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Akron RubberDucks

Aeros Win 6th Straight, Defeat Mets 8-4

August 1, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


BINGHAMTON, NY - It was a familiar scene at NYSEG Stadium, as Akron continued its recent hot streak with an 8-4 victory against the Binghamton Mets with 2,814 fans in attendance. Carlos Rivero slugged his third home run in as many nights with a grand slam in the third inning while Beau Mills had a season-high four hits to lead the Aeros to their sixth straight victory, one shy of their season-high. In the past six games, the Aeros (67-41) are out-scoring their opponents 58-16 as they maintained their six-game lead in the Southern Division. The Mets fell to 40-65 with their sixth loss in eight games.

Akron got off to a quick start in the first inning against Binghamton starter Dylan Owen. Leadoff man Jose Constanza began the game with a hit for the third straight night, doubling to left field while Carlos Santana extended the inning three batters later with a two-out walk. That gave Mills an opportunity, and he took advantage by lacing a double to right field to plate both runners and give the Aeros a quick 2-0 advantage.

The Aeros then put the game out of reach in the top of the third as Santana and Mills began things with leadoff singles, with Mills taking second on his base hit as the throw to third was late trying to nail Santana. A groundout kept the runners at their stations, and the Mets then elected to intentionally walk the left-handed bat of John Drennen to load the bases and play for either a double play or a force at home with Rivero in a righty-righty matchup with Owen. Rivero provided Binghamton with neither of their preferred choices however, instead blasting a 2-1 offering from Owen into the left field bleachers for a grand slam and an insurmountable 6-0 lead.

Akron struck yet again in the top of the fifth as Constanza lined a two-out RBI single to center to score Drennen, and the Aeros capped the scoring in the sixth as Drennen greeted Binghamton reliever (and former Aero) Jim Ed Warden with an RBI base hit to plate Nick Weglarz to make it 8-0. The Mets mounted a modest rally in the eighth with four runs, but Neil Wagner came out of the bullpen and struck out Mark Kiger and D.J. Wabick to douse the fire to end the inning before working a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.

Starter Ryan Edell (4-1) earned win in back-to-back starts for the first time this season, blanking the B-Mets for six innings while allowing just five hits. He struck out four and did not issue a walk while lowering his ERA to 2.32. Owen (3-7) lasted just three innings and gave up six runs on six hits, and Wagner closed things out with 1.2 perfect innings for his first save since July 4th, 2008 with Class A Kinston.

Rivero's grand slam marked his fifth homer of the season, and he is now the third Aero to homer in three straight games this year joining Weglarz and Santana. Rivero will have a chance to tie the franchise record of homers in four straight games Sunday evening, as Santana this season and Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006 are the only Aeros to ever accomplish the feat. Mills went 4-5 for his first four-hit game of the year while Santana finished 1-3 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, the longest on the team this season.

This quick three-game road trip concludes Sunday evening at 6:35 p.m. as Akron looks for a second consecutive series sweep. A seventh win would also tie the season-high winning streak set April 17th-24th (1). Akron is expected to activate right-hander Jeanmar Gomez (8-3, 3.47 ERA) for the start as he will oppose B-Mets prospect Brad Holt (2-4, 5.49 ERA). The game broadcast begins at 6:20 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com. For more information, please call the Aeros at (330) 253-5151.

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