Aerodynamics: Akron Ties Franchise Record with 11th Straight Win Friday

As a reminder, I’ll be serving this summer as the media relations director for the Akron Aeros. I presented my first update earlier in the week and will be writing many more articles in the future from the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

The best team in Northeast Ohio continues to fight through adversity here in 2010. Fresh off a 2009 Eastern League Championship, the Akron Aeros are now red-hot and in the driver’s seat for another playoff run this year.

After starting just 8-16 on the season, the Aeros won again Friday night to improve to 31-30 with an 11th consecutive victory. The win over the visiting Portland Sea Dogs of the Boston Red Sox organization tied a franchise record for longest winning streak. The previous mark was set in 2002 when the team finished with the best record in professional baseball at 93-48.

Following the jump, take a look at who led Akron’s comeback victory last night at Canal Park as well as read about some of the notable performers recently for the team.

Through May 8th, the Aeros were 11-17 and had a 5.99 team ERA on the season. The offense ranked among the best in the Eastern League, but the problem was that the pitching staff allowed generally around six or seven runs per night, putting the rest of the team in an impossible situation for actually contending.

Since that point in time, it has been a drastically different story. The team entered play Tuesday night with a 3.11 ERA in the past 32 games and stayed true to form again Tuesday. LHP Kelvin De La Cruz made the start and was inconsistent early, walking three while a crucial error at first  helped Portland take a 3-0 lead in the very first inning.

All three of those runs were counted as unearned and would be the only runs scored by the Sea Dogs on the night. Akron then began the comeback with a single run in the fifth and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall homered in the sixth after a pair of controversial ejections.

RF Jerad Head doubled in the seventh, later scoring thanks to back-to-back groundouts and C Damaso Espino was the hero in the final two innings. He stepped to the plate in a 3-3 tie game in the bottom of the eighth with two men on base and one out and delivered a huge lining RBI single to left to give the Aeros the deciding run.

He would then catch a Portland attempting to steal second base to end the top of the ninth, securing the victory for the smoking-hot team from the Rubber City. Espino threw out two runners on the night and finished with two singles and a pair of RBI.

After sitting at 18-28 and seven games out of the wild card spot on May 28th, the Aeros remain tied with the Bowie Baysox for the coveted second spot in the Western Division of the Eastern League. The top two teams from each division advance to the playoffs and the scorching Altoona Curve lead both Bowie and Akron by nine games.

Weekend Notables:

– 2B Jason Kipnis is expected to make his Akron debut Saturday night against the Portland Sea Dogs. He was officially promoted from Class A Kinston Thursday after 2B Cord Phelps moved up to Class AAA Columbus . Kipnis was Cleveland’s second round pick in the June 2009 Draft out of Arizona State and had a .300 batting average in 54 games for the K-Tribe.

– 3B Lonnie Chisenhall has been dominant since returning from the disabled list on May 28th. In 13 games played, he is batting .356 (16-45) with five home runs and 15 RBI. He also has scored 13 runs during this time and actually had zero homers in his first 27 games.

– LF John Drennen is having another solid season offensively here in Double-A and has been solid lately. He leads all active regulars with a .299 batting average in 47 games played. He has seemed to do particularly well inside the friendly confines of Canal Park, batting .329 with a .389 on-base percentage in 25 home contests .

– LHP Eric Berger delivered his second straight quality start Thursday night in the Aeros home victory, entering into the seventh inning with a no-hitter still intact. He was Cleveland’s eighth round pick in the June 2008 Draft and in his past three starts, now has 21 strikeouts against eight walks with a 1.93 ERA in 18.2 innings .

– RHP Alex White leads the team in quality starts despite just being promoted towards latter part of May. He made his first-ever Double-A start back on May 23rd vs. Harrisburg and has been the most consistent Akron starter ever since. He is 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA in four starts and Eastern League opponents are batting a whopping .136 (12-88) against him .

– RHP Bryce Stowell earned the save for the Aeros Friday night and has still yet to allow a run since making his Double-A debut on May 20th. In 14.0 innings pitched spanning eight relief appearances, the UC-Irvine product has a team-leading four saves along with 15 strikeouts against seven walks and a perfect 0.00 ERA.

Coming Up Next:

The Aeros conclude their home stand with games at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night at 1:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon against the Sea Dogs. LHP Nick Hagadone is on the mound tonight as the team looks to break the all-time franchise record for longest winning streak.

Tonight is a Super Saver Saturday at Canal Park, meaning all fans can purchase $7 tickets, enjoy $1 hot dogs, popcorn, soft drinks and draft beer as well as utilize a 10% discount in the official Aeros team store, Infield Outfitters.

The team will then travel Monday morning for the longest mileage bus trip of the season, a week long journey to play at New Hampshire and Portland. Akron will then return home on Tuesday, June 22nd to host the recently created Richmond Flying Squirrels at Canal Park.

(Photo above of Damaso Espino via Mike Ashford and his Trenton Thunder blog at http://thunderbaseball.wordpress.com)