AKRON, OH – Luis Lugo and Jordan Milbrath blanked Binghamton to guide the Akron RubberDucks to a 1-0 win over the Rumble Ponies on Saturday night at Canal Park. The Rumble Ponies were held to three hits in their second straight loss.
Lugo kept the Ponies in check after a bumpy start. The southpaw walked two in the first, but coaxed a double play out of Matt Oberste to end the threat. No Rumble Pony advanced past first base against Lugo until the seventh as he set down 11 of 12 during one stretch.
Akron’s defense shined to fluster the Rubber Ponies. In the sixth, Greg Allen made a sliding catch in the left-field alley to rob Matt Oberste and quickly fired in to double up Luis Guillorme at first to end the inning. Allen struck again in the seventh, racing back in dead center to steal a hit from Kevin Taylor. In the eighth, Joe Sever made a diving stop at third and nabbed Gustavo Nunez, representing the potential tying run, at second.
The RubberDucks offense produced the game’s only run in the fourth. Bobby Bradley opened the inning with a single, took third on Eric Haase’s double, and scurried home on Mike Papi’s groundout to second.
Jordan Milbrath took over from Lugo in the seventh and carried the game to the finish line to earn his second save. The righty stranded a runner on third in the seventh, used Sever’s stellar play to post a scoreless eighth, and struck out the side in the ninth.
Jannis (8-6) took the loss in his first start since July 25. He struck out four and allowed one run on five hits over five innings. Corey Taylor and Cory Burns combined with three scoreless innings to close Binghamton’s pitching tab.
The Rumble Ponies (68-48) close the four-game series in Akron on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. RHP Corey Oswalt toes the rubber against LHP Matt Whitehouse. The Horizons Federal Credit Union Pregame Show can be heard starting at 6:50 p.m. on NewsRadio 1290 AM WNBF and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies channel on TuneIn.
POSTGAME NOTES: Binghamton dropped consecutive games for the first time since July 21 & 22…the Rumble Ponies have played in nine games this season with 1-0 finals…David Thompson had his nine-game hitting streak snapped
Tickets for Binghamton’s entire home schedule can be purchased at the NYSEG Stadium box office, online on www.bingrp.com and over the phone at (607) 722-FUNN.
– Submitted