EL1 Akron RubberDucks

Aeros Media Notes

Published on June 19, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


Games #66 - Road Game #34 - Friday, June 19, 2009 - 7:00 P.M.

Akron Aeros (43-22) at Portland Sea Dogs (32-33)

Cleveland Indians Boston Red Sox

Today's Starters: Akron - RHP Hector Rondon (6-4, 3.07 ERA)

Portland - RHP Junichi Tazawa (7-4, 3.14 ERA)

Upcoming Probables:

Saturday: AKR RHP Josh Tomlin (5-4, 4.42 ERA) at POR TBA

Sunday: AKR LHP Scott Lewis (0-0, 2.45 ERA) at POR RHP Adam Mills (2-4, 6.51 ERA)

Monday: OFF DAY

Tuesday: AKR RHP Jeanmar Gomez (6-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. TRN TBA

The Book on Hector Rondon...

- High Strikeouts - 9, set 4/28 vs. Harrisburg - Most Hits Allowed - 8, set 5/30 at Erie

- Longest Start - 6.2 IP, set 4/28 vs. Harrisburg - Most Walks Allowed - 4, set 5/25 vs. Erie

- Shortest Start - 3.1 IP, set 6/4 at Reading - HR Allowed (Season) - 3

Went 5-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his first five starts, but is 1-4 with a 5.13 ERA in seven games (five starts) since

Worked only 3.1 IP June 4th at Reading because of right biceps soreness, and was limited to 4.0 IP in his last start as a precaution

Throws a four-seam fastball between 92-94 mph, plus a two-seamer, changeup, and slider

Aeros are 7-3 when Rondon starts

Last time out: Took a NO-DECISION in an 8-0 victory vs. Portland 6/14 (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

UAEROS REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN ('09)

CURRENT STREAK...................................................... L1 LONGEST WINNING STREAK......................... 7 (4/17 - 4/24 (1))

LAST 5 GAMES............................................................. 4-1 LONGEST LOSING STREAK.................................. 4 (5/28 - 5/31) LAST 10 GAMES........................................................... 8-2 BEST RECORD................................................ 43-21 (June 17th (2))

HOME RECORD............................................................ 22-10 WORST RECORD..................................................... 2-1 (April 10th)

ROAD RECORD............................................................ 21-12 SEASON vs. PORTLAND.............................................................. 2-1

Aerodynamics...

Three out of Four Ain't Bad...The Aeros were denied in their bid for their first four-game sweep of the season yesterday, falling 2-1 in walk-off fashion to New Hampshire in the series finale. Akron out-scored the Fisher Cats 15-8 in the first three games of the series, but mustered just a run on five hits against starter Mark Rzepczynski and reliever Danny Farquhar last night. The Aeros struck first as CF Jose Constanza opened the contest with a double to left and scored on a two-bagger just inside the third base line from LF Nick Weglarz, but the bats fell silent soon after. Akron recorded just three hits over the final eight innings (none after the fifth), and advanced only one runner past first base in the final eight frames. Despite the loss, the Aeros remained in first place by six games in the Southern Division over both Reading and Erie.

What a Difference a Day Makes...When the Aeros were sweeping a doubleheader from New Hampshire Wednesday evening, the heart of the order (3-6 hitters LF Nick Weglarz, C Carlos Santana, 1B Beau Mills and DH Matt McBride) hit a combined .385 (10-26) with five walks, four doubles, seven runs scored, and eight RBI between the two games. In other words, those four hitters collected 56% of Akron's hits (10 of 18), scored 70% of the runs (seven of 10) and accounted for 80% of the scoring offense (eight of 10 RBI) two days ago. Last night however, the same quartet hit just .071 (1-14) with five strikeouts. Only Weglarz and Santana reached base (Santana when he was hit by a pitch), and Weglarz's double was the only ball to get out of the infield.

Dude, You're Getting Edell...Akron starter Ryan Edell was terrific last night, delivering his second quality start in three tries and working into the seventh inning for the first time this season. Edell allowed just a run on three hits in 6.2 innings, walking one and striking out seven. His only blemish was a solo home run by Fisher Cats slugger Brian Dopirak in the bottom of the fourth, which also served as New Hampshire's first hit against Edell. The left-hander retired the first seven hitters he faced and lowered his ERA to 2.28, which would be tied for third-best in the Eastern League if he had enough innings to qualify.

So Close...1B Beau Mills finished 0-4 yesterday, snapping his nine-game hitting streak in the process. The native of Visalia, CA hit .361 (13-36) with four doubles and eight RBI over his run, tying RF John Drennen for the longest hitting streak by an Aero this year. Akron remains the only team in the league that has not had a hitting streak reach at least 10 games this season.

Did You Know...After splitting the season series with the Fisher Cats in each of New Hampshire's first three years of existence (2004-06), the Aeros have now won the season series for three straight campaigns. Akron took four of six from the Cats this year, and improved to 22-14 against New Hampshire all-time. The .611 winning percentage is the best for the Aeros against any Eastern League opponent, although the 36 games played also represent the smallest sample size. Akron is 74-67 all-time against Portland, including three games against the Sea Dogs last week at Canal Park.

Check out the Akron RubberDucks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from June 19, 2009


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.

OurSports Central