2018 Akron RubberDucks Game Notes Bowie Baysox (11-7) vs. Akron RubberDucks (9-10) Baltimore Orioles Cleveland Indians Game 20 • Friday, April 27, 2018 • 6:35 p.m. Canal Park • Akron, OH Radio: WARF 1350 AM • WARF iHeart CHannel • TuneIn App • Television: MiLB.TV Today’s Starting Pitchers: Fri. 4/27, 6:35 p.m. vs. Bowie: Akron: RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (1-0, 1.76) Bowie: RHP Hunter Harvey (0-0, 2.08) Upcoming Games and Pitching Probables (subject to change): Sat. 4/28, 2:05 p.m. vs. Bowie: Akron: RHP SHane Bieber (3-0, 1.04) Bowie: RHP Michael Kelly (0-1, 4.80) Sun. 4/29, 2:05 p.m. vs. Bowie: Akron: RHP Aaron Civale (1-1, 2.95) Bowie: LHP JoHn Means (0-2, 4.91) Mon. 4/30, 6:35 p.m. vs. Binghamton: Akron: RHP Michael Peoples (1-1, 1.54) Bing.: RHP Andrew CHurch (0-3, 5.82) Tue. 5/1, 6:35 p.m. vs. Binghamton: Akron: LHP Sean Brady (0-2, 4.96) Bing.: RHP Nabil Crismatt (2-1, 1.21) RubberDucks News and Notes: Last Time Out Reading’s Jan Hernandez led a 15-Hit attack witH tHree Hits and an RBI, as tHe FigHtin PHils captured a 9-7 win over tHe Akron RubberDucks in tHe finale of a tHree-game series Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, Pa. Where We Stand At 9-9, tHe RubberDucks are in 4th place in tHe EL West, 3.0 games behind first-place Richmond. The RubberDucks… -were 2-4 on tHe road trip to Bowie and Reading, but held the lead in all six games. -committed eigHt errors in tHe Reading series, leading to five unearned runs. -rank 1st in tHe EL in ERA (2.46), but 12th (last) in tHe league in team-batting (.200). Player Notes -2B Mark Mathias Has an eight-game hit streak, 4/17-present (12-31, .387). He Hit His first HR of tHe season Wednesday night. -OF Tyler Krieger was 1-5 Wednesday and Has Hit safely in four straigHt games (7-18, 2 HR, 2 2B). -SS Willi Castro was 4-9 in tHe Reading series, including His first Double-A Home run, wHich He clubbed on Wednesday nigHt. -RHP Mitch Brown tossed anotHer 1.1 scoreless innings Wednesday and has thrown 8.1 shutout frames in His seven outings tHis year. About the Opposition Bowie is tHe Double-A affiliate of tHe Baltimore Orioles. Gary Kendall is in His eigHtH season as manager, and recently managed His 1,000th Baysox game. THe Baysox won tHe 2015 EL championship, defeating tHe Reading FigHtin PHils, tHree games to two. It is tHe only league title for tHe franchise, wHich began in 1993. Notable alumni of tHe Baysox include Jake Arietta and Manny MacHado. THe “Bay” in “Baysox” refers to CHesapeake Bay, located about 20 miles from Prince George’s Stadium. Transaction Wire The Indians Have announced tHat RHP Jordan MilbratH and RHP Luke Eubank Have been promoted to Triple-A Columbus. In corresponding moves, RHP Nick Pasquale and RHP Henry Martinez Have been added to tHe RubberDucks roster. Pasquale, 27, Has not yet pitched tHis season, but Has appeared in 33 games witH Akron over tHe past tHree years. Martinez, 24, Had no record, a 1.29 ERA and four saves six appearances for Single-A Lynchburg. On Deck THe RubberDucks and Baysox will play tHe middle game of tHe series Saturday at 2:05 p.m. After tHe series finale on Sunday afternoon at 2:05, the Homestand will continue Monday night tHrougH Wednesday night when tHe BingHamton Rumble Ponies come to town. Akron Baseball: A Winning Tradition THis is tHe 30th season of Double-A baseball in NortHeast OHio, and tHe 22nd in downtown Akron. THe franchise began as tHe Canton-Akron Indians in 1989, and tHen moved to Canal Park in Akron as tHe Aeros in 1997. Known as tHe RubberDucks since 2014, Akron Has qualified for tHe Eastern League playoffs 16 times overall, and 10 of tHe last 16 years. THe team Has captured five Eastern League titles—2003, 2005, 2009, 2012 and 2016. Notable alumni of the franchise include Jaret WrigHt, Victor Martinez, CC SabatHia, Grady Sizemore, CHarles Nagy, Cliff Lee, Jhonny Peralta, Danny Salazar, Jose Ramirez, Roberto Perez, Francisco Lindor, Giovanny Urshela, Tyler Naquin and Bradley Zimmer. Last Game Recap Fightin Phils 9 RubberDucks 7…Wednesday, 4/25/18 Summary Reading’s Jan Hernandez led a 15-hit attack witH tHree Hits and an RBI, as tHe Fightin PHils captured a 9-7 win over tHe Akron RubberDucks in the finale of a three-game series Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, Pa. Turning Point The FigHtin PHils (8-12) scored twice in tHe fifth inning off Akron reliever Jordan MilbratH (0-2) to grab a 7-6 lead. After a hit batsman and a single by Hernandez, a tHrowing error by Bobby Bradley loaded tHe bases. THe tying run scored on a double-play grounder by Austin Bossart, and tHe go-ahead run was driven in by Heiker Meneses, wHo cracked an infield single. Mound Presence Lefty Sean Brady started for Akron and gave up five runs, three earned, in three innings. Reading’s first four batters of tHe game registered hits. After MilbratH allowed four runs, two earned, in 2.2 innings of relief, MitcH Brown (1.1 IP) and Argenis Angulo (1.0 IP) provided scoreless bullpen Help. Duck Tales The RubberDucks (9-10) got home runs from Mark MatHias and Willi Castro. Mathias stroked a solo sHot in tHe second inning to extend His hitting streak to eigHt games. Castro belted a two-run sHot in tHe tHird to give Akron a 3-2 lead. It was Castro’s first Double-A Home run. In the fourth, Andrew Calica gave tHe Ducks a brief 6-5 lead wHen He cleared tHe bases witH a double to right. Calica was credited witH His first two Double-A RBI and anotHer run scored on an error on tHe relay back to tHe infield. Notebook Reading rigHty Tyler Gilbert (2-0) retired all nine batters he faced to pick up tHe win in relief…Luke LeftwicH pitcHed tHe nintH and earned His second save…EacH team committed tHree errors…THe Ducks got tHe tying run to tHe plate witH two outs in tHe nintH, but LeftwicH induced a fielder’s cHoice grounder from Bobby Bradley…Akron finisHed tHe road trip 2-4…Time of game: 3:08…Attendance: 2,017. RubberDucks 2018 Field Staff #6 Tony Mansolino, Manager—Former minor league infielder Tony Mansolino is in His first season as manager of the Akron RubberDucks. Mansolino, 35, was named tHe 17th manager in francHise History on January 17, 2018. He replaces Mark Budzinski, wHo was promoted to tHe major league staff after managing tHe RubberDucks last season. THis season marks Mansolinoi’s third as a manager in tHe Indians minor league system. A native of Newport Beach, California, and now a resident of Nashville, Tennessee, Mansolino managed tHe Class-A Lynchburg Hillcats last season. He was named Carolina League “Manager of tHe Year” after guiding tHe Hillcats to a stellar 87-42 overall record and a Carolina League co-championship. Mansolino made His managerial debut witH tHe Lake County Captains in 2016. Drafted by tHe Pirates in tHe 26th round of the 2005 draft out of Vanderbilt University, Mansolino played professionally for six years in tHe minor leagues and was a career .231 hitter witH 19 Homers and 173 RBI. In addition to tHe Pirates organization, He also played in tHe PHillies minor league system and witH tHree independent clubs before moving into coaching in 2011. He served as tHe RubberDucks Hitting coach in 2015. Mansolino played four years for Head coach Tim Corbin at Vandy, including an NCAA tournament appearance in 2004. Mansolino’s fatHer, Doug, is tHe minor league field coordinator for tHe PHillies. #47 Rigo Beltran, Pitching Coach—After spending tHe past tHree seasons as pitching coach at Class-A Lynchburg, former major league left-hander Rigo Beltran will serve as tHe RubberDucks pitcHing coach in 2018. Beltran, 48, joined tHe Indians in 2014, following seven years as a pitching coach in tHe Reds organization. After being selected in tHe 26th round of tHe 1991 draft by tHe St. Louis Cardinals out of tHe University of Wyoming, Beltran went on to pitcH professionally for 16 seasons. He appeared in 78 major league games witH tHe Cardinals, Mets, Rockies and Expos, going a combined 2-3, witH a 4.40 ERA. Born in Tijuana, Mexico, and now a resident of Delray Beach, Florida, Beltran served as tHe pitching coach for Mexico in tHe 2017 World Baseball Classic. #25 Kevin Howard, Hitting Coach—RubberDucks Hitters will Have tHe luxury of getting advice from a College World Series champion tHis season, as former University of Miami star Kevin Howard will serve as tHe RubberDucks Hitting coach. THis will be His fourtH season as a Hitting coach in tHe Indians organization. Howard, 36, was a sopHomore infielder wHen tHe Hurricanes defeated Stanford to win tHe 2001 college baseball title. THe following summer, He was drafted in tHe 5th round by tHe Reds and went on to play professionally for 10 seasons. Howard slugged 93 Homers and drove in 540 runs during His minor league career. He was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, attended HigH school in Westlake Village, California, and now makes His off-season Home in Miami BeacH. #13 Dennis Malave, Bench Coach—A fixture in tHe Indians player development system, Dennis Malave assumes tHe role of bench coach for tHe RubberDucks in 2018.