EL1 Akron RubberDucks

B-Mets Sweep Aeros with 8-5 Victory

Published on June 27, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


AKRON, OH - Binghamton completed their second straight three-game road sweep of the Aeros at Canal Park Sunday, winning 8-5 in a marathon shootout. The Mets struck early and often against Akron starter Kelvin De La Cruz to take a six-run lead, but the Aeros retaliated late to make things interesting. The injury bug struck two more Binghamton players in the 3-hour and 21-minute contest, the fifth game of at least 3:10 between these two teams this season. Akron (36-39) now sits 3.5 games behind Bowie for second place in the Western Division while the red-hot B-Mets are 39-36.

It was a rough start for De La Cruz against the hot-hitting Mets in the top of the first inning. The 6'5" lefty struck out the first two batters of the game but allowed a full-count single to Nick Evans before a tough walk to Josh Satin. Designated hitter D.J. Wabick followed with a bouncing base hit over first baseman Matt McBride into right field for a two-run triple.

A two-base pickoff error by De La Cruz was the story in the second and shortstop Luis Hernandez gave the visitors a 3-0 lead with a two-out RBI single. Mets starting pitcher Jenrry Mejia left the game in the second with precautionary right shoulder stiffness while his teammates promptly smacked solo homers to give his team a 5-0 advantage.

Binghamton left fielder Brahiam Maldonado left with another injury in the sixth right before the visitors scored their sixth run thanks to a John Drennen error in left field. The Aeros finally initiated their offense in the bottom of that sixth as Drennen and Jerad Head each collected two-out RBI singles to cut the deficit to only four runs.

The Mets extended the lead back to six because of four straight hits to lead off the eighth inning against Akron reliever Omar Aguilar. The hosts attacked again with two outs in the eighth on a run-scoring double by third baseman Josh Rodriguez and a two-run homer by Jerad Head. Jordan Henry and Jason Kipnis each singled to start the bottom of the ninth inning, but reliever Manuel Alvarez retired the next three batters to end the game.

Schwinden (3-5) earned the victory and was solid through five innings pitched in relief of Mejia, only allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. De La Cruz struggled again as he the loss to fall to 1-5 on the year with Akron, permitting five runs (four earned), five hits and three walks in 3.2 innings. New Binghamton closer Alvarez then recorded his fourth save of the season despite the rocky bottom of the ninth.

Kipnis and Drennen each finished 3-for-5 with three singles on the afternoon to continue their impressive hitting ways. Rodriguez collected another two hits as well while the right fielder Head stayed hot with his fifth Double-A home run of the season.

The Aeros look to re-capture their winning ways from earlier this month as they hit the road for the start of a seven-game road trip. The fun starts at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia Monday at 7:05 p.m. where Akron visits the Richmond Flying Squirrels for the first and only time this season. Paolo Espino (7-2, 3.79 ERA) makes his second start since re-joining the Aeros rotation last week against Richmond's Felix Romero (0-1, 4.75 ERA) Join Jim Clark, the long-time voice of the Akron Aeros, for Monday's radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 p.m. on Fox Sports 1350 AM and at www.akronaeros.com.

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Eastern League Stories from June 27, 2010


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