LEHIGH'S MATT MCBRIDE HOMERS THREE TIMES IN 5-0 VICTORY

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    Lehigh808
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    MCBRIDE HOMERS THREE TIMES IN 5-0 VICTORY
    First Baseman’s Marvelous Outing Ties Aeros Franchise Record
    Matt McBride smacked three homers to lead the Aeros to a crucial 5-0 victory over the host Bowie Baysox on Thursday night. The 25-year-old first baseman came close to setting a new Akron franchise record in front of 3,316 fans at Prince George’s Stadium as lefty starter Scott Barnes shined with seven stellar shutout innings. With the third straight win, the Aeros (39-40) now trail the Baysox (43-37) by only 3.5 games for the second- place wild card spot in the Eastern League’s Western Division.

    The fantastic performance by McBride began in the top of the first inning against Bowie starting pitcher Ryohei Tanaka. Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall singled to right with two outs while McBride pounded the next pitch to make it a 2-0 Akron lead.

    Chisenhall flied out to start the fourth inning while McBride continued his dominance against Tanaka with another homer to left. As Barnes cruised against the Baysox attack, the Aeros manufactured another run to take a 4-0 advantage in the fifth on a one-out RBI single by Cristo Arnal after Tim Fedroff doubled to lead off the frame.

    Tanaka was the victim to a similar fate in the sixth inning as he started the frame by forcing Chisenhall to fly out to right field. On a 1-1 pitch, the unstoppable McBride hit his third straight home run to left field to provide the final scoring of the night.

    He then had one final chance to make history with Kipnis on first base and one out in the eighth inning against Baysox reliever Josh Perrault. He drew a first-pitch ball, fouled off a grounder and then sadly flied out to rehabbing Baltimore left fielder Felix Pie. The game ended quietly after that as Bowie collected just five singles, a double and a walk overall.

    Barnes (4-7) was spectacular as he scattered just five hits in his seven dominant innings along with only one walk and four strikeouts. It was his fourth no-run outing of at least five innings pitched this season, although the inconsistent left-hander entered the contest Thursday with a 6.16 ERA. The game was also his team-leading 15th start of the year and he remains in the Eastern League for starters with 9.21 strikeouts per nine innings.

    Meanwhile, Tanaka (4-8) had one of his worst performances of the season in taking the loss and allowing all five runs scored. Akron relief pitcher Connor Graham then delivered two shutout frames to secure the team’s sixth shutout during the 2010 season.

    Meanwhile, McBride’s historic performance was the sixth three-homer outing in Aeros history, the last done by Stephen Head on August 8th, 2008. McBride has now reached base in all 34 of his road games this season along with all nine of his home runs, and now has five homers in just four games on this current road trip. His three runs scored also tied a season-high for an Akron player as six other batters collected a single hit on the night.

    The Aeros look to stay hot and win a fourth straight game Friday night at 7:05 p.m. at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie. Akron has yet to announce their starter to match up against Baysox left-hander Nate Nery (0-2, 4.91 ERA). Join Jim Clark for Friday’s radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 p.m. on Fox Sports 1350 AM and at http://www.akronaeros.com. For more information, please call the Aeros team offices at (330) 253-5151.

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