EL1 Akron RubberDucks

Aeros Notes

Published on May 16, 2008 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


Game #38 - Away Game #19 - Friday, May 16, 2008 - 7:05 P.M.

Akron Aeros (17-20) at Reading Phillies (18-21)

Cleveland Indians Philadelphia Phillies

Today's Starters: Akron - LHP Chuck Lofgren (1-3, 5.51 ERA)

Reading - LHP Shane Youman (0-1, 9.68 ERA)

Upcoming Probables:

Saturday: AKR RHP Frank Herrmann (4-2, 3.54 ERA) at REA RHP Andrew Carpenter (2-4, 5.12 ERA)

Sunday: AKR LHP Ryan Edell (1-3, 5.59 ERA) at REA LHP Antonio Bastardo (1-1, 3.06 ERA)

Monday: AKR RHP Kevin Dixon (1-3, 5.26 ERA) vs. ALT TBA

Tuesday: AKR LHP David Huff (3-1, 2.14 ERA) vs. ALT TBA

2BThe Book on Chuck Lofgren...

1B- High Strikeouts - 9, set 5/1 vs. Erie - Most Hits Allowed - 7, set 4/3 at HAR & 4/15 vs. BIN

- Longest Outing - 7.0 IP, set 5/6 vs. Altoona - Most Walks Allowed - 5, set 4/3 at Harrisburg

- Shortest Outing - 2.0 IP, set 4/20 at BOW - HR Allowed (Season) - 5

- Coming off back-to-back quality starts (his first two of the season)

1-1 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts this month (0-2 with an 8.24 ERA in five starts in April)

Throws a four-seam fastball between 88-94 mph, plus a two-seamer, curve, slider and change

Aeros are 3-4 when Lofgren starts

Last time out: Took the LOSS in a 3-1 defeat vs. Altoona 5/6 (7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB (1 IBB), 7 K)

UAEROS REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN ('08)

CURRENT STREAK - ................................................. L1 LONGEST WINNING STREAK - ...... 2 (5x, last 5/10 - 5/15 (1))

LAST 5 GAMES - ......................................................... 3-2 LONGEST LOSING STREAK - .................................. 3 (5/2 - 5/4)

LAST 10 GAMES - ...................................................... 5-5 BEST RECORD - ...................................................... 6-7 (April 17th)

HOME RECORD - ........................................................ 11-8 WORST RECORD - .............................................. 8-13 (April 25th)

ROAD RECORD - ........................................................ 6-12 SEASON vs. READING - .............................................................. 0-0

3BAerodynamics...

Hufflepuff...Four days of sitting and waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate with the game schedule may have played havoc with Akron's starting rotation, but the long layoff didn't seem to affect Akron starter David Huff in the slightest. Working for the first time in eight days, the left-hander led the Aeros to a 3-0 victory over Altoona in game one of yesterday's twin bill before Akron fell 3-2 in game two. The former UCLA standout tossed a three-hit shutout and allowed just one runner to get as far as second base in the victory, and needed just 68 pitches to do it. The game marked the first complete-game shutout of three hits or less for an Akron starter since Bear Bay tossed a two-hit gem June 9th, 2006 against Connecticut (nine innings).

It's About Time...The Aeros finally got on the field for yesterday's doubleheader after a rainout Sunday, a scheduled off-day Monday, and postponements Tuesday and Wednesday in Altoona because of unplayable field conditions. It was the longest stretch without a game for Akron since April 5th-8th of last year, when the opening four-game series against Binghamton was postponed because of snow and cold weather. That was actually slightly worse than this last stretch, because the Aeros lost four games to weather in three days as opposed to this current run of losing three games to the elements in four days. Top intern Brendan Bittner also points out that Aeros suffered some bad weather-related luck in 2006, suffering rainouts three straight days from May 11th-13th, splitting a doubleheader with Harrisburg on the 14th, and then getting postponed again on the 15th and 16th for a grand total of two games played in six days.

Jose Can See...CF Jose Constanza continued his hot hitting yesterday, driving in three runs between the two games. The native of Santo Domingo, DR gave the Aeros some breathing room in game one with a two-run single to account for the final margin, and then got Akron on the board with another run-scoring single in the fifth inning of game two. Constanza now ranks second on the club with 18 RBI, trailing only 3B Wes Hodges (who is tied for second in the league with 32 RBI).

Road Blues...The Aeros have struggled away from the comfortable confines of Canal Park this season. Akron is hitting just .221 on the road and scoring only 3.67 runs per game, but at home it's a different story, as the offense scores 5.0 runs per game on average and hits .274 collectively. And while the offense scuffles on the road, the pitching staff has actually been a bit better away from home this year, with a 4.35 ERA on the road and a 4.47 ERA at home.

Did You Know...Brandon Pinckney carries a seven game hitting streak into tonight's game, during which he is hitting .375 (9-24) with a pair of multi-hit games to raise his average to his current high-water mark of .244 entering play tonight. Incredibly, Pinckney has not drawn a walk over his streak, nor has he drawn a walk all season in 45 at-bats.

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