Binghamton 11, Akron 5

After missing the last three games due to a minor leg injury, shortstop Luis Hernandez returned to the lineup and produced a four-hit day with four RBI in Binghamton’s 11-5 win over Akron Saturday afternoon at Canal Park. The win is the third straight for the B-Mets, who have recorded 13 hits in each of the victories. Scott Shaw took advantage of the run-scoring, notching his fourth consecutive win with five-plus innings of five-run work to improve to 4-0.

Binghamton (13-9) found itself in an early hole thanks to RBI singles from Nick Weglarz and Beau Mills in the first inning off Shaw. The 23-year-old righty also allowed two runs in the first inning of his last start, April 25 against New Hampshire.

Akron (8-14) starter Scott Barnes was on cruise control entering the fourth inning. The lefty had struck out three and faced the minimum through the first three innings when he ran into trouble. After issuing a one-out walk to Jonathan Malo, Barnes served up a gopher ball to Lucas Duda, who mashed a one-strike fastball from the southpaw over the right-field wall to tie the score.

Luke Montz kept the inning going with a two-out single down the third base line. Hernandez followed with the first of his four hits, a double off the wall in right-center, to put men at second and third. With a 1-2 count on Marshall Hubbard, catcher Miguel Perez mishandled a Barnes pitch, allowing the go-ahead run, Montz, to score from third on a passed ball.

The B-Mets stretched the lead to two in the fifth courtesy of Brahiam Maldonado’s first Double-A homer, a solo shot to left-center off Barnes.

The Aeros were quick to answer, however, with a two-out rally culminating with a Weglarz RBI double, bringing the Binghamton lead back to one.

Hernandez proved to be the last hitter that Barnes would face. With one out in the sixth, Hernandez smoked a triple over the head of Weglarz in left, which plated Zach Lutz, who had walked to open the inning. Barnes exited in favor of former Major League righty Justin Germano, who promptly permitted an RBI single to Marshall Hubbard, stretching the lead to three at 6-3.

Akron once again closed the gap in the sixth courtesy of a Beau Mills solo homer off Shaw and a Jared Goedert sacrifice fly, cutting the Aeros deficit to 6-5. That was as close as Akron would get.

Lefty Derrick Ellison bridged the gap in the late innings, tossing 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief to hand it over to Clint Everts. Everts fired the final 1 2/3 innings in shutout fashion to nab his first save of the year.

Everts was able to work comfortably in the ninth inning thanks to a five-run outburst in the top half of the inning, in which the B-Mets brought 10 men to the plate and faced three different arms. Aeros stopper Vinnie Pestano surrendered bases-loaded RBI singles to Duda and Lutz, who had both been left on by Germano. The biggest blow of the inning was provided by Hernandez, who cleared the bases with his second triple of the game, over the head of rightfielder Matt McBride.

Barnes was charged with the loss for Akron after allowing six runs, five earned, over a season-high 5 1/3 innings. He falls to 0-3 on the year.