Game Recaps 8/19: Packer continues late season surge

Matt Packer (Photo: IPI)

Packer Shuts Out Squirrels

Aeros left-hander Matt Packer pitched eight strong innings, as Akron beat Richmond 4-0 on Friday night at The Diamond. Chun Chen and John Drennen provided the offense as the Aeros (65-60) took game one of a three-game series against the Flying Squirrels.

In his eight innings of work, Packer scattered five hits, while striking out nine Squirrels and walking just one.

Right-handed pitcher Justin Fitzgerald suffered the loss for Richmond (66-58) going seven innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out seven.

The Aeros scoring started early. After a Ben Copeland single in the first inning, Chen blasted a home run to left field, giving Akron an early 2-0 advantage.

The game remained that way until the eighth inning. Alex Hinshaw replaced Fitzgerald for Richmond and recorded two quick strikeouts. But after walks issued to both Copeland and Chen, Drennen tripled to centerfield, making the score 4-0.

The Aeros will continue their series with the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Saturday. Richmond will send left-handed pitcher Chuck Lofgren to the mound. Lofgren is 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA this season. Akron has yet to announce their starting pitcher. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

Clippers settle for series split

Four errors doomed the Clippers as they dropped a 7-1 clunker to Pawtucket in the road trip finale.

It was a rough first couple of innings for Clippers starter Mitch Talbot. The Columbus right-hander struck out Will Middlebrooks with runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs to escape the bottom of the 1st unscathed. The same could not be said Talbot in the bottom of the second. Hector Luna led off the inning with a double to left field. That was followed by a Brett Carroll double that drove home Luna for an early 1-0 Red Sox lead. After a Luis Exposito walk, Talbot struck out Jose Iglesias for out #1. He would do the same thing to Che-Hsuan Lin as he struck out for out #2. Just when it looked liked he would get out of the inning with only one run given up, Talbot was called for a balk which allowed Carroll and Exposito to move into scoring position. With an RBI opportunity in front of him, Nate Spears lined a single up the middle, driving in two extending the PawSox lead to 3-0. Thankfully, the Clippers were able to finally get out of the inning when Talbot struck out Daniel Nava looking for the final out of the inning.

The bottom of the fourth would be one ugly inning for the Clippers in the field. Jose Iglesias reached safely with one out on an error by Columbus third baseman Jared Goedert. Che-Hsuan Lin then doubled off of the center field wall, allowing Iglesias to score all the way around from 1st, making it 4-0 Pawtucket. After Nate Spears grounded out second, Daniel Nava walked to keep the inning alive for the PawSox. The next batter, Lars Anderson singled on that just got by Clippers second baseman Cord Phelps into right field. When the ball was thrown back into the infield, Talbot committed a throwing error, allowing two runs to score and increase the Red Sox lead to 6-0. It would be the final batter that Talbot faced as he was soon after pulled.

Meanwhile, the Clippers could not do anything offensively for the first six innings of the contest because of the stellar pitching of Greg Smith. The lefthander, making his first start this season for the Red Sox, was dominant on the mound through six innings shutting out Columbus on three hits and striking out four.

There would finally be signs of Columbus offense in the top of the seventh. Nick Johnson and Jared Goedert began the frame with back-to-back singles.Following a Beau Mills fly out and a Paul Phillips pop out to second, Argenis Reyes came to bat and he would get Columbus on the board with tonight's Phoenix Bats Big hit of the game. Reyes' RBI single scored Johnson, making it 6-1 Pawtucket.

More ugly defense for Columbus would rear its head in the bottom of the seventh. Lars Anderson reached safely when Jared Goedert air-mailed his throw to first into the seats, allowing Anderson to go to second. Anderson would then move to third on a wild pitch by Matt Langwell. After Will Middlebrooks struck out, Hector Luna singled to left field, driving in Anderson and lengthening the Pawtucket lead to 7-1.

Unfortunately, Columbus could not muster a miraculous comeback as they dropped a 7-1 clunker to the Paw Sox. Greg Smith (1-0) picked up his first win with Pawtucket this season. Mitch Talbot dropped to 1-2 with the loss as the Clippers ended a nine game road trip with a thud.

The Clippers will return to Huntington Park on Saturday. They will open up a four game home series against the Buffalo Bisons. Joe Martinez (8-6) will start on the hill for Columbus. He will face Buffalo righthander Mark Cohoon (3-8). First pitch is 7:05 pm.

Kinston falls in slugfest 15-9

The Kinston Indians (29-24,67-54) dropped a slugfest to the Pelicans of Myrtle Beach (26-28, 65-57) by a score of 15-9. Myrtle beach had 1o men come to the plate in the second inning and also saw 11 men hit in the third inning. A total of 13 runs scored for Myrtle Beach in those innings.

The K-Tribe scored five runs in the first inning all off Pelican's starter Justin Grimm. Grimm just lasted 1/3 of an inning. Jesus Aguilar hit a grand slam in the first inning his second HR of the Carolina League.

T.J.House had a dreadful bottom of the second inning. Six runs were scored in the bottom half of the inning and the K-Tribe saw their lead evaporate. They now trailed by one run.

The Pelican lead lasted a half of an inning as in the top of the third inning Jesus Aguilar hit his second HR of the game and the K-Tribe regained the lead 7-6.

In the bottom of third inning, Myrtle Beach sent eleven men to the plate and scored seven times. The big hit of the inning was a two run double by Santiago Chirino. The score was 13-6 after three innings.

The K-Tribe got two more in the forth as Adam Abraham had one of his two doubles on the night which knocked in a run. That made the score 13-9.

A two run homer by Andrew Clark in the fifth inning for Myrtle Beach capped the scoring.

Kinston and Myrtle Beach combined to use eight different pitchers throughout the night.

The Final score was Myrtle Beach 15 and Kinston 9. Jose Flores got the Loss for Kinston; his record falls to (4-4). Zach Osborne got the win for the Pelicans and his record improves to (4-2).

The two clubs will play game three of the four game series Saturday Night at 7:05pm at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. The Pitching Match- Up for tomorrow is scheduled to be Mike Rayl (1-1, 3.27) for Kinston vs. Chad Bell (2-1, 3.21) for Myrtle Beach. With the loss the K-Tribe fell back into a first place tie in the Carolina League Southern Division with the Winston-Salem Dash.

Captains Swept in South Bend

The South Bend Silver Hawks put the finishing touches on a sweep of the Lake County Captains taking game three 4-2 on Friday night. The Captains went 1-5 on the road trip.

The Silver Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Ender Inciarte singled home Niko Gallego. He would steal second base and then score on a single by David Narodowski.
The Silver Hawks added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Matt Helm singled home Narodowski and Yazy Arbelo and South Bend led 4-0.

The Captains scored a run in the top of the sixth inning when Kevin Fontanez hit his first home run of the year and it was 4-1. It became 4-2 in the top of the seventh inning when Carlos Moncrief doubled and two batters later Alex Monsalve grounded out allowing Moncrief to score.

Captains starter Mike Goodnight (5-12) took the loss working 4.2 innings and allowing four runs on three hits, walking six and striking out two. Cody Allen pitched 2.1 scoreless innings allowing a hit and striking out four. Allen has pitched 10.1 scoreless innings since joining the Captains. Dale Dickerson worked a scoreless inning walking one.

Silver Hawks starter Bradin Hagins (7-6) got the win pitching six innings allowing one run on six hits, walking two and striking out three. Victor Cappellan pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his first save of the year.

The Captains return to Classic Park on Saturday at 7 PM for a four game home stand against the Fort Wayne Tin Caps (Padres). The Captains will send RHP Felix Sterling (2-3, 4.63) to the mound to oppose LHP Todd Privett (2-2, 3.68).

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