland led off the frame with a ground-rule double. He scored on an error that allowed Kyle Bellows to get to second. Following a strikeout, John Drennen was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Karexon Sanchez moved the runners to second and third with a ground out. Jordan Henry gave the Aeros a 2-1 lead with an RBI single that scored Bellows and moved Drennen to third. Akron took a 3-1 lead when Matt McBride walked with the bases loaded allowing Drennen to cross the plate.
Chun Chen hit a solo home run to center field in the top of the third inning to give the Aeros a 4-1 lead.
Akron scored three more runs in the top of the fourth inning and went on to the win.
The Aeros will go for the sweep of the SeaWolves on Sunday. Akron will give the ball to left-handed pitcher Matt Packer, who is 4-9 with a 5.04 ERA in 2011. He will face fellow southpaw Jay Voss, who is 5-5 with a 4.21 ERA this season. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. The game can be heard on Fox Sports 1350 AM or online at sportsradio1350.com. Coverage begins at 12:50 p.m.
Miraculous Comeback Gives Kinston Series Win
Kinston scored six, two-out runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, to come back and beat Wilmington 11-8 Saturday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. The first place K-Tribe (17-10, 55-41) secures a series win, taking the first two games of the series from the Blue Rocks. Kinston now leads the second half race in the Southern Division by three games over Myrtle Beach.
Kinston trailed 8-5 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Things didn't look any brighter when the Indians first two batters were retired. Abner Abreu started the two-out rally with a single. Chase Burnette followed with a double. Tyler Cannon then cut the Blue Rock lead to one, driving both Burnette and Abreu home with a single. Justin Toole kept the rally going with a single, moving Cannon to third base. Tyler Holt then dropped down a squeeze bunt, scoring Cannon and tying the game at eight. A wild pitch by Blue Rocks pitcher Bryan Paukovits advanced Toole to third base and Holt to second. Casey Frawley walked to load the bases. Kinston took the lead when a sharply hit ground ball by Anthony Gallas was booted by Wilmington shortstop Kurt Mertins. The error gave Kinston a 10-8 lead. The Indians got an insurance run when Jeremie Tice singled to plate Frawley. It was the second straight night Kinston scored six runs in a single inning against Wilmington.
Toru Murata pitched a perfect ninth inning to get his second save of the season for Kinston. Trey Haley (1-0) got the win in relief. Bryan Paukovits (1-2) was stuck with the loss.
Blue Rock batters came out hot for a second straight night, as Wilmington's first four batters reached on hits. Kinston starting pitcher T.J. House used a double play to limit the damage, leaving the top of the first down 2-0. Kinston would answer in similar fashion in the bottom of the first inning, when the first three K-Tribe batters reached on hits. Holt started with a single and advanced to third on a single from Casey Frawley. Gallas would drive Holt home with a double off of the left-field wall. Frawley would then score on a ground-out from Tice. The Indians took a 3-2 lead when Abner Abreu drove in Gallas with an RBI single. House went four innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits. Francisco Jimenez gave up three runs on five hits over two innings for Kinston.
Wilmington got the lead back with runs in the second and third innings. Kinston would tie the score at four when Gallas drove home Frawley with a second RBI double. Wilmington would take a 7-4 lead with three runs in the middle innings, before Abreu broke the scoring draught with his 12th home run of the season. Abreu went 3-for-4 with two RBI and now has seven hits in the first two games of the series. Holt, Frawley, Galas and Burnette each had two hits for Kinston.
Kinston ends the series and homestand with a Christmas in July Celebration Sunday afternoon at Historic Grainger Stadium. Santa will be on hand for the 1:30 pm start. Knuckleballer Steve Wright will be on the hill for Kinston.
Captains Fall to Kernels in Rain Shortened Game 6-0
Brian Diemer allowed only one hit and the Cedar Rapids Kernels scored all of their runs in one inning on their way to a 6-0 rain shortened shutout of the Lake County Captains on Saturday. The game was called in the middle of the sixth inning due to rain.
The Kernels took the lead in the top of the fourth inning when with one out and a runner on first base seven straight batters reached base. Four of the batters drove in a single run and Jeremy Cruz capped off the inning with a two RBI single and Cedar Rapids led 6-0. Jordan Casas collected the Captains only hit.
Captains starter Mike Goodnight (5-9) took the loss working 3.1 innings allowing six runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four.
Kernels Starter Brian Diemer (8-7) got the win working five scoreless innings allowing one hit while striking out three.
The Captains and Kernels play game two of the three game series on Sunday at 1:00 PM with the Captains sending RHP Felix Strerling who will make his Captains debut and he will oppose LHP Max Russell (5-9, 3.54). The game can be heard on ESPN 970 WFUN and on the internet at captainsbaseball.com.
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