Davenport Goes Eight, Halpin Homers Ducks to 1-0 Win in Hartford
June 12, 2024 - Eastern League (EL)
Akron RubberDucks News Release
RubberDucks center fielder Petey Halpin opened the ballgame with Akron's first leadoff home run of the season, and right-hander Aaron Davenport delivered Akron's first eight-inning start in seven years in a 1-0 win over the Hartford Yard Goats in the second game of a six-game series at Dunkin' Park on Wednesday night.
Turning Point
Halpin put his mark on both halves of the first inning. He hammered a 363-foot home run to the upper deck in right field against right-hander Jarrod Cande. In the bottom of the first with Braiden Ward at second base, Halpin caught a fly ball by Yanquiel Fernandez in deep right-center field and threw on the fly to third baseman Milan Tolentino to tag out Ward at third base and end the inning. Hartford never moved a runner to third base the entire game.
Mound Presence
After the first-inning double play, Davenport allowed a second-inning, one-out single to designated hitter Sterlin Thompson, but he tried to reach second base, and right fielder Alexfri Planez threw him out. Davenport then retired the next 14 batters before a seventh-inning, one-out single. He faced one batter over the minimum, thanks to Halpin and Planez throwing out baserunners, and an inning-ending double play in the eighth inning. He threw 77 pitches - 62 for strikes - in a career-long eight innings, marking the first eight-inning start by a RubberDuck since Matt Esparza pitched eight in Altoona on May 31, 2017. Davenport pitched the longest shutout start for Akron since Will Roberts pitched a nine-inning shutout of New Hampshire on June 11, 2015. Right-hander Bradley Hanner allowed a two-out single in the ninth inning before striking out shortstop Ryan Ritter to end the game, extending his six-outing, nine-inning scoreless streak.
Duck Tales
Following Halpin's home run, Akron only had two more hits, two walks and a hit batter against Cande. First baseman C.J. Kayfus walked twice - though he was hitless for the first time in seven Double-A games - and in the third inning tried to score from second base on a single by Planez but was thrown out. Hartford pitchers retired the next 16 batters. Akron left four runners on base in the first three innings and two in the ninth.
Notebook
Akron remained percentage points behind Erie (33-24) in the Southwest Division first-half race, while Hartford fell 1 1/2 games behind Portland in the Northeast Division...Planez is 16-for-39 in his season-long, nine-game hitting streak...Left fielder Joe Lampe tripled and is 12-for-28 in a six-game hitting streak... Milan Tolentino singled and has 10 hits in six games on the road trip...Game Time: 2:08...Attendance: 5,126.
On the Pond
The RubberDucks continue their series in Hartford at 7:10 p.m. Thursday at Dunkin' Park. Akron left-hander Ryan Webb (1-5, 3.47 ERA) is scheduled to face Yard Goats left-hander Carson Palmquist (4-2, 2.96 ERA). The game broadcast is on 640 WHLO, the 640 WHLO iHeartRadio channel, and akronrubberducks.com, and available on Bally Live. Tickets for RubberDucks home games are available at akronrubberducks.com/tickets.
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