Aeros Complete Sweep, Blank Curve 4-0
September 3, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release
ALTOONA, PA - Eric Berger earned his second straight win and Akron claimed its first sweep in over a month, shutting out Altoona 4-0 in the finale of this three-game series before 7,082 fans at Blair County Ballpark Thursday night. The Aeros climbed a season-high 32 games over .500 at 85-53, and the 85 victories are the fourth most in franchise history. Altoona dropped to 60-78.
The Curve mounted a pair of threats in the first two innings against Berger, but were turned away both times. The left-hander got Jason Delaney to ground to third with runners on the corners to end the first, and ended the second by striking out Brian Friday with two men in scoring position.
Akron finally broke through in the top of fourth, as Carlos Santana led off with a single and Jerad Head followed two batters later with a liner to right-center. It probably should have been no more than a base hit, but Jonel Pacheco took too sharp of an angle and the ball scooted past him all the way to the wall. It ended up as an RBI triple for Head as Santana scored from first, and Lonnie Chisenhall followed with a three-bagger of his own to plate Head and make it 2-0. Carlos Rivero then capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to right.
That was more than enough for Berger, although he still had to avoid trouble. Altoona loaded the bases in the fifth thanks to a walk, a single and an error, but Berger recovered to strike out Miles Durham to end the inning. The Curve then loaded the bases again in the sixth with one down and knocked Berger from the game, but Steven Wright came on in relief and induced a 4-6-3 double play from Milver Reyes to end the inning. Altoona stranded 13 runners total in the game (eight in scoring position), and went just 1-10 as a team with runners in scoring position.
The Aeros then finished the scoring in the seventh on a two-out RBI single from Josh Rodriguez.
Berger (3-1) worked into the sixth inning for the fifth time in five starts with Akron, holding Altoona off the board for 5.1 frames while scattering six hits. He walked three and struck out seven. Kyle Bloom (6-9) started and lost for the Curve, allowing four runs and seven hits in 6.2 innings. Wright and Brian Grening combined for the final 11 outs to preserve the club's 13th shutout of the season. Head paced the offense with a 2-4 effort, notching a double and a triple while scoring a run and driving in a run also. It was the first sweep for the Aeros since they won all three at Binghamton July 31st-August 2nd.
Akron returns home Friday evening at 7:05 p.m. to begin the final series of the regular season, a four-game set with the Erie SeaWolves. Come early for a special pre-game ceremony honoring Mike Sarbaugh as Eastern League Manager of the Year and Jeanmar Gomez as Pitcher of the Year, and stay late for a post-game fireworks show to celebrate kids cancer survivors. Josh Tomlin (13-9, 4.30 ERA) will look to become just the third pitcher in franchise history with 14 wins in a season, while Erie counters with Jared Gayhart (1-0, 4.76 ERA). The game broadcast begins at 6:50 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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Eastern League Stories from September 3, 2009
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