AKRON, OH – A night after using nine walks to secure a victory the Aeros took advantage of seven free passes from Bowie pitching to claim a 2-1 triumph over the Baysox before 1,208 fans at Canal Park Thursday evening. Akron improved to 2-0 on the young Eastern League season while Bowie remained winless at 0-2.

Akron’s Frank Herrmann and Bowie’s Jake Arrieta treated the fans to an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel in the early going, with the teams combining for just four singles through the first three innings. The Aeros had the best chance to score in the first third of the game after loading the bases with one out in the first, but Arrieta recovered to strike out Nick Weglarz and Jared Goedert to end the threat, and Akron wouldn’t get another hit until the fifth.

By that point however, Bowie had the lead and Arrieta was out of the game. The Baysox tallied their lone run in the fourth when Dave Krynzel willed a solo homer just over the fence in centerfield, but following the bottom half of the inning, Arrieta reached his pitch limit and departed despite recording eight strikeouts in those four innings.

The Aeros rallied to tie the game in the fifth, doing all their damage with two outs against reliever Bobby Livingston. Jose Constanza beat out an infield hit with two strikes to keep the inning alive, and Livingston did himself no favors by walking Carlos Rivero on five pitches to push Constanza into scoring position. Beau Mills then made Livingston pay by rolling a single over second base and into center to score Constanza and tie the game at 1-1.

Akron manufactured a run in textbook fashion in the bottom of the sixth, as new Sox reliever Jim Hoey walked both Weglarz and Goedert to start the inning. Niuman Romero then provided the key at-bat by putting down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance both runners, and John Drennen followed with a sac fly to left to score Weglarz with what proved to be the winning margin.

Herrmann (1-0) turned in a quality start en route to the victory, holding Bowie to just a run on five hits over six sterling innings. He walked one and struck out one. Arrieta was dominant over his four frames but didn’t factor into the decision, blanking the Aeros on just one hit while walking two and striking out eight. Hoey suffered the defeat and fell to 0-1. Southpaw Ryan Edell showed no trouble in adjusting from his starting role for the Aeros last year to a relief role this season, allowing just a walk and a single over two shutout innings. Vinnie Pestano entered in the ninth and struck out a pair for his first save of the year. Mills went 2-3 with an RBI to lead the offense, although Akron won despite collecting just three hits.

Game three in this four-game series is set for 7:05 p.m. Friday, with Josh Tomlin (9-5, 2.98 ERA for Kinston and 1-0, 3.86 ERA for Buffalo in 2008) getting the start for Akron and lefty Troy Patton (6-6, 2.99 ERA for Corpus Christi, 4-2, 4.59 ERA for Round Rock and 0-2, 3.55 ERA for Houston) going for Bowie. All tickets are just $6 as part of Aeros Welcome Home Week. The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com. For more information, please call the Aeros at (330) 253-5151.

Akron Aeros (2-0) 2, Bowie Baysox (0-2) 1
April 9, 2009

WP: Arrieta, Herrmann.
Groundouts-flyouts: Arrieta 2-2, Livingston 0-2, Hoey 1-1, Perrault, J 0-2, Perez, Wi 0-2, Herrmann 9-7, Edell 0-4, Pestano 1-0.
Batters faced: Arrieta 16, Livingston 6, Hoey 6, Perrault, J 3, Perez, Wi 4, Herrmann 23, Edell 7, Pestano 3.
Umpires: HP: Jon Byrne. 1B: Adam Hamari. 2B: . 3B: Mark Buchanan.
Weather: 55 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 9 mph, L to R.
T: 2:37.
Att: 1,208.

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