Aerodynamics
Published on May 20, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release
Today's Starters: Akron - RHP Hector Rondon (5-1, 1.95 ERA)
Trenton - RHP Christian Garcia (0-0, 0.00 ERA - Season Debut)
Upcoming Probables:
Thursday: AKR RHP Jeanmar Gomez (3-0, 0.45 ERA) at TRE RHP Zach McAllister (2-1, 2.38 ERA)
Friday: AKR LHP Chuck Lofgren (3-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. ERI LHP Jon Kibler (1-3, 4.23 ERA)
Saturday: AKR LHP Ryan Edell (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. ERI RHP Alfredo Figaro (2-1, 2.61 ERA)
Sunday: AKR RHP Josh Tomlin (5-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. ERI RHP Luis Marte (2-4, 4.81 ERA)
The Book on Hector Rondon... - High Strikeouts - 9, set 4/28 vs. Harrisburg - Most Hits Allowed - 6, set 4/28 vs. Harrisburg and 5/12 vs. Bowie
- Longest Outing - 6.2 IP (start), set 4/28 vs. Harrisburg - Most Walks Allowed - 1 (set many times), last 5/15 at Altoona
- Shortest Outing - 1.0 IP (relief), set 5/15 at Altoona - HR Allowed (Season) - 1
- Returns to the starting rotation after two relief appearances (3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) in the past week
Tied for the team lead with five wins and a victory tonight would make him the second six-game winner in the Eastern League Throws a four-seam fastball between 92-94 mph, plus a two-seamer, changeup, and slider Aeros are 5-0 when Rondon starts Last time out: Took a NO-DECISION (relief) in a 5-3 victory at Altoona 5/15 (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 GIDP)
Aerodynamics...
The Three Amigos...A trio of Aeros pitchers combined to shut down Trenton last night, taking game one of this three-game series by a final of 3-1. Josh Tomlin earned the win with his third straight quality start, and in those last three starts has gone 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA while walking only two and striking out 21 in 18.2 innings. In the process he has lowered his ERA almost a run-and-a-half on the season from 4.87 to 3.46, and he is now tied with Hector Rondon for the team lead with five wins. RHPs Zach Putnam and Vinnie Pestano were clutch as well, as Putnam worked two perfect innings while not allowing a ball out of the infield before Pestano took over in the ninth and turned in a 1-2-3 inning to notch his league-leading 12th save of the year. The victory moved Akron to a season-high 20 games over .500, and they have reached that mark in just 36 games.
Santana Fever...
C Carlos Santana collected his third consecutive two-hit game last night, improving his batting average to .294 (his highest mark since going 2-4 on Opening Night). The native of the Dominican Republic also had a double, an RBI and a run scored yesterday, and now has seven multi-hit games in his last 15 outings. He is batting .383 (18-47) since April 28th when his average fell to a season-low .218, and currently leads the team with six home runs, 25 walks, a .431 on-base percentage and a .539 slugging percentage, along with ranking second on the squad in RBI (24) and runs scored (24).
Cutting it Close...The Aeros improved to 14-3 in games decided by one or two runs this season with the victory last night. This is by far the best mark in the Eastern League, as the team with the second-best winning record in this category is the Reading Phillies at 15-6. Last season, Akron closed the book with a 39-33 record in one or two-run games.
Power Outage...
One of the odd notes about this 2009 Akron season has been the lack of home runs, as 3B Jared Goedert's solo shot in the fourth inning last night was only the 18th round-tripper in 36 games this season. Last year, the hitters slugged 114 homers in 142 regular season games, and five players were in double figures in dingers. Just over a quarter of the way through this season however, only seven players have hit home runs for the Aeros and only four have more than one. Goedert's bomb was his second of the year, and the 10th of Akron's 18 home runs to be of the one-run variety.
The Scheduling Gods...
Last night's game against the Thunder marked the first time this season that the Aeros played an opponent from the Northern Division after playing only Altoona, Bowie and Harrisburg in the first 35 games this season. After this series with Trenton the Aeros will play their next 14 games against Erie and Reading, and won't see the Baysox or Senators again until the first week of July when the Aeros travel to both places for a brutal nine-game, seven-day road trip that will feature two more doubleheaders.
Eastern League Stories from May 20, 2009
- Baysox Best Curve On Wild Night In Bowie - Chesapeake Baysox
- Missed Chances Doom Aeros in 5-1 Loss - Akron RubberDucks
- Curve collapse in 8-7 loss - Altoona Curve
- Trenton beats Akron 5-1 - Trenton Thunder
- Sanchez Roughed Up, B-Mets Fall 6-3 - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
- Defenders Win 6-3/Series 1-1 - Connecticut Defenders
- Dopirak rips two-run double in 7-2 loss to Portland - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Sea Dogs get even - Portland Sea Dogs
- Trenton to play DH at Binghamton - Trenton Thunder
- Thunder Extend Radio Coverage - Trenton Thunder
- Aerodynamics - Akron RubberDucks
- Hit A Home Run With A New Career - Chesapeake Baysox
- Senators Beat Erie 11-5 - Harrisburg Senators
- Baysox Figure Out Wieters - Chesapeake Baysox
- Christian Garcia Activated From The Disabled List - Trenton Thunder
- Erie SeaWolves vs. Harrisburg Senators - Erie SeaWolves
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
