New Britain takes series, beats Aeros 4-1
Published on August 9, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release
AKRON, OH - The visiting New Britain Rock Cats won the rubber match of this three-game set at Canal Park Sunday afternoon, defeating the Aeros by the final count of 4-1 with 4,088 loyal fans in attendance. Recently acquired Connor Graham recorded his first quality start in the purple and black, but the combination of New Britain's Matt Fox and Anthony Slama controlled the hot Akron bats. The Cats jumped back into the Northern Division playoff race with the victory, improving to 56-58 and just a half-game behind second place while the loss dropped the Aeros to 71-44 on the season.
New Britain got on the board in the very first frame against Graham, as Brandon Roberts began his solid day at the plate with a leadoff walk and moved to second on a groundout by Rene Tosoni. Roberts then scored on a two-out base hit by Erik Lis and Akron missed out on a chance in the bottom half of the inning. Jose Constanza singled but was thrown out going home on Jerad Head's double and the Aeros would strand two men on in the inning after a hit by pitch to Carlos Santana.
Newcomer Lonnie Chisenhall helped to eliminate the one-run deficit in the second by leading off with a walk, and then scoring on a double by Carlos Rivero. Roberts then threw out Rivero at third base, as the Aeros would not have a runner reach scoring position again until the eighth. New Britain took the lead for good in the second by striking with no outs against Graham. Roberts and classy veteran Mark Grudzielanek both walked while Tosoni flared a single to load the bases. Lis then hit a sacrifice fly to Constanza in center to make it 2-1 and Grudzielanek scored on a groundout to first.
The score would remain at 3-1 until the ninth although Akron finally did threaten in the eighth against Rock Cats reliever Frank Mata who hit Armando Camacaro with by a pitch to lead things off. Constanza then hit into a fielder's choice while Matt McBride hit a clutch two-out single to put a pair of men on base. Slama came into the game to seal the deal and struck out Santana to end the inning while New Britain shortstop Steve Singleton hit his first Double-A home run in the ninth to provide for the final margin.
Fox (7-8) earned the win to snap a streak of eighth straight Cats losses in his starts, permitting just five hits, a walk and the lone run in seven effective innings. Graham (0-1) calmed down after the first two frames but still allowed five hits and four walks in six innings although he also struck out seven for his first quality start in an Akron uniform. Slama recorded the final four outs with three strikeouts in recording his league-leading 25th save of the season. McBride was the only Aero on the day with a multi-hit game in finishing 2-4 while Rivero continued his recent hot streak in going 1-3 with the lone RBI on his second inning double.
Eastern League Stories from August 9, 2009
- B-Mets Beat Reading 5-3 And Take Series Behind Tejada's Perfect Night - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
- Baysox Swept Back To Bowie - Chesapeake Baysox
- Harrisburg Edges Trenton 2-1 In 11 Innings On Sunday Afternoon - Trenton Thunder
- Plasencia homers in the 11th in Sens 2-1 win over Trenton - Harrisburg Senators
- New Britain Takes Series, Beats Aeros 4-1 - Akron RubberDucks
- New Britain takes series, beats Aeros 4-1 - Akron RubberDucks
- Campbell, Quintana hit homers for Fisher Cats in loss - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Herrera stays unbeaten, Curve bats come alive - Altoona Curve
- Defenders clobber SeaWolves in 12-2 series win - Connecticut Defenders
- 'Dogs complete the sweep, beat Bowie 8-2 - Portland Sea Dogs
- Rock Cats prepare for 10th homestand of 2009 - New Britain Rock Cats
- Aeros Game Notes for August 9 - Akron RubberDucks
- Baysox Out of Place In Fenway - Chesapeake Baysox
- Defenders Fall 11-7 - Connecticut Defenders
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
