Tyler Beede was perfect for more than five innings against the Akron RubberDucks and carried the Squirrels to a 2-0 shutout before 4,541 at The Diamond on Wednesday night.
The Squirrels (29-49) won their second straight against the reeling RubberDucks (44-36), thanks to a pair of runs in the first inning off former first rounder Rob Kaminsky. Both starters were at their best, but it was Beede who prevailed to give the Squirrels the series in preparation for a tough four-game road trip coming up in Trenton starting on Thursday night.
The Squirrels will then return home for their annual 4th of JulyFireworks Extravaganza to kick off a seven-game homestand. The full promotional schedule can be found here.
Beede came out strong in the first, striking out the side and setting down the Indians’ top two prospects in Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier in the inning. In a matchup of former first round picks, Akron lefthander Rob Kaminsky wasn’t as fortunate as he let up the game’s first run, two batters in. Darren Ford led off with a walk and two pitches later, Ali Castillo roped his third triple to the wall in right-center for a 1-0 lead. Ryder Jones followed with a sacrifice fly to center, and the Squirrels had a 2-0 edge after the first.
That was more than enough for Beede, who whiffed the first two hitters in the second in a 1-2-3 frame. In the third, he took care of the bottom of the RubberDucks order, starting with a sliding catch from catcher Steve Lerud on a high popup that took him awhile to find behind the plate. Lerud was making his third straight start, and helped Beede go three up and three down for the first four innings.
The Squirrels offense wasn’t devastating against Kaminsky, with their second hit not coming until Hunter Cole led off the home fourth with a single back up the middle. However, the lefthander struck out the next two hitters and Cole was caught stealing at second to quickly send it to the fifth. In that inning, Beede racked up two more strikeouts to establish a new season-high with eight in the performance. He remained perfect through five inings against a challenging Akron lineup.
Beede’s bid at history was broken up when ‘Ducks number nine hitter Ivan Castillo rolled a single into left field with two outs in the sixth. Trailing just 2-0, Akron had the tying run at the plate for the first time, but Todd Hankins grounded out to Christian Arroyo at third base. In one of the best pitcher’s duels of the season, it was still 2-0 Squirrels at the seventh inning stretch while the teams combined for just three hits during that time.
Kaminsky (2-5) was nearly as impressive as he established new season highs with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work. The ‘Ducks finally started pawing at the door in the eighth inning when Jordan Smith led off with a double and Jeremy Lucas worked a four-pitch walk. With one out and runners at the corners, Claudio Bautista’s bouncer to third allowed Arroyo to whip a throw to the plate to nab Smith for the second out. That ended Beede’s (5-4) night after seven-and-two-thirds, and the shutout was kept intact when Matt Reynolds came in and got Castillo to pop out and end the threat.
Newly imported righthander Rodolfo Martinez made his Double-A debut looking for the save with a 2-0 lead in the ninth. The California League All-Star touched 100 MPH with his fastball and got three quick groundouts to give the Squirrels their sixth shutout of the season.
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Chris Graham
