EL Akron RubberDucks

Ducks Earn 70th Win, Beat Richmond, 5-1

Published on September 11, 2021 under Eastern League (EL)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


Akron right-hander Thomas Ponticelli held Richmond to one run in 5 1/3 innings, and RubberDucks left fielder George Valera homered and had two RBIs in a 5-1 victory over the Flying Squirrels in the fifth game of a six-game series at The Diamond Saturday night. Akron is the first team to 70 wins in the Double-A Northeast, and its playoff magic number is five.

Turning Point

Akron broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning. Against Richmond right-hander Trenton Toplikar, Valera led off the fourth inning with a home run to left field. Two batters later, catcher Bo Naylor singled. He went to second base on a wild pitch and scored when right fielder Clark Scolamiero hit an RBI single to center field for a 2-0 lead.

Mound Presence

Ponticelli faced one batter over the minimum in the first five innings, yielding one hit, a walk, and two hit batters, while getting three double plays behind him. He allowed two hits and Richmond's only run in the sixth inning before hitting a batter to end his longest outing since July 9. Ponticelli allowed one earned run on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Left-hander Jake Miednik entered with the tying run at bat and one out in the sixth and escaped the inning. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Right-hander Nic Enright pitched a perfect ninth inning.

Duck Tales

Akron added to its lead in the fifth inning against right-hander Gerson Garabito, when third baseman Victor Nova hit a leadoff single, and shortstop Brayan Rocchio singled to put runners at first and third bases. Garabito's errant pickoff throw to first base allowed Nova to score. Rocchio went to third base on a groundout and scored on second baseman José Fermín's double down the third-base line. The RubberDucks' final run came in the seventh inning, when center fielder Will Brennan singled, went to third on Fermín's single and scored on Valera's sacrifice fly.

Notebook

Naylor had his third three-hit game of the season and first since July 1...Rocchio has hit safely in every game of the series and is 7-for-22 in Richmond...Brennan extended an eight-game hitting streak with a 2-for-4 game...The RubberDucks lead Somerset (68-44) by two games and Bowie (67-45) by three games for the league's best record...Akron leads the season series over Richmond, 8-3, with one game remaining...Time: 2:53...Attendance: 8,796.

On the Pond

The RubberDucks conclude their six-game series in Richmond at 5:05 p.m. EDT Sunday. Akron left-hander Joey Cantillo (0-0, 3.86 ERA) is scheduled to face Flying Squirrels left-hander Michael Plassmeyer (2-8, 5.04 ERA). The game broadcast, powered by FirstEnergy, is on 640 WHLO, the 640 WHLO iHeartRadio channel, and akronrubberducks.com, and available on MiLB.TV. Tickets for RubberDucks home games are available at akronrubberducks.com/tickets.

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Eastern League Stories from September 11, 2021


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