Captains Continue Strong Season

The Lake County Captains swept the Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati) this week at Classic Park. The Dragons, with Avon Lake’s Andrew Means, lost all three games in their very first visit to Eastlake. The Captains improved their record to a league best 20-8.

However, while Charles I had his Cromwell and Napoleon his Waterloo, the Captains have the Great Lakes Loons. So far this season, the Captains have gone 2-5 against the Dodger affiliate located in Midland, Michigan. That means the Captains have an incredible 18-3 record against the rest of the Midwest League. Currently, the Captains are two and a half games ahead of the Loons in the Eastern Division. That’s the good news. The bad news: The Captains opened up a three game series in Midland this weekend, and their woes against Great Lakes continued on Saturday, blowing a 3-1 lead and losing to the Loons in the bottom of the ninth 4-3.

The recent seven game homestand started out with an exciting come from behind 10-7 win over Great Lakes. Coming from behind seems to be a specialty of this year’s team But unfortunately, the Captains lost 3 in a row to the Loons, the longest losing streak of the year. But, the homestand ended with a bang, as the Captains swept the Dragons, coming from behind in two of the wins.

The Captains got outstanding pitching in the Dayton series. The starting pitching, which has been questionable for most of the year, came through like gangbusters. The series began with an outstanding performance by right handed starter Trey Haley. Haley, drafted by the Indians in the second round of the 2007 draft as a 17 year old out of Texas, went seven strong innings on Tuesday. He gave up only 3 hits and no runs, while striking out a season high 7 batters and walking only one. This was by far the best game of Haley’s young career. Things appear to be looking up for Trey, as he looked strong in his previous start, also against Dayton. In that game, Haley went seven innings, giving up only one earned run. In winning these two games, Haley lowered his ERA from 6.00 to 3.66, while improving his record to 2-0, with 22 strikeouts and 12 walks. The Midwest League is hitting .246 against him. Haley has been considered a top level, but raw, prospect. He doesn’t turn 20 until late June, and has a long way to go, but all Indians fans should be excited by Haley’s performance.

The improved starting pitching continued in Wednesday’s game with a superb outing by Joe Gardner. Gardner set the world on fire in his first appearance, striking out 11 in his four inning professional debut against West Michigan. Gardner, who had a difficult preceding outing against Great Lakes, threw three scoreless innings against Dayton, striking out two and walking none. Unfortunately, a downpour, complete with thunder, lighting, and gale force winds caused the game to be suspended after 3 innings. With a 1-0 record and 3.24 ERA, the 6’4”, 220 pounder out of UC Santa Barbara earned a promotion to Kinston on Saturday, the first Captain of the year to get the call to the K-Tribe.

Danny Salazar, a 19 year old out right hander out of the Dominican Republic, kept the streak going with a quality start, and his best performance of the season, in the series wrap up on Thursday. He went 5 innings in a 7 inning game. (The Captains and Dragons played a doubleheader on Thursday, completing Wednesday’s game and followed by a seven inning game.) Salazar gave up 3 runs, all earned, on 4 hits. Salazar also struck out a season high 6 batters. He earned the victory on Thursday, evening his record at 1-1, with a 6.06 ERA, 16 SO and 7 BB. The league is batting .306 against him.

The bullpen, which had been a strong point for the Captains earlier in the season, showed a little weakness during the Dayton series, but fought back and remained strong. Trey Haley turned a 6-0 game over to the usually reliable Francisco Jimenez, who gave up 2 runs on three hits in his one inning of work. Closer Corey Burns, the right hander with the Louis Tiant delivery and Bob Wickman results, saved two out of the three victories against the Dragons. He gave up a run on two hits in saving Tuesday’s win. In Thursday’s first game, Burns loaded the bases with no outs before striking out the next three batters to earn his 9th. Left hander Chris Jones was on the mound when the suspended game picked up on Thursday.

Jones, who gave up 4 runs, all earned, in 3 innings in his previous outing against Great Lakes, bounced back with three strong innings, giving up no runs and 2 hits. He struck out one and walked none. Jones is having a pretty solid year, appearing in 7 games so far this year. In 5 of those games he didn’t give up a run, but unfortunately, each of his two poor outings resulted in losses. The 21 year old Jones left the game in a scoreless tie, so he didn’t factor into the decision. Right hander Rob Bryson, who came to the Indians organization from Milwaukee in the 2008 CC Sabathia trade, pitched 2 scoreless innings to earn the win. Bryson also had a couple of rough outings earlier in the season, but since giving up 4 runs in 2 innings on April 20 against Great Lakes, Bryson has only given up 1 run in his last 4 appearances, covering 6 2/3 innings. The victory raised his record to 4-0, with a 4.05 ERA. Better still, Bryson has struck out 21 batters in his 13 1/3 innings pitched, while walking only 2. Let’s hope his comeback remains on track.

Matt Packer, a 21 year old left handed product of the University of Virginia, continued the bullpen’s strong performance earning his first save in Thursday’s seven inning game. Packer has been a pleasant surprise so far this year as he’s made 8 appearances, all in relief. He gave up 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings on April 17 against Ft. Wayne. He hasn’t given up a run in his other 7 games, and now sits with 1-0 record, with 2.19 ERA, striking out 10, while walking only 1 in 12 1/3 innings pitched.

The gopher ball continues to be the Captains nemesis. Overall, the staff has given up 28 home runs, more than any other team in the Midwest League. Burlington is a distant second with 21. Lake County pitchers gave up 13 dingers in the recent homestand, 10 of them to Great Lakes in last weekend’s four game series. On the flip side, the Captains have middling power, belting only 15 homers in 28 games, good for 8th in the Midwest League.

The offense continues to be a strength. Outfielder Bo Greenwell leads the Midwest League with a .361 batting average, with 4 homeruns, 7 doubles and 2 triples for an OPS of 1.025. He also leads the league with 27 RBI and is second with an OPS of 1.25. The versatile Casey Frawley is 8th in the league with a .338 batting average. The right handed Frawley, out of Florida’s Stetson University and the Indians 17th round draft pick in 2009, has surprised most observers and played himself into an everyday guy. Manager Ted Kubiak, wanting to utilize Frawley’s bat, has played Casey at third, shortstop, the outfield, as well as his normal position at second base. First base remains a problem, with Adam Abraham (.131 BA/471 OPS) and Ben Carlson (.183 BA/..520 OPS) continuing to struggle.

The team has a “never say die” attitude and have made several come from behind wins this season. In the first game of the recent homestand, Great Lakes lead 6-0 after 3 innings, but the Captains battled back to win 10-7. In fact, they came from behind in 3 of their 4 victories in that homestand. With a record of 20-8, the Captains are off to a great start. With the starting pitching starting to come around to go with an outstanding bullpen, strong offense, and never give up attitude the Captains have become a force in the Midwest League.

Now if only they can do something about the Loons.

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Game Recap 5/8: Kipnis Blast Seals K-Tribe Win

Kinston Comes Back, Drops Potomac 8-5

The K-Tribe trailed 4-1 early but reeled off seven straight runs to come back and defeat Potomac 8-5 on Friday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

Potomac jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a sac fly and a Tyler Moore solo homer in the second inning. Kinston responded with a Kyle Bellows solo shot in the second to make it 2-1. In the top of the third, the P-Nats Michael Burgess hit a two-run bomb to give Potomac a 4-1 lead.

The Indians began their comeback in the fifth inning when Richard Martinez hit a two-run single to right to cut the lead to 4-3. In the sixth, the bases were loaded for Donnie Webb who delivered a two run single to left to give Kinston their first lead at 5-4. Looking to add insurance in the eight with runners on the corners, the K-Tribe’s Jason Kipnis hit his team-leading fourth home run, a three-run blast to right to make Kinston’s lead 8-4.

Potomac would rally for a run in the ninth off of the K-Tribe’s David Roberts, but he pitched out of the jam for a final count of 8-5. Travis Turek (2-1) earned the win, pitching 2 2/3 shutout innings on two hits. Martin Beno (2-1) lost for Potomac after surrendering 3 runs on 2 hits in 1 1/3.

The teams will meet for a 2:00 rubber match on Sunday. Right-hander Joe Gardner, who was just called up from Class A Lake County, will make his first start for the Indians.

Clippers fall at Lehigh Valley

Gail force winds combined with shoddy defense and missed opportunities to result in a 5-3 loss for the Columbus Clippers at the hands of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Saturday night. The defeat is the 1st of the road trip for the Clippers.

Lehigh Valley scored an unearned run in the 1st inning, the first of three unearned runs they would tally on a season-high four Columbus errors. The Clippers tied the game on an RBI single from Trevor Crowe in the 3rd.

After the early run, Yohan Pino kept the Pigs scoreless until the 6th inning when Lehigh Valley scored three runs, chasing Pino and taking the lead for good.

The Clippers would threaten several times, putting multiple runners on the base paths in the 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th innings, but only scored twice more on a Jason Donald ground out in the 7th and an error in the 8th.

The final game of the series is an afternoon affair. Former Phillies farmhand Carlos Carrasco faces IronPigs left-hander Joe Savery at 1:35pm.

Aeros Win 5-2

Four Akron pitchers combined to allow just two runs on just three hits, Josh Rodriguez went 2-3 with an RBI, and the reigning Eastern League Champions topped the home team once again, sending Reading to their third consecutive loss with a 5-2 win on Saturday evening.

The Reading offense lit up like the post-game fireworks in the bottom of the first frame, putting up a two-spot to give Reading a quick lead. Tagg Bozied and Kevin Mahar each added RBIs to get a crowd of over 7,400 fans rocking right off the bat. Unfortunately for the R-Phils, Akron pitching settled in and went on cruise control from there on out, allowing just one Reading hit in the final eight innings.

LHP Yohan Flande (1-3, 2.80) started as quickly as the offense did, and rolled through the first two innings unscathed. However, it was the third frame that proved to be the game-changer as Akron put up three runs on the lefty to take the lead for good.

SS Carlos Rivero slammed a solo shot, his first of the year, off of Flande in the third inning to make it a two-run lead for the Aeros. Akron added another insurance run in the sixth inning -- the final run of the game, to make it a 5-2 victory.

Akron starter Eric Berger, who did not factor in the decision, pitched four solid innings of work for the Aeros, allowing just two runs on two hits with six strikeouts. The Akron bullpen was solid on Saturday evening, as three relievers (Justin Germano, Carlton Smith, and Vinnie Pestano) combined for five shutout innings - surrendering just one hit. Germano (2-1, 3.52) earned his second win of the season, after tossing three scoreless frames out of the pen.

The Aeros and Phillies close out this series Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Zach Putnam (2-1, 5.40 ERA) takes the hill for the Aeros against Reading's Chance Chapman (0-0, 6.10 ERA).

Loons Beat Captains With Walk Off Win

Christian Lara singled home Johan Garcia with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Great Lakes Loons a 4-3 victory over the Lake County Captains on Saturday. The Captains still lead the loons by 1.5 games in the eastern division of the Midwest League.

The Loons scored a run in the bottom of the first inning against Captains starter Marty Popham when Lara doubled and scored two batters later on a RB I single by Blake Smith and it was 1-0. The Captains took the lead in the top of the fourth inning when Casey Frawley walked and stole second. He went to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch. The Captains added a run on a RBI single from Delvi Cid and a third run on another wild pitch and they lead 3-1. The Loons crept within a run when Jerry Sands hit a solo home run, his league leading 11th and his seventh against the Captains, and it was 3-2. The Loons tied it at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning on Sands’ second homer of the game, this time off of Austin Adams.

Popham did not get a decision working three innings allowing one run. Francsico Jimenez worked the fourth inning and game up the Sands home run and struck out two. Adams came on in the fifth inning and went four innings allowing one run on two hits, walking one and striking out three. Matt Packer (1-1) came on in the ninth inning and took the loss.

Loons starter Matt Magill did not get a decision either working four innings allowing three unearned runs on three hits, walking three and striking out a season high eight batter. Justin Miller relieved Magill and went three scoreless innings. Andy Suitor (1-2) added two scoreless innings of relief and got the win.

The Captains and Loons will play a double header on Sunday with the first game scheduled for 1:05 PM. The Captains will have RHP Trey Haley (2-0, 3.66) and RHP Clayton Cook (1-3, 4.56) on the mound while the Loons will counter with RHP Allen Webster (4-1, 1.61) and RHP Will Savage (2-1, 2.35).

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Hector Rondon: How Bad Has He Really Been?

Hector Rondon recently got his first win of the season on Thursday. Skimming the game recap, you might think that he had a good outing, he did get a Win afterall and he struck out 8 batters. But, when you look a little closer you see that he gave up 5 runs on 9 hits over only 6 innings. On top of that, he yielded 4 home runs and continued his homer-prone ways of 2010 with his worst episode yet.

Just like we all know that Wins and Losses mean little when evaluating a pitcher, so too do a lot of stats when looked at for only 6 starts and when looked at out of context. Everyone was worried about Rondon's HR's given up before this most recent outing and then he goes and gives up four in one night. This seemed like cause for concern and I could hardly believe it myself. I started looking at his 6 starts over the 2010 season and found some interesting items:

2010 (AAA): 1-3, 8.79 ERA, 1.849 WHIP, 28.2 IP, 9BB, 30K, 44H, 12HR

That's not pretty. He has been giving up hits and HR's at a very high rate. His ERA, WHIP and W-L record are all being dragged right along with those two items. Giving up HR's is largely dependent on the pitcher's ability to reduce the # of balls put in play (by racking up strikeouts) and by inducing ground balls on the balls that are put in play. The easiest thing to look at is his Rondon's K totals, so we'll tackle that first: 30 in 28.2 IP. That's very good. On top of that, he isn't walking anyone either, so the K's aren't coming as a result of nibbling on the corners and getting some called strike threes but also getting a lot of ball four's as well. His K:BB ratio is 3.33, and K/9 is 9.4 which is also very good. Just for everyone's reference, Stephen Strasburg has a 10.6 K/9.

OK, so Rondon can get strikeouts. But why is he giving up so many hits and home runs on the relatively few balls that are put in play? This is where I had to roll back the tape and look at all of Rondon's starts batter by batter. Over his 6 starts in 2010, Hector Rondon has faced 138 batters which resulted in:

Hector Rondon, 2010 Batted Ball Outcomes:
36 GB's, 39 FB's, 19 LD's, 4 PU's, 9BB's, 1 HBP and 30 K's

Hector Rondon has given up 44 hits in his 28.2 IP, which is an average of 13.8 H/9. This is surprising, because only 98 batters have actually put the ball in play. Could it be that hitters are just teeing off on this historically hard to hit pitcher or could it be that Rondon has just been extraordinarily unlucky so far? The first thing to look at when dealing with luck is of course his BABIP:

2010 BABIP = .370
xBABIP = .300
Hector is suffering though about .070 points higher than the “luck-neutral” .300 BABIP that one would expect. If Rondon was luck-neutral he would have given up ~18 fewer hits on the season. His WHIP would be a pretty darn good 1.22 instead of a horrible 1.84. Things are looking a little better already.

Of the 138 batters faced, 98 of them have put the ball in play and only 36 have been ground balls for a slightly below-average 37% GB rate, but this shouldn't yield the home run rate he is currently giving up. Rondon has been cruising around a consistent 43% for most of his career and there is no reason to believe that over the course of the season he won't further revert back to that level. However, there is something to note about the ground balls he has been inducing this year:

2010 GBBABIP = .305
xGBBABIP = .240

As a component of his overall BABIP his GBBABIP (ground ball BABIP) is at .305 compared to an expected rate of .240. Expect this to regress a little too and further make Rondon's outcomes (W-L, ERA, WHIP, H/9) look even better.

Things are starting to look better, yes. But they still aren't looking that great and we still haven't addressed the 12-home run gorilla sitting in the corner. Look at it, just sitting there, ruining our fantastic daydreams of a successful and potentially dominant 22 year old, durable starter. Of the 12 HR's given up by Rondon, 11 were recorded as FB's and the other HR came on a LD. This means that 11 out of 39 FB's given up have left the park so far this year, which is a ridiculous 28.2% HR/FB rate. Just for your reference, the MLB leader in HR/FB over the past 3 years is Ryan Howard at a 29.4% clip. This is just a guess, but the average batter faced by Rondon this year has not closely resembled Ryan Howard's prodigious power. If we look at the standard rate, which according to DIPS is around 11-12% (depending on your source), we can see that Rondon is giving up HR's at more than double the expected rate! This is bound to regress over the rest of the season and things are once again looking good and feeling good.

In addition to all of the above regressing to more normal rates and Rondon returning to his standard, persistent rate stat-alicious self, there is a synergistic benefit to the regression to the norm. As fewer men get on base, the HR's he does give up will have fewer men on base, the GB's that no longer get through will yield a few extra double-play opportunities, etc etc. Basically, once a couple things start going your way as a pitcher, everything starts rolling your way.

So the bottom line? Have patience. He is striking lots of men out, he is giving up very few free passes, he is recording ground-balls at an acceptable rate and he is the victim of some bad luck so far this season on his balls in play and lots of bad luck on his fly balls allowed. The 12 HR's this early in the season and 6 starts worth of high BABIP-against will mar his final season stat lines, but once the chips start falling his way, things should look just as promising as they did before the season got underway. Most importantly, we can all take our fingers off the panic buttons and crack a beer, because while Rondon hasn't been great, he certainly hasn't been bad and having a beer while we wait for his tide to turn sounds pretty darn good to me.

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Diamonds in Single A: The Revisit

Welcome back for part two of the review of the players I wrote about last year, in which I get a chance to refresh and update the standings of certain players in the system. This is especially relevant now that enough time has passed for the stats to accumulate to a large enough sample to make them useful for looking ahead.

Karexon Sanchez was a prospect that some people thought might be able to break out last year and really move up in peoples’ eyes. The combo of speed and power potential was very intriguing for a middle infielder. While he still had problems putting the bat on the ball, it should be noted his walk total doubled last year while the rest of his numbers stayed consistent. He was average age for the league and with the issues there it seems that Sanchez’s future would be as a utility player, and the Indians seem to agree as already this year he has played 2B, 3B, SS, and DH. He is off to an excellent start and is still doing a great job of taking walks. While he will never be a starter for the Indians, Sanchez is still an intriguing name to watch as the future utility man for the Tribe.

Alexander Perez was a name that really jumped up the ranks last year, and a lot of this had to do with him holding his own in Kinston and Lake County while only 19 years of age. Sadly, not long after my column on him last year Perez was hurt and did not play for the rest of the year, so it stalled his momentum and really hurt his chances at being considered a top ten pick in the Indians deep system. Going forward it will be fun to see him rise in this system; his excellent strike out to walk rates show that at worst he will one day be a back of the rotation starter for the Tribe, with an upside that should be much higher.

Connor Graham was a player who barely made the requirements to be in this column. While he never played for an Indians Single A affiliate, he had been yet to make an appearance above A level. So it was too hard to pass on the chance to review the newest member of the Tribe. As I stated at the end of that article, it seemed to me that Graham with his live arm had a future in the pen, and thus far he has done little to disprove it. The control issues are what hold Graham back, and if he could learn to command his pitches I think he could be a middle of the rotation starter for the Tribe, but at this point expecting him to gain that much control might not be possible. The hope is that his control will improve and that he will move into the pen as a 7th or 8th inning pitcher who can blow his fastball by opponents.

This is the stretch where this article was focused solely on the young arms the Tribe had acquired. The next player was Bryan Price, who was the third player in the Victor Martinez deal. Price was moved back to the pen this year thanks to the depth in the system. He was a closer in college before Boston took him in the supplemental first round and tried to make him a starter. He has noticeably struggled this year, which leads me to worry about his health. The jump to AA is a weeding out point, but for a pitcher like Price the few appearances he has made have been way out of line with his historical stats. Price is a player I am very interested to watch pitch and progress this year, so much so I mentioned him in the Indians round table discussion for the site at the seasons start. I think the pen is his natural role, and with his experience and pitches he could be a boon to the pen by next season. He has a great draft pedigree and has shown the ability to make players miss, and as long as he can progress he might be the first player from this article to make it to the bigs.

In my opinion, Nick Hagadone was the most important piece the Indians received in the Victor Martinez deal. Big lefties who throw as hard as he does are very rare to find. His numbers in the minors have been dominating and show everything you would want to find in a pitcher. The only concern is the age factor—he is currently 24 and in high A. He basically lost a year and a half to injury and recovery, and the Indians are still taking it slow with him. In some respects I think the Indians are being even more cautious than need to be because they might be afraid of an Adam Miller situation occurring. Hagadone to me is the best minor league pitcher this organization has had since Miller, who would have been starting his 3rd season in the bigs if he could have stayed healthy. I know there is talk to accelerate Hagadone’s schedule by making him a reliever, but I would hate to rush that transition when he has legit ace potential as a starter. We should see him at AA this year, and the hope is that maybe next August he could be in Cleveland. As long as he stays healthy I expect big things from Hagadone.

Next up is the last of the trade pieces the Indians got at last year’s trade deadline, which was the centerpiece of the Cliff Lee deal where we got Jason Knapp. Knapp has yet to pitch this season and the injury concerns are the reason why. As with Hagadone, I wonder if the specter of Adam Miller doesn’t haunt this organization when it comes to the handling of young pitchers. Knapp has the advantage that he is still only 19 and could end up finishing the year in High A this season if he gets healthy quickly enough, and at that point he would have lost little in terms of developmental time. The concern has to be that he isn’t with a team right now, and the Indians still make his injury seem like it’s not major, which makes one wonder what exactly is wrong with Knapp and when will we see him.

The last player this column looked at last year was a personal favorite of mine, Clayton Cook. The Indians drafts have been rightfully maligned over the past decade, but if there is one thing the Indians do well it’s mining the later rounds for talent that other teams overlooked. Cook is a prime example of the Tribe’s ability to find such players. Cook was the picture of consistency last year for Mahoning Valley, and while never dominating, he was a one of the best pitchers on a very good team. Cook has struggled a little this year, and this seems to be mostly due to a spike in his walks, but it is early on and I expect him to balance out and have another solid year for the Tribe. He is still very young, and should be a player to watch steadily advance through the system over the next 2-3 years.

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Game Recap 5/7: Weglarz Leads Aeros To Win

Aeros Slam Phillies

Paolo Espino tossed five solid innings, DH Nick Weglarz had six RBIs, and the Akron Aeros stunned the Reading Phillies Friday evening in the opening game of their three-game series with a 12-7 romping in front of 9,887 fans -- the second largest crowd in Reading Phillies' history.

Phillippe Aumont (1-2, 6.08 ERA) struggled over 3.1 innings, allowing six runs on five hits, and was saddled with his second loss of the 2010 campaign. Aumont, 21, issued a season-high eight walks, while fanning just three. After winning Eastern League Pitcher of the Month honors after consecutive solid outings, Aumont has allowed 10 runs and 13 walks over his last five innings.

While Aumont struggled, Akron starter Espino (2-1, 4.06 ERA) allowed just two runs on three hits over five innings to earn his second win of the season. A native of Panama City, Panama, Espino, 23, was originally drafted by the Indians in the 10th round of the 2006 draft. The righty fanned four batters, while walking just one, and has now gone at least five innings in all six of his games this season.

Standing out offensively for Akron was Weglarz, who finished 2-6 with a homer and a career-high six RBIs. Originally selected in the third round of the 2005 draft, Weglarz, 22, is hitting .315 with five homers and 23 RBIs. He's ranked by Baseball America as the sixth-best prospect in the Cleveland organization.

Other offensive standouts for the Aeros on Friday were 3B Josh Rodriguez (2-3, two doubles, and an RBI) and LF John Drennen (1-4 with a home run and two RBIs).

The series resumes Saturday at 6:05 p.m. Lefty Eric Berger (0-1, 18.56 ERA) takes the mound for Akron against southpaw Yohan Flande (1-2, 2.10 ERA).

Clippers score late to beat Lehigh Valley

The Clippers used a big night from Trevor Crowe and a solid, if not spectacular outing from Jeanmar Gomez to take a late-innings victory in a back-and-forth game over the Iron Pigs by a final score of 6-3.

The IronPigs scored a run in the 2nd inning, but the Clippers answered back with a pair when Trevor Crowe drove in a run with a triple and scored on a Carlos Santana single. Lehigh Valley snatched the lead back in the 4th on a two run single from Neil Sellers for a 3-2 score.

The lead would be short-lived for the Pigs because Shelley Duncan drilled a solo home run half an inning later to tie the game.

In the top of the 8th inning the Clippers struck for a trio of runs when Anderson Hernandez smacked a single through a drawn-in infield to drive in a pair of runners. Hernandez scored on a subsequent Crowe double. The Clippers bullpen would do the rest.

Both starting pitchers left the game under the tie and didn't factor in the decision. Gomez went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on just 4 hits. He walked 4 and struck out 3. Jeremy Sowers tossed 2 scoreless innings of relief and earned his 1st win of the year. Jess Todd saved his 3rd game of the season.

The 3rd game of the series starts at 6:35 Saturday evening with Yohan Pino looking for his 5th win of the season against Pigs righty Nate Bump.

Kinston Falls 4-2 in 10 Innings

A two-out, two-run double by Michael Burgess in the 10th inning sent the K-Tribe to a 4-2 loss to Potomac on Friday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

Kinston starter Alex White had another strong outing, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 and one-third inning. He struck out 7 and walked just 1, but got a no-decision. The K-Tribe scored first on an RBI double by Ronald Rivas in the second inning to score Karexon Sanchez. Potomac answered in the fifth as Steve Lombardozzi’s RBI groundout tied the game at 1.

The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the fifth as P-Nats reliever Patrick Lehman surrendered a bases-loaded walk to Richard Martinez. However, the K-Tribe still had the bases loaded with no outs and could not add to the lead. Potomac tied the game in the seventh inning on a Chris Curran RBI single.

Solid relief pitching forced extra innings in Kinston for the first time this season. K-Tribe reliever Matt Langwell walked two batters in the extra frame and then with two out, Burgess ripped a double to the wall in centerfield to plate both runners. Cole Kimball came on to bitch the bottom of the tenth and earn his fourth save of the season.

Lehman (1-0) took the win, allowing 1 run over 5 innings, while Langwell (1-1) was the losing pitcher. The two teams meet up again on Saturday night at 7 pm with T.J. House on the rubber for Kinston.

Captains and Loons Rained Out

The Lake County Captains game scheduled for Friday versus the Great Lakes Loons has been postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday May 9 with game one beginning at 1:05PM.

The Captains and Loons will play their scheduled game on Saturday at 7:05PM.

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Wood Activated, Lewis Sent To Columbus

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has activated RHP KERRY WOOD from the 15-day disabled list and optioned RHP JENSEN LEWIS to AAA Columbus.

Wood has been on the disabled list since April 3 with a strained right lat muscle and he recently made 2 appearances in AA Akron on a rehab assignment that began on May 3. He tossed a scoreless inning in his most recent appearance of May 5 vs. Trenton (1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2K). The injury limited Kerry to a pair of scoreless exhibition outings (2.0IP) this spring in Goodyear, AZ.

Lewis opened the season (10.1IP, 8H, 3R/ER, 9BB, 9K) in the Indians bullpen and has spent the entire season to date in Cleveland.

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Lake County Video Recap: April/May 2010

First off, I am still on my way to Myrtle Beach, and with that Minor Happenings will be a day late this week and very abbreviated.  I will post it on Saturday morning, though there is a chance it may not post until Sunday depending on how things go once I get in today (Friday).

Anyway, here are some videos of Lake County Captains' players I shot in a couple of my visits to see them the past few weeks.  Players shot include: Joe Gardner, Bo Greenwell, Delvi Cid, Adam Abraham, Jason Smit, Chun Chen, Roberto Perez, Marty Popham, Kyle Smith, Jeremie Tice, Casey Frawley, Ben Carlson, Austin Adams, and Argenis Martinez.

Many thanks as always to the talented Michael Taylor for taking the time to edit these videos and present them in a professional manner.

Also, be on the lookout for some Kinston video in the coming weeks as I will see them in Myrtle Beach for a few games this coming week.

Note: Since a lot of videos will be shown, please be patient while the videos load

Joe Gardner:


Jason Smit:


Delvi Cid:


Bo Greenwell:


Adam Abraham:


Chun Chen:


Roberto Perez:


Marty Popham:


Kyle Smith:


Jeremie Tice:


Casey Frawley:


Ben Carlson:


Austin Adams:


Argenis Martinez:

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Game Recap 5/6: Rondon Bombed Again, But Gets Win

Rondon Allows Four Homers In Win

The Clippers started off an eight game road trip in fine fashion Thursday night with a 10-5 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Hector Rondon gave up a quartet of home runs but made it through 6 innings to earn his 1st win of the 2010 season.

Brian Buscher tripled in a run and then scored in the 3rd inning to give the Clippers their 1st lead of the game. In the bottom of the inning, the 1st of Chris Duffy's 2 home runs tied the contest at 2-2 but Columbus scored a pair in the 4th to go ahead again on a Shelley Duncan double and Buscher sacrifice fly. The Clippers wouldn't look back.

Columbus scored again on back-to-back doubles by Wes Hodges and Jordan Brown for a 5-3 lead. That opened the gates for a five run frame and a 9-3 lead. Hodges tripled and scored in the 7th for the final Clippers run.

Frank Herrmann relieved Rondon, throwing a pair of scoreless innings and lowered his ERA to 0.64. Saul Rivera tossed a perfect 9th.

Game two of the series will be a 7:05 affair with a pitching match-up featuring Jeanmar Gomez for Columbus and Ryan Vogelsong for Lehigh Valley.

Aeros Split Series

The Aeros offense has shown life over the past few home games but it was their bullpen that struggled Thursday afternoon at Canal Park during the second Education Day of the season at Canal Park which hosted 7,740 screaming schoolchildren who were all ready for an Aeros win. The Aeros were going for the series win on Thursday at Canal Park but the Thunder seemed to have other plans.

Thursday’s game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Reid Gorecki drew a walk off the starting pitcher and then stole both second and third base put the Thunder in a very nice situation. Catcher Jose Gil came to the plate with two guys in scoring position. The Aeros offense continued to stay hot against the Thunder, plating a run in the fourth, fifth and six innings leaving the Aeros up by a score of 3-2. Cord Phelps, who was leading the Eastern League in batting average, went 0-5 on the day, leaving six people stranded on base.

Trenton answered back with three runs in the seventh inning off relievers Omar Aguilar and Steven Wright. Omar Aguilar is tied for fourth on the team in strikeouts with 18. David Adams’ RBI single would allow Thunder infielder Justin Snyder to score, followed by a Brandon Laird single off Steven Wright which scored two runs leaving the score at 5-3 hit a two-run single off Wright to give the Thunder a 5-3 lead. Edwar Gonzalez came around to score from third base on a sacrifice fly by Luis Nunez in the eighth inning giving the Thunder a 6-3 leading heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.

Scott Barnes had one of his best outings of the season in the finale at Canal Park. He tied his season high in innings pitched five strong innings of baseball, allowing two hits on two runs while walking three and striking out eight batters. The Aeros bullpen had another shaky performance, allowing four runs in three and a third innings of work. Matt McBride led the way offensively, finishing 2-4 on the afternoon. Cord Phelps still currently leads the Eastern League with an impressive .374 batting average through 24 games.

The Aeros are now going to play their next six games away from Canal Park. They will depart for a three-game series with the Reading Phillies, and then have plans to travel over to Erie for another three-game series before returning home on Thursday May 13. The Aeros will send out starting pitcher Paolo Espino in hopes of getting back into the win column on Friday night in Reading. Espino will be matched up against Reading starting pitcher Phillippe Aumont who is 1-1 on the season with a 4.63 ERA.

Webb's Two Homers Drive K-Tribe to 2-0 Win

Donnie Webb hit two solo home runs and Nick Hagadone and T.J. McFarland combined to shutout Lynchburg as the K-Tribe won 2-0 on Thursday night in Lynchburg. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Kinston.

Webb drilled his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw in the first inning, a blast to right field that gave the Indians a 1-0 lead. Then, leading off the fourth, Webb again took the first offering from starter Scott Carroll (0-2) and hammered it over the right field wall for the K-Tribe’s second and final run.

On the mound for the K-Tribe, starter Nick Hagadone and T.J. McFarland combined on a five-hit shutout, giving Kinston their league-leading third shutout of the season. McFarland (3-0) earned the win, pitching the final 5 innings and giving up four hits while striking out two. Hagadone allowed one hit and struck out six in four innings of work.

Kinston returns home for a quick three-game set on Friday night when the Potomac Nationals come to town. Greenville native and former UNC Tar Heel Alex White will be on the mound for the K-Tribe.

Captains Sweep Dragons

The Lake County Captains completed a three game series sweep of the Dayton Dragons by winning the completion of a game suspended on Wednesday 2-1 and winning the scheduled game 5-3.

In game one, which was the continuation of the game that was suspended on Wednesday night due to rain, the Captains gave up a run in the top of the eighth inning but responded with two in the bottom of the inning when Ben Carlson drove home Argenis Martinez with the go ahead run with two outs, and the Captains hung on in the ninth inning for a 2-1 win.

Captains starter Joe Gardner did not get a decision working three scoreless, hitless innings, striking out two prior to the rain on Wednesday. Chris Jones started the fourth inning when play resumed and pitched three scoreless innings allowing two hits while striking out one. Rob Bryson (4-0) relieved Jones to start the seventh inning and got the win allowing one unearned run on three hits while striking out three. Cory Burns pitched the ninth inning and loaded the bases with no outs, but then struck out the side to collect his ninth save of the year.

Dragons starter Pedro Villarreal worked the first the innings as well and gave up no hits and walked a batter. Chase Ware (3-1) started the fourth inning and went 4.1 innings and allowed the two runs on only two hits.

In game two, the Dragons lead off man Henry Rodriguez deposited the first pitch of the game from Captains starter Danny Salazar over the right field wall to give Dayton a 1-0 lead. The Captains answered with two homers of their own in the bottom of the first when Bo Greenwell stroked a two run home run to right field and Chun Chen followed with another two run home run. The Captains added another run on a RBI single from Kyle Smith and it was 5-1 after one inning. The Dragons got another run on a solo home run by Chris Richburg in the top of the third inning to make it 5-2. A home run by Josh Garton in the top of the sixth inning cut the lead to 5-3.

Salazar (1-1) pitched six innings and picked up his first win of the year giving up three runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six. Matt Packer pitched a scoreless seventh inning striking out one and registered his first save of the year.

Dayton starter J.C. Sulbaran (2-1) took the loss working four innings and allowing five runs on four hits, walking four and striking out five.

The Captains travel to Midland, MI to take on the Great Lakes Loons for a three game series beginning on Friday at 7:05PM. The Captains will send RHP-Marty Popham (1-0, 4.91) to the mound to face the Loons RHP Matt Magill (0-0, 2.70).

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Indians Minor League Magazine: 5/4 (Ep. 2)

"Indians Minor League Magazine" is a half hour program on the Cleveland Indians cable network SportsTime Ohio (STO) which airs weekly on Tuesday nights from 6:00-6:30 PM EST. The show recaps all of the highlights from the week that was in the Cleveland Indians farm system with lots of video, interviews, and in-studio guests.

This year I am writing the "Diamond In the Rough" feature which focuses on some guys who slip through the cracks because they are not considered a high level prospect or have kind of been overlooked. This week's "Diamond In the Rough" was Low-A Lake County left-handed pitcher Francisco Jimenez. The "Diamond In the Rough" segment is featured at the beginning of part two (and they even go so far as to promote the 2010 Prospect book).

The show recaps the week that was in the system and also features interviews with Triple-A Columbus Manager Mike Sarbaugh and Akron outfielder Nick Weglarz.

I will continue to post a video recap of the show every week if possible, or as long as I am allowed. The show may not always be posted here right away after it airs. I do know with the new STOHD.com site being launched soon that this video may soon be available there, which if that happens I will simply link to it or imbed it into a post here if possible.

By the way, you can follow "Indians Minor League Magazine" on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indians-Minor-League-Magazine/120037858012265?ref=ts

Also, this is an FYI that our weekly on-line radio program which Paul Cousineau and I usually host every Thursday will not air this week.  The reason being that I am travelling all day on Thursday to Myrtle Beach on a trip to see Kinston in a few days.

Here is the show, posted in three parts:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

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Game Recap 5/5: De La Cruz Masterful In Loss

Kinston Blows 9th Inning Lead Again

Kinston starter Kelvin De La Cruz was outstanding for eight innings, but a ninth inning rally by Lynchburg led to a 3-2 walk-off win for the Hillcats on an RBI single by Alex Buchholz. It was the second straight game in which the Hillcats have beaten Kinston on a ninth inning walk-off.

The K-Tribe started the scoring with a two-out rally in the second inning. Kyle Bellows drilled a double to left-center field and was singled home by Cristo Arnal to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. Kinston would come back for more in the fifth off starter Matt Fairel, as Ronald Rivas hit a leadoff double and came home on a fielder’s choice grounder by Donnie Webb to make it 2-0.

De La Cruz stymied Hillcats hitters for most of the night, retiring 20 batters in a row after Cody Puckett’s one-out double in the first. He had allowed no runs on two hits and eight strikeouts entering the ninth, and came out to attempt the first complete game shutout by an Indians pitcher since Keith Ramsey’s perfect game in September 2004. However, a leadoff fly ball to center by Miguel Rojas was misplayed by K-Tribe centerfielder Donnie Webb, resulting in a two-base error. On the next pitch, Justin Reed clobbered a two-run homer to right field, breaking up the shutout and tying the game at 2-2.

After recording the first out of the inning, De La Cruz was relieved by David Roberts. Roberts allowed a walk and a single before getting a groundout. After intentionally walking Devin Mesoraco to load the bases, Roberts was behind in the count 3-0 to Alex Buchholz. Roberts came back to make it a 3-2 count, but Buchholz served the 3-2 pitch into centerfield for the walk-off single to score Cody Puckett. This was the second straight game in which Kinston lost on a walk-off, after Neftali Soto’s two-run homer won it in the ninth on Tuesday night. The Indians have now lost four games this season on walk-offs and have lost five games in a row overall.

Roberts (0-1) took the loss for Kinston, while Lance Janke (1-3) earned the win for Lynchburg, allowing no runs or hits in three innings of work in relief.

The series concludes on Thursday night with a 6:05 pm start. Lefty Nick Hagadone will start for the K-Tribe.

Aeros Win Second In A Row

The Aeros offense continued to heat up Wednesday night at Canal Park in front of 1,152 fans. The bullpen had another solid showing as they did not allow a run to cross the plate in the final three innings. The Aeros are going for a series win tomorrow morning as they send Scott Barnes (0-3) to the hill as he goes for his first win of the 2010 season.

Trenton scored first with two runs in the top of the first inning off Aeros starting pitcher Ryan Edell, who only allowed two runs in his six innings of work. Edell settled into a nice groove after a rocky first inning. The Aeros offense continued to stay hot against the Thunder, plating two runs in the fourth inning and another three in the sixth inning. Cord Phelps, who is currently leading the Eastern League in batting average hit his second triple in as many nights, driving in Carlos Rivero to make the score 4-2. Jared Goedert connected with his third home run of the year after Phelps connect with his triple making the score 5-2, which puts Goedert one behind Nick Weglarz for the team lead.

Vinnie Pestano came into the game for the second night in a row and again closed the door as the Aeros won 5-2. Pestano worked one inning and recorded his second save of the season. Ryan Edell (1-1) recorded his first win of the season against the Thunder after going six strong innings, allowing two runs, walking none and striking out one. The Aeros bullpen put together another solid performance, allowing no runs in three innings of work.

Indians’ closer Kerry Wood came into the game in the seventh inning and had a much better outing than in his last appearance. Wood walked one, struck out two batters, and allowed no runs in his second and final rehab appearance with Akron. Ryan Pope (0-3) took the loss Wednesday night after allowing five runs on six hits through a little over five innings of work. Cord Phelps led the way offensively, finishing 2-4 with two RBI. Phelps currently leads the Eastern League with an impressive .395 batting average. Mills also ended the night with two hits, including a double to right field.

The Aeros final game of the homestand is tomorrow before departing for a weeklong road trip, where they will face the Reading Phillies and Erie Seawolves. Left-hander Scott Barnes (0-3, 8.71 ERA), who last pitched against the Binghamton Mets, will go for Akron against Thunder left-hander Jeremy Bleich (1-2, 4.62 ERA).

Captains Game Suspended

The Lake County Captains game against the Dayton Dragons scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended due to inclement weather. The game will resume on Thursday at 5:30 PM prior to the regularly scheduled game.

Note: Columbus had a scheduled off day

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Tomlin On The Hunt

When you look at the pitching makeup of the Indians’ top two affiliates at Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Akron, the Indians have a lot of good, quality arms.  Not many arms of huge impact potential, but good solid pitchers who almost all look like they will someday get a chance to pitch in the big leagues.

At Triple-A Columbus, one of those pitchers a part of that stable of quality young arms is right-hander Josh Tomlin.

Tomlin, 25, is now in the midst of his fifth season pitching in the Indians organization since being taken in the 19th round of the 2006 Draft out of Texas Tech.  He’s stopped at every level along the way, starting at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2006 to where he is now at Triple-A Columbus.

Even though the pitching depth is pretty deep at the moment in Columbus, Tomlin knows his big league dreams are for the most part out of his hands as all he can control is how he performs and develops as a pitcher.  The rest will take care of itself.

"I'm definitely excited to see how things end up [this year],” said Tomlin in a recent interview at Huntington Park in Columbus.  “I know a lot of guys are anxious to get up [to Cleveland], but I also know a lot of guys in Akron are anxious to get up here too.  So it will be interesting to see how everything plays out this year."

Tomlin along with just about the rest of the Columbus roster all have their sights set on the big leagues.  Everyone on the roster is in the hunt for a big league opportunity this year.  For Tomlin - who is an avid hunter – it makes him feel right at home.

"I hunt and fish quite a bit,” said Tomlin.  “My dad and I used to go camping a lot, and we go riding four wheelers and dirt bikes in Arkansas and Amarillo and all that.  My dad and I didn't go that much this offseason, but me and my friend went pretty much every weekend."

In the offseason, Tomlin will often go on hunting trips for one to two weeks at a time which serves as a great getaway from the grind of baseball and helps ease his mind.  His favorite spot is a place in south Texas that he and his father-in-law will rent a camper and make an eight to nine hour trek to get to where they hunt a different kind of game, that being deer.

"The biggest one I have ever gotten is an eight point buck in Llano, Texas,” said Tomlin.  “It's a white tail buck that I guess was about ten inches high.  I European mounted it with the skull on a rack."

Tomlin has taken that hunting approach with him on the mound so far in his career.  Coming into the season in 114 games (70 starts) he has preyed on opposing teams and hitters to go 43-20 with a 3.32 ERA, 1.7 BB/9, 8.07 K/9, and 1.07 WHIP.  All of those numbers are fantastic, which considering he does not have outstanding stuff makes him more of an excellent performer who gets the most out of his abilities.

Tomlin throws a fastball which sits at 90-93 MPH, and complements it with a slider, curveball, and changeup.  He doesn’t really have a plus pitch, just plus command and control which helps play his stuff up some.  He has flipped back and forth the past few years between a starter and reliever as he primarily pitched out of the bullpen in 2008 at High-A Kinston (9-5, 2.98 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 1.4 BB/9, 9.6 K/9) before moving back to the starting rotation last year at Double-A Akron (14-9, 4.16 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 1.7 BB/9, 7.8 K/9).  This year he opened the season in the Columbus bullpen, but with left-hander Scott Lewis going on the shelf, Tomlin was put back into the starting rotation and hasn't skipped a beat.

So far this season in six appearances for Columbus Tomlin is 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA and in 20.1 innings has allowed 13 hits, 6 walks, and has 17 strikeouts.  Since allowing five earned runs in 1.2 innings in his season debut back on April 9th, he has allowed just two earned runs in his last 18.2 innings pitched.

"I am not sure exactly how it came about," said Tomlin about the decision to move him back to the bullpen to start this season.  "But as long as I getting the ball and throwing and able to pitch and healthy, I am okay with whatever role I am in."

Scouts as well as people in the organizational believe that he is probably best suited in a relief role in the big leagues as his stuff plays up more in the pen since he gets a little more velocity on his fastball being able to air it out for one to two innings.  Also, his exceptional walk-strikeout rate will likely translate; it is just a matter of whether his stuff will.

Even though Tomlin has really only pitched out of the bullpen for one season in 2008 at Kinston, he is very comfortable in the role if that is where he is to earn his keep as a big leaguer.

"I did that pretty much the whole year in Kinston except for a few starts I made," said Tomlin.  "I have balanced some mechanical issues I have had out of the bullpen as I felt like I was trying do too much out of the bullpen.  You always hear how your stuff plays up better out of the bullpen and all that, so you try to make it a little better as opposed to letting everything happen as it did as a starter.  I am trying to stay within myself and not lean back.  My direction is key for me and getting everything going toward home plate.  That's what I have been working on and hopefully that can translate into a game."

Tomlin is one of the top non-roster pitchers in the system that could help the Indians at the big league level at some point this season or next.  Pitching in Triple-A he is getting an opportunity to face hitters with big league experience, something you typically don't face at all at Double-A and below as those rosters are almost strictly made up of prospects or career minor leaguers.

"I think it is a little bit different," said Tomlin about pitching in Triple-A.  "You have more veteran guys and a couple guys who belong in the big leagues because there is no room.  The hitters are obviously a little more patient than they were in Double-A.  I feel like especially the first month you have guys who are not in the big leagues because of not enough room up there, so a lot of them are going to be strong off the bat.  It's going to be a task to make an adjustment, but in order to pitch at the next level you have to do it."

By facing some big league veterans it gives Tomlin a small sampling of what to expect at the big league level.

"I think that the more guys you face with big league experience, the more experience you gain from it as a pitcher," said Tomlin.  "You just go in there and think this is what you are going to face day in and day out in the big leagues, and I feel like the better they are the better it makes you."

Tomlin obviously has big league aspirations, but in order to get there he has to continue to put up a good showing in Columbus this year.  Who knows, if he continues to perform as he has and the Indians continue to have issues in the bullpen with walks, maybe they give him a shot later in the season.

"I just want to show consistency in the bullpen or starting, whatever they have me do," said Tomlin.  "I just want to be able to log innings, pitch deep into games, or be able to keep our team in the game and late in the game to be able to win.  Whatever I can do to help the team win is my goal."

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @tlastoria.  His new book the 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is also available for purchase on Amazon.com or his site.

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Game Recap 5/4: Haley Has Career Night For Captains

Haley Dominates in Captains Win

Captains starting pitcher Trey Haley dominated on the mound and the Lake County Captains took advantage of five Dayton Dragons errors on their way to an 8-3 win on Tuesday.

The Captains scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning without a base hit thanks to a couple of throwing errors by the Dragons defense. One run scored on one of the bad throws and the other two runs on ground outs by Bo Greenwell and Roberto Perez and the Captains led 3-0. The Captains added a run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jason Smit singled home Casey Frawley and it was 4-0. Frawley had doubled and extended his hit streak to eleven games.

The Captains added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Roberto Perez extended his on base streak to fourteen games with a single and three batters later scored on a single by Chun Chen and it was 5-0. Chen ended up with four hits. The Dragons picked up two runs in top of the eighth inning off of Captains reliever Francisco Jimenez on a solo home run from Josh Garton and a ground out RBI from Andrew Means and it was 5-2. The Captains added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on an error and RBI’s from Kyle Smith and Greenwell to end the scoring at 8-2.

Captains starter Trey Haley (2-0) got his second consecutive win pitching seven scoreless innings allowing only three hits, walking one and striking out a season high nine batters. Jimenez allowed the two runs on three hits in .1 innings of work. Cory Burns pitched the final 1.2 innings and collected his eighth save allowing one run in the ninth inning.

Dragons starter Jacob Johnson (0-3) took the loss going five innings allowing five runs, two earned, on six hits, walking two and striking out two.

The Captains and Dragons play game two on Wednesday at 6:30 PM with the Captains sending RHP Joe Gardner (1-0, 3.68) to the mound against the Dragons RHP Pedro Villarreal (0-2, 4.33).

Clippers End Home Stand on Good Note

For the second straight day, the Columbus bullpen couldn't hold a lead. But they were bailed out Tuesday by Shelley Duncan's second home run of the day, which fueled the Clippers to a 7-5 victory over the Syracuse Chiefs and ensured a winning homestand.

Duncan and Chris Gimenez both hit two-run blasts in the first inning, helping spot starter Mike Gossling (who replaced the scratched Carlos Carrasco).

Syracuse tied the game in the sixth with a pair of runs off of reliever Carlton Smith. Joe Smith (1-1) came on to get Columbus out of a jam, setting up Duncan for the heroics in the seventh -- which came after a Trevor Crowe double and a walk to Carlos Santana.

Josh Whitesell homered in the eighth off of Jess Todd to account for the final score. Saul Rivera stranded a leadoff double in the ninth to pick up his fourth save of the season.

The Clippers took three of four from Syracuse and head into their first scheduled off day of the season after completing a 6-4 homestand. An eight-game road trip starts Thursday night in Lehigh Valley at 7:05.

Akron Ends Losing Streak

The Aeros ended their six game losing streak Tuesday night at Canal Park against the Trenton Thunder 8-4 in front of 1,373 fans. Akron is looking to start a new streak of their own, but in the other direction as the team is now 9-16 on the 2010 season.

The Aeros scored first with one run in the bottom of the first inning off a Beau Mills single, which allowed outfielder Tim Fedroff to come around and score, making it 1-0 after the first inning. The Aeros offense began to show signs of life when they scored two more runs in the second inning. The Thunder began to chip away at the lead in the fourth inning when Daniel Brewer doubled to right-field off starting pitcher Zach Putnam and David Adams launched his third home run of the season making it 3-2.

The Thunder again got on the board the following inning off a double by Daniel Brewer, allowing two more runners to cross the plate making it a 4-3 contest. Zach Putnam tied his longest outing of the year going six innings and allowing only four runs, while striking out four. Beau Mills tallied two base hits and drove in four runs to lead the Aeros offense Tuesday night. Akron’s offense erupted in the bottom of the seventh inning when they crossed the plate five times making it 8-4. Two straight singles by Jared Goedert and Nick Weglarz and a catcher’s interference call on Matt McBride loaded the bases before Beau Mills came up and connected with a double that allowed all three Aeros to come around and score making it 8-4. Vinnie Pestano gave up a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to Thunder catcher Austin Romine before Reid Gorecki strikes out swinging.

Justin Germano (1-1) came out of the Aeros bullpen and was just what they needed as they were looking to end their six game losing skid. Germano came into the game in relief of Zach Putnam and was lights out, allowing no runs on no hits and striking out one Thunder batter. Wilkin De La Rosa (0-2), who is a native of the Dominican Republic, was charged with his third blown save of the year after only making it through a third of an inning. De La Rosa allowed five runs to cross the plate, while striking out one during his outing Tuesday night at Canal Park. Mills led the way offensively for the second night in a row, finishing 2-4 with four RBI on the night. Fedroff and Goedert also finished with two hits apiece. Cord Phelps recorded his first triple of the season, as well as a double while going 2-4 on the night.

The Aeros have two games remaining at home before departing for a week long road trip. Left-hander Ryan Edell (0-1, 8.27 ERA), who last pitched against the Binghamton Mets, will go for Akron against Thunder right-hander Ryan Pope (0-2, 5.68 ERA). Indians’ closer Kerry Wood is set to make his second rehab appearance out of the Akron bullpen Wednesday. Wood is expected to work only one inning tomorrow night.

Lynchburg Walks Off With Win Over Kinston

Neftali Soto hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Lynchburg walked off with a 6-5 win over Kinston Tuesday night in Virginia.

Kinston’s bats came to life early as Kinston scored two runs, on four singles, a walk and an error in the top of the third inning. Cristo Arnal scored on an error by Lynchburg right fielder Justin Reed and Jason Kipnis drove home Lucas Montero on an RBI single later in the inning. Kyle Bellows would keep the hits coming with a solo home run in the fourth inning, his first round tripper of the season. The K-Tribe would take a 5-0 lead on a bases loaded, two RBI single by Jordan Henry in the top of the sixth inning. Kinston banged out 13 hits on the night, but it would not hold up.

After Kinston starter Alexander Perez and reliever Joey Mahalic combined for six innings of scoreless, two hit ball; Lynchburg would come to life. With Travis Turek pitching in the bottom of the seventh inning, Josh Fellhauer hit a two-out, RBI double to put Lynchburg on the board. The K-Tribe lead would continue to shrink when Cody Puckett followed with a two-run home run, making the score 5-3. After giving up a one-out double in the top of the eighth inning, Turek was replaced by Matt Langwell. Langwell gave up an RBI single, as Day scored and made the score 5-4. Langwell would then get out of the inning, earning his Carolina League leading sixth hold of the season. In the bottom of the ninth, K-Tribe closer Steve Smith got Josh Fellhauer to pop out and then gave up a walk to Cody Puckett. The next batter, Neftali Soto, then took the first pitch he saw from Smith over the left field wall for a game winning two-run home run. Smith (0-3) picks up his second straight loss, as Salem walked off with a win against him on Sunday. Jordan Hotchkiss (2-0) gets the win for Lynchburg.

Bellows went 3-for-5 for Kinston. Kipnis, Doug Pickens and Cristo Arnal each had two hits.

The K-Tribe will take on the Hillcats for game three of the four game set Wednesday in Virginia. Game time 7 pm Kelvin De La Cruz will be on the mound for the Indians.

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