The Erie SeaWolves continued their strong start to the season with a 4-2 homestand series victory against the Akron RubberDucks last week. The 'Wolves lost their first game back at UPMC park 0-5, but then went on to win 3 straight before losing on Saturday and wrapping up the series with a win on Sunday.
Akron Series Recap
The 'Wolves opened their first homestand in 18 months with Pedro Payano on the mound. The right hander pitched 5 innings, giving up 5 runs on 3 hits with just 2 walks and striking out 11 before being relieved by Cale Coshow. Coshow pitched a shutout sixth inning, Mark Leiter Jr. stepped in for the final 3 innings, sitting down 9 out of 10 batters faced without giving up a run, hit or walk. However, the Erie offence was unable to repair the damage. They registered 6 hits, including a triple by Jacob Robson, but were unable to get a runs across leading to a 0-5 defeat, with Payano being handed the loss.
The second game in the series, on Wednesday, saw Dominican pitcher Elvin Rodriguez start for the 'Wolves; Pitching 5 shutout innings giving 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and striking out 8 in a dominant display on the mound. He was replaced for the 6th by Billy Lescher who continued the shutout before he, himself, was replaced by Brad Bass to start the the final 3 innings. The combined no-hitter came to an end in the 7th with a Tyler Freeman single, 1 of just 2 Akron hits in the ballgame. The Erie batters did their job competently, scoring 4 runs on 9 hits with a Ryan Kreidler 2-run homerun in the 5th being the highlight of the bunch. Rodriguez officially secured the win and Bass was given the save after handing Akron their first loss of the season.
Erie carried their momentum into the third game of the series with A.J. Ladwig taking the mound for the start, giving up 0 runs, 0 walks, only 2 hits and striking out 8 in 5 innings, securing him the win. He was replaced by Max Green for the 6th, Green gave up 4 runs on 4 hits (1 via the long ball) before being replaced with 1 out to go in the 6th. Ethan DeCaster came in to finish of the inning and pitched through the 7th giving up 0 runs on 3 hits with 1 walk and 1 strikeout, securing a hold for his efforts. Gerson Moreno stepped in for 8th and finished the game giving up 2 hits and striking out 4 on his way to securing the save. The offence lit up again, scoring 6 runs on 9 hits including 3 homeruns (Drew Ward, Kerry Carpenter and John Valente) and 2 stolen bases (Ryan Kreidler and John Valente), in a 6-4 victory.
The SeaWolves capped off a hattrick of wins on Friday with Ricardo Pinto starting, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts through 5 innings. Angel De Jesus came in for the 6th and 7th innings allowing 3 hits and 0 runs with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts, securing the win before he was replaced by Henry Martinez. Martinez started in the 8th and finished the game giving up 1 run on 2 hits and striking out 4 on his way to picking up the save. The Erie batters were once again up to the challenge as they scored 6 runs on 8 hits, with 2 homeruns (Jacob Robson and Josh Lester), leaving just 2 runners stranded throughout the game as they made it back-to-back 6-4 victories for the 'Wolves.
Saturday saw the SeaWolves drop the 5th game in a series for the second series in a row as Mark Leiter Jr. started, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts before being pulled with 1 gone in the 4th. Joe Navilhon stepped in but was unable to limit the damage as he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits with 1 walk and 1 strikeout, he was also pulled with only 1 gone in the 5th inning. Cale Coshow was drafted in to finish the inning and pitched through to the 8th, conceding 3 hits for 0 runs with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Billy Lescher came in for the 8th inning and was pounced on by the Akron offence, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts putting game well out of reach for Erie. Ethan DeCaster closed out the game in the 9th, giving up just 1 hit and striking out 3 in his single innings work. The offence had a similarly disappointing outing, scoring just 2 runs on 4 hits and striking out 16 times, with a Josh Lester homerun being a small consolation. Leiter Jr. was given the loss as Erie was defeated 2-9.
The final game of the series saw Paul Richan make his 3rd start of the season, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 1 strikeout in just 2.1 innings work as Akron continued their offensive form into Sunday. Brad Bass was brought in with 2 to go in the 3rd and pitched through the 6th inning, giving up just 1 hit for 0 runs, 0 walks and striking out 5 on his way to securing the win. Max Green pitched the 7th and 8th innings, giving up just 2 hits, continuing the shutout and grabbing a pair of strikeouts his way to a hold. Gerson Moreno closed the game out for Erie, conceding 1 run on 2 hits with 1 strikeout as he acquired his second save of the season. Erie's batters were able to make up the deficit, scoring 7 runs on 10 hits despite stranding a total of 12 runners on base, as they utilised some small ball to secure a 7-6 victory to wrap up the series.
Looking Ahead to Binghamton
Erie will continue their homestand with another 6-game series starting Tuesday against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. The Ponies sit rock bottom of the Double-AA Northeast Eastern division and have the worst record in the league at 1-10. Binghamton have the second worst ERA in the league and have yet to register a save this season. Although their other team pitching totals are respectively average, their team batting is distinctively poor; they have the 3rd worst batting average, the second worst runs total and joint worst homerun number. Their one standout player is arguably 6'7" right hander Tylor Megill, who has a 1.13 ERA through 3 starts.
The SeaWolves continue to be a standout team in the league, they sit second in the Western division with the best team batting average, the most total hits and second most homeruns in the league. Jacob Robson has had a tremendous start to the season batting .425 and registering 17 hits, both second highest in the league. On the pitching front, Erie has struggled to pull away from the pack however they lead the league in saves (6) and have yet to miss a save opportunity.
Coverage of every game this weeks series against Akron is available to stream via a payed MiLB.TV subscription or radio coverage is available for free HERE
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