Sarbaugh Gets 400th Win in 12-5 Triumph
June 5, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release
ALTOONA, PA - Akron scored the final 12 runs of the game and assured that manager Mike Sarbaugh would wait no longer for his 400th career victory, storming back from an early five-run deficit to defeat Altoona 12-5 before 3,058 fans at Blair County Ballpark Friday night. The Aeros improved to 34-19 (Sarbaugh is now 400-287 in his sixth season as a manager in the Indians system), while Altoona fell to 18-36.
The Curve stormed out to a 5-0 lead before Akron had a hit, striking for four runs in the second and one more in the bottom of the third. Jeff Corsaletti started the second-inning rally with a double, and moved to third on a groundout. Aeros starter Jeanmar Gomez then hit Steve Lerud on the foot to put men on the corners, and three straight hits from Hector Gimenez, Angel Gonzalez, and Gorkys Hernandez made it 3-0 before Brian Friday capped the scoring with an RBI groundout. Corsaletti and Jonel Pacheco then collected one-out singles in the third, and Steve Lerud's roller went through Jared Goedert's legs at third base for a run-scoring error to make it 5-0.
Meanwhile, Curve starter Kyle Bloom cruised through six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and three walks before departing in line for his first win of the year. Akron turned the tide immediately once he exited though, getting on the board in the seventh with an RBI single from John Drennen and a run-scoring fielder's choice off the bat of Jose Constanza to cut the lead to 5-2 before exploding in the eighth.
Former Aero Shawn Nottingham came on for the Curve in the top of the eighth, but issued 12 balls in his 15 pitches and was pulled in favor of Scott Nestor after walking the bases loaded. Nestor then issued four straight balls to Goedert to force in a run and make it 5-3, and Drennen followed with a booming three-run double over Hernandez's head in center field to put Akron in front for the first time. Jerad Head followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Drennen to third, Constanza drew the fifth walk of the inning, and Cristo Arnal bounced into a fielder's choice to score Drennen and make it 7-5. Arnal then stole second and Carlos Santana took advantage with an RBI single, and Beau Mills capped the inning with a two-run homer down the right field line to make it 10-5. The eight-run outburst was the biggest for the Aeros in a single inning this year.
Akron added two more runs in the ninth, as Nick Weglarz drew the 10th walk of the game and scored on Head's double down the right field line. Constanza then followed with an RBI triple to center, again over Hernandez's head, to cap the scoring.
Steven Wright (4-0) earned the win with three shutout innings of relief, but Gomez's effort should not be overlooked. Although his final line of five runs (four earned) and seven hits in six innings wasn't great, he held Altoona off the board in his last three innings of work to keep it a workable deficit until the offense came around. Nestor (0-1) suffered the loss after giving up seven runs in just two innings.
Offensively, eight of the nine Akron starters had at least one hit although Drennen was the only Aero with multiple hits, finishing 2-4 with four RBI. He is hitting .318 (7-22) with four doubles, a homer, and 10 RBI in five games since coming back up from Class A Kinston. Constanza and Mills had two RBI each, while Weglarz, the only starter without a hit, drew three walks and scored two runs.
The Aeros and Curve will play a doubleheader at 5:05 p.m. Saturday, highlighted by Jake Westbrook making a Major League rehab start for Akron in game one. The game broadcast begins at 4:50 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 June 5, 2009
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