EL1 Akron RubberDucks

Barnes Wins Debut, Aeros Pound Defenders

Published on August 12, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


NORWICH, CT - Scott Barnes won his Double-A debut and eight of Akron's 14 hits went for extra bases as the Aeros defeated Connecticut 7-4 in front of 2,241 fans at Dodd Stadium Wednesday night. Akron improved to a season-high 29 games over .500 at 73-44, while the Defenders slipped to 66-50.

The Aeros opened the scoring with a run in the top of the second for the second straight night, as John Drennen doubled with two away and scored on Jared Goedert's two-bagger to right-center to make it 1-0. Akron then exploded for four runs in the third, as Beau Mills chopped an RBI double down the first base line to score Nick Weglarz and Lonnie Chisenhall followed with a towering three-run homer to right to put the Aeros in command at 5-0.

Connecticut got two runs back in the bottom of the inning when Barnes made his only mistake of the night, grooving a 3-1 fastball to Brett Pill that the Eastern League RBI leader promptly parked over the left field fence to cut the margin to 5-2. The Defenders added another run in the bottom of the sixth to pull within two runs, but Goedert drilled a two-run homer just to the left of dead center field with two down in the top of the eighth to turn it into a 7-3 Akron advantage.

Those two insurance runs loomed large in the bottom of the eighth, as reliever Zach Putnam found himself in immediate trouble. After setting the side down in order in the seventh, Putnam allowed a single and a four-pitch walk to start the eighth. Tyler La Torre then poked an RBI single back up the middle to make it 7-4, and a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with just one out. The game turned there however, as Putnam snared Mike Mooney's soft liner back to the mound and then flipped to first to double up Brandon Crawford and end the inning. Josh Judy came on for the ninth and allowed just a single to earn the save.

Barnes (1-0) earned the win against his former organization, as the left-hander came over from the Giants in the Ryan Garko deal July 28th. He allowed just the two-run homer to Pill in five innings of work, walking none and striking out six. Barnes also retired the final seven men he faced following the home run, with four of those outs coming via strikeout. Wisconsin native Daryl Maday (5-4) suffered the loss on his birthday, allowing five runs and nine hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Judy's save was his sixth in seven opportunities. Overall, the quartet of Barnes, Erik Stiller, Putnam and Judy held Connecticut to a 1-8 mark with runners in scoring position, and the Defenders are now just 2-19 in that category through the first two games of this series.

Goedert paced the offense from the ninth spot in the order, finishing 2-3 with a walk, a double, a homer, and three RBI. Chisenhall's three-run bomb marked both his first home run and his first three RBI as an Aero, while six Aeros (including Goedert) finished with multi-hit games and every Akron starter reached base at least once. The Aeros also finished with six doubles to tie a season-high.

Akron will look for the three-game sweep Thursday night at 6:35 p.m., as southpaw Eric Berger (0-1, 7.94 ERA) makes his second start against Defenders lefty Madison Bumgarner (7-1, 2.11 ERA), the no.-1 prospect in the San Francisco organization. The game broadcast begins at 6:20 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com. For more information, please call the Aeros at (330) 253-5151.

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Eastern League Stories from August 12, 2009


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