EL1 Akron RubberDucks

Aeros Notes

Published on June 16, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


Game #65 . Wednesday, June 16, 2010 . 7:05 P.M.

Road Game #31 . Merchantsauto.com Stadium . Manchester, NH

Akron Aeros (32-32) at New Hampshire Fisher Cats (40-25)

Cleveland Indians Toronto Blue Jays

Today's Starters: Akron - LHP Eric Berger (3-4, 5.65 ERA)

New Hampshire - RHP Kyle Drabek (7-5, 3.24 ERA)

Upcoming Probables:

Thursday, June 17: AKR LHP Kelvin De La Cruz (1-3, 5.35 ERA) at NH RHP Ronald Uviedo (1-2, 3.06 ERA)

Friday, June 18: AKR LHP Nick Hagadone (1-0, 4.26 ERA) at POR TBA

Saturday, June 19: AKR RHP Alex White (2-2, 1.47 ERA) at POR TBA

Sunday, June 20: AKR LHP Scott Barnes (2-6, 6.18 ERA) at POR TBA

The Book on Eric Berger...

. High Strikeouts - 10, set 6/4 at Harrisburg . Most Hits Allowed - 9, set 5/25 vs. Altoona

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

. Shortest Outing - 2.2 IP, set 4/27 at ALT and 5/3 vs. TRN . HR Allowed (Season) - 3

. Has 21 strikeouts in his last three outings with a 1.93 ERA; only struck out 17 with an 8.51 ERA in his first six starts this year

. Was 10-9 with a 2.69 ERA in 27 combined starts and 134.0 innings pitched between Class A Kinston and Akron last season

. Selected by the Indians in the eighth round of the June 2008 Draft after three years at the University of Arizona

. Aeros are 4-5 when Berger starts

. Last time out: Earned the WIN in a 4-3 victory vs. New Hampshire 6/10 (6.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP)

Aeros 2010 Regular Season Breakdown.

CURRENT STREAK: L2 JUNE RECORD: 11-2

LAST 5 GAMES: 3-2 LONGEST WINNING STREAK: 12 (5/31 - 6/12)

LAST 10 GAMES: 8-2 LONGEST LOSING STREAK: 6 (4/27 - 5/3)

HOME RECORD: 15-19 BEST RECORD: 5-1 (April 13th)

ROAD RECORD: 17-13 WORST RECORD: 20-30 (May 30th) SEASON vs. NEW HAMPSHIRE:3-1 SEASON vs. EASTERN DIVISION: 17-15

Aeros Stat of the Night:

. The two home runs Tuesday night in Manchester tied a season-high for the ninth time. No individual Akron Aero has had a multi-homer game, despite the 38 overall for the team this season.

Aerodynamics.

. Gone Fishin'. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats responded to every single Aeros rally Tuesday night at Merchantsauto.com Stadium in Manchester en route to a 6-3 victory. Akron starting pitcher Scott Barnes permitted an RBI single in the first and the score remained at 1-0 until the fifth. Aeros DH Jerad Head began that frame with his second home run of the year but the Fisher Cats responded again to take a one-run lead. Jason Kipnis led off the sixth with another homer but New Hampshire catcher Brian Jeroloman promptly provided a clutch two-run base hit. Akron center fielder Jordan Henry made it 4-3 with a groundout in the seventh but Shawn Bowman retaliated with a homer to provide for the final margin. Barnes (2-6) took the loss in allowing four runs in 5.2 innings while Adrian Martin (2-1) earned the win and Danny Farquhar recorded his league-leading 15th save.

. Jovial Jason. The home run by Kipnis was his first in his brief Double-A career after earning the promotion from Class A Kinston last Thursday. The second baseman smacked 12 doubles and six home runs with the K-Tribe earlier this year and the Arizona State product now has a .302 batting average and a .381 on-base percentage in 86 career minor league games. The Cleveland Indians selected the 23-year-old Kipnis in the second round (63rd overall) of the June 2009 Draft.

. Catch Me If You Can. Catcher Damaso Espino finished with three singles Tuesday, highlighting one of the most surprising developments over the past month for the Aeros. Both Espino and Miguel Perez both joined the roster in early May as veterans with Double-A experience and have done very well so far. Perez appeared in 87 games for Altoona between 2008 and 2009 while Espino was the back-up to Eastern League MVP Carlos Santana last season. The production has been incredibly consistent this year as the two backstops have combined to hit .344 (44-128) in their 40 games played along with 13 multi-hit performances.

. What a Relief. The Akron bullpen has been tremendous recently despite the two runs allowed in the seventh inning Tuesday. Aeros relievers have led a pitching revival by posting a 2.08 ERA over the past 31 games with a 2.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.22 WHIP. Bryce Stowell has yet to allow a run in 14 innings pitched since his promotion on May 20th, Omar Aguilar has a 1.56 ERA in the seventh and eighth innings combined and Connor Graham has permitted just one earned run in his 10 appearances as a reliever. Following a doubleheader May 12th at Reading, the bullpen had a 5.18 ERA for the season.

. Bear Down. Red-hot lefty starter Eric Berger will be on the mound tonight for Akron as he looks to defeat highly regarded New Hampshire prospect Kyle Drabek for the second time in a week. Meanwhile, a loss tonight in Manchester would mark the first series loss by the Aeros since May 24-27 against Altoona and would bring the team's record below .500 for the season.

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