EL1 Akron RubberDucks

Aeros Media Notes

Published on September 15, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


Playoff Game #4 - Road Game #2 - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - 6:35 P.M. Best-of-Five Series Tied 0-0

Akron Aeros (3-0, 89-53) at Connecticut Defenders (3-1, 83-59)

Cleveland Indians San Francisco Giants

Today's Starters: Akron - RHP Josh Tomlin (1-0, 1.29 ERA)

Connecticut - LHP Ben Snyder (1-0, 2.25 ERA)

Upcoming Probables:

Wednesday: AKR RHP Jeanmar Gomez (1-0, 1.50 ERA) at CON RHP Daryl Maday (0-0, 9.00 ERA)

Thursday: OFF DAY

Friday: AKR LHP Eric Berger (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. CON LHP Craig Clark (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

Saturday (if necessary): AKR LHP Scott Barnes (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. CON LHP Ari Ronick (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

The Book on Josh Tomlin... - High Strikeouts - 9, set 9/4 vs. Erie - Most Hits Allowed - 12, set 4/29 vs. Harrisburg - Longest Start - 7.0 IP (set six times), last 9/4 vs. Erie - Most Walks Allowed - 3, set 4/29 vs. HAR and 7/13 at ERI

- Shortest Start - 3.1 IP, set 8/22 at Erie - HR Allowed (Season) - 21

Led the Eastern League with 14 wins and ranked second with 125 strikeouts First Aero to lead the league in wins since Adam Miller in 2006, and the 14 victories tied Paul Byrd for second in team history Has faced Connecticut twice, going 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 12.2 innings (Akron won both games) Throws a four-seam fastball between 88-92 mph, as well as a curve, slider, and change Aeros are 1-0 in the post-season when Tomlin starts, and were 16-9 when he started in the regular season Last time out: Earned the WIN in a 9-4 victory vs. Reading 9/9 (7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) UAEROS REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN ('09)

CURRENT STREAK...................................................... W8 LONGEST WINNING STREAK......................... 8 (8/31 - current)

LAST 5 GAMES............................................................. 5-0 LONGEST LOSING STREAK.................................... 6 (7/9 - 7/16) LAST 10 GAMES........................................................... 9-1 BEST RECORD.............................................. 89-53 (September 7th) HOME RECORD............................................................ 46-23 WORST RECORD..................................................... 2-1 (April 10th) ROAD RECORD............................................................ 43-30 SEASON vs. CONNECTICUT....................................................... 4-2

Aerodynamics...

Baseballs and Broomsticks...The Aeros polished off a three-game sweep of Reading with a 9-4 victory at FirstEnergy Stadium Saturday night, booking a trip to the Eastern League Championship Series for the fifth straight season. 1B Beau Mills gave Akron the lead with a two-run homer off rehabbing Phillies starter Clay Condrey in the top of the first, and then turned a beautiful unassisted double play to get LHP Eric Berger out of a jam in the bottom of the inning. The Aeros tacked on two more runs in the third with RBI doubles from 2B Josh Rodriguez and Mills, and struck for three runs in the fourth to jump out to a 7-0 lead. Reading, making its first playoff appearance since being declared co-champions in 2001, got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth before Berger slammed the door with consecutive strikeouts. Reliever Zach Putnam stranded runners on the corners in the seventh, and Rodriguez then put the game away with a two-run single in the eighth.

Hambergler...Berger was terrific in his first taste of the post-season, and hasn't skipped a beat since a rough introduction to the Eastern League August 7th. The left-hander was rocked for eight runs (five earned) and a season-high 13 hits in just 5.2 innings that night, but has gone 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA in six starts since (including his playoff start). Berger was tested twice against the Phillies, but Mills' double play bailed him out of a first and second, one-out jam in the first and the native of Roseville, CA limited the damage to just two runs in the fourth after an infield single and an error opened the inning. Berger finished Saturday's start with a Double-A high eight strikeouts and no walks in five innings.

Keep Rollin'...The Akron offense was hitting on all cylinders in the series against the Phillies, racking up 24 runs and 38 hits in the three games while not trailing for the final 23 innings. The Aeros hit .345 with a whopping 12 doubles as a team in the series, paced by 3B Lonnie Chisenhall who batted .636 (7-11) with two doubles and four runs scored. LF Jerad Head was tremendous from the ninth spot in the order in batting .417 (5-12) with four doubles and a team-high eight RBI, while RF John Drennen (.417), 2B Josh Rodriguez (.333) and CF Jose Constanza (.308) all hit over .300 in the series.

Head to Head...The Aeros and Defenders met six times during the regular season, with Akron winning four of those contests. The season series was exceptionally close however, as just five runs separated the clubs on aggregate and half of the games ended in walk-off fashion. League MVP Carlos Santana batted .476 (10-21) against Connecticut this year, with Drennen and SS Carlos Rivero both at the .400 mark. EL RBI leader Brett Pill hit .400 with two homers and seven RBI against Akron pitching, but batting champ Brock Bond hit just .048 (1-21) against the Aeros.

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Eastern League Stories from September 15, 2009


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